PEPA

04/14/2024

As part of the Coalition's leadership team, we at PEPA want to ensure you received yesterday's notice from the Coalition to Prevent Airport Expansion. Below is the important update from George Klein, Chairman of the Coalition.

Dear Airport Coalition Supporter,

In brief: Westchester County Airport is polluted with highly toxic PFAS chemicals. Yet, the Westchester County Board of Legislators on April 8, 2024 approved a land exchange, “the swap”, of 13.2 acres owned by the Westchester Joint Water Works, for an equivalently sized parcel at the airport. This will allow WJWW to build a water treatment plant at the airport.

This construction project could easily dislodge these toxic PFAS chemicals into the nearby Kensico Reservoir. The Kensico is the source of drinking water for 9 million people, including most of Westchester’s population. PFAS is a class of chemicals that has contaminated the drinking water supply for hundreds of communities around the U.S. According to recent findings by the EPA, PFAS are toxic at even the lowest detectable levels and it is extremely expensive to remove them from the water.

The 4/10/2024 New York Times article “E.P.A. Says ‘Forever Chemicals’ Must Be Removed From Tap Water” is just the latest evidence that federal and state regulators are judging PFAS to be ever more dangerous to our health.

Our Board of Legislators could avoid this harm simply by moving the project outside of the Kensico Reservoir watershed.

Sierra Club, Purchase Environmental Protective Association, Purchase Friends Meeting, the Coalition to Prevent Westchester Airport Expansion and others oppose the WJWW project at the location planned, specifically because it is within the Kensico Reservoir watershed.

We acknowledge WJWW’s need to build the treatment plant, but judge the risk of contamination by PFAS pollution to the water in the Kensico from soil and groundwater disturbance from the construction at this location is too great. The Board of Legislators judges this risk worth taking, considering the urgency of the project, which will benefit 80,000 - 100,000 people served by WJWW.

The 4/8/2024 vote was 15 in favor, 1 against, and 1 abstention. The legislator who voted against the project had concerns about the water in the Kensico Reservoir.

CLICK HERE FOR SHORT VIDEO

George Klein
Steering Committee Chairperson
Coalition to Prevent Westchester Airport Expansion

03/14/2024

In honor of Women's History Month, let's honor Rachel Carson 🌿, whose "Silent Spring" 📚 sparked a global environmental awakening. Her 1962 work exposed the harm of pesticides like DDT, inspiring change from the US 🗽 to the world 🌎. This bestseller fueled a movement, leading to the creation of the EPA and the ban of DDT in the U.S. 🇺🇸. Carson's legacy reminds us of the power of advocacy and the importance of our bond with nature 🌱.

02/12/2024

🏭New Date for Public Hearing: Proposed Location for WJWW Filtration Plant - Feb. 15, 7 p.m -

Purchase Environmental Protective Association PO Box 21 Purchase, NY 10577 Add us to your address book www.PEPAPurchaseNY.com

02/10/2024

Purchase Environmental Protective Association PO Box 21 Purchase, NY 10577 Add us to your address book www.PEPAPurchaseNY.com

02/10/2024

https://mailchi.mp/010ad6ee2dbe/public-hearing-proposed-location-for-wjww-filtration-plant-feb-13-6-pm

Purchase Environmental Protective Association PO Box 21 Purchase, NY 10577 Add us to your address book www.PEPAPurchaseNY.com

12/18/2023

PEPA Perspective -

07/22/2023

Coaltion & Quaker Community Event -

As Purchase Friends Meeting and The Coalition to Prevent Westchester Airport Expansion Invite you to tomorrow's July 23 Event on STOPPING EXPANSION IN THE WATERSHED AT THE AIRPORT

07/13/2023

Stop Destructive Building in the Kensico Watershed

Statement In Support of WJWW Building a Water Treatment Facility On The Land they Already Own June, 2023

Last month, Westchester Joint Water Works included a flyer with the water bills, which contained “certain” claims regarding opposition to the construction of a water filtration plant. In response, all the signatories collaborated to draft this joint statement posted below, to express our unwavering support for building the plant on its original site, which is already owned by Westchester Joint Water Works.

Statement In Support of WJWW Building a Water Treatment Facility On The Land they Already Own June, 2023

We, the undersigned, strongly support the building of a water treatment facility by the Westchester Joint Water Works (WJWW) as soon as feasible. However, we also strongly believe that the plant should be built on the property the WJWW already owns, which is outside of the Kensico Reservoir watershed.

1. WJWW’s property was already prepped for construction over a decade ago.
2. WJWW, the County Executive, and the Board of Legislators received written assurances almost a year ago that the owner of the property adjacent to their land supports building the plant on the original site without objection or condition.
3. The FEIS which WJWW submitted in 2022 shows no compelling reason for building on the County’s forested property, which is in the Kensico Reservoir watershed and has long been identified as an important Clean Water Buffer Area, in preference over the one they already own.

So why does the WJWW continue to press for the County to swap land?

We encourage WJWW to stop wasting time and ratepayers’ money in their efforts to persuade Westchester County to swap land with them. The plant is required by federal mandate and should be built expeditiously on the land WJWW has owned for decades.

Signed:

Purchase Environmental Protective Association (PEPA), 501©3 Established 1914
Purchase Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Established in Purchase in 1727
Purchase Street Neighbors Working Group
The Coalition to Prevent Westchester Airport Expansion
Lower Hudson Group of Sierra Club
Michael Tokarz, Principal, Sylvan Development Corporation

BACKGROUND
Westchester Joint Water Works is moving ahead to remove over 6 acres of forest and build a massive plant when they do not own the land they propose to build on. The land is currently a green space at the Westchester County Airport and subject to a “land swap” or land sale that would need to be approved by the Westchester County Board of Legislators in the future.

Please read the FAQ’s on PEPA’s website which provide more information about this issue or read a one page flyer at www.pepapurchaseny.com

How Can you help?
1. Sign the Online Petition to ask the Board of Legislators to say “No” to the WJWW Land Swap to build in the watershed
Link is here: https://chng.it/FZd6Mqdk4g

http://pepapurchaseny.com/

07/12/2023

https://mailchi.mp/3c9edd43b7c2/wjww-support-building-water-treatment-facility-on-owned-land

Purchase Environmental Protective Association 3003 Purchase Street – Box 21 Purchase, NY 10577 (914) 960-3088 www.pepapurchaseny.com PEPA is a New York non-profit corporation and is a federal 501(c)3 charitable organization:EIN13-3209156

04/23/2023

In honor of Earth Day: A man-made lake in the Catskill Mountains holds water for NYC & Westchester residents. Sign on to our petition to Stop Disruptive Building in the Watershed - 650 have signed. Let’s get to 1000! https://chng.it/dW56R9mFsn

03/12/2023

Preventing Airport Expansion: Million Air ✈ -

PEPA is dedicated to a single mission – protecting the environment and quality of life in this unique community. Preventing expansion at the airport is a chief concern. Current Initiative: Preventing Expansion of Million Air/FBO facilities Million Air, a luxury Fixed Based Operator (FBO*) that alr...