Comments over the planned releases included Hurley Town Board members on Monday, when they described the plan as a return to periods in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.
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âThe entire Esopus Creek becomes uninhabitable,â Councilman Michael Boms said. âIt kills all the fish there. Thereâs a lot of complaints downstream when they do that. . This happened in 2010 and there was a big fight in Ulster County (with) New York City, and New York Cityâs response was âwe donât care.ââ
City spokesman Adam Bosch was not available for an interview to discuss the local concerns, but submitted an email to the Freeman explaining that the releases were based both on heavy rain over the Christmas holiday and the Catskill Aqueduct shutdown for repairs.
OLIVE, N.Y. â Years after the New York City Department of Environmental Protection was fined for dumping vast quantities of muddy Ashokan Reservoir water into the Lower Esopus Creek, the agency has issued a permit application that attempts to encompass the impact it was accused of ignoring for a century.
State Department of Environmental Conservation officials have scheduled a Feb. 4 video conference public hearing on a draft environmental impact statement and proposed water release permit. A written comment period for the documents will also be open through March 16.
New York City had ignored environmental impacts on the Lower Esopus Creek as part of its permit process until 2012, when large scale releases ultimately resulted in penalties following complaints from Ulster County officials, municipal boards, environmental groups, business owners and residents.