Event Details

A private, for-profit, multinational corporation wants to make the residents of water-rich Rockland County pay to drink treated brackish water taken out of the Hudson River, 3.5 miles from the leaking Indian Point nuclear plant. And believe it or not, it is within months of getting approval from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to do it. United Water New York (UWNY) is a subsidiary of the international Suez Environnement Group based in France.  UWNY proposes build a new desalinization plant on Haverstraw Bay that would pipe treated Hudson River water into homes and businesses throughout Rockland County, which are now served by local reservoir water. With the DEC public comment period closing on April 20, it's urgent to focus some intense public scrunity on this proposal, before it's too late. The Rockland Water Coalition is hosting a public information forum about UWNY's proposed Haverstraw desalination project on February 23. It will air the questions Rockland residents deserve to have answered: How much would the plant drive up the cost of your water?  What would it mean for water quality, health and safety? Can it filter out radioactive water from Indian Point? How effectively will this private corporation in charge of your drinking water be regulated? How will its energy-intensive operation, treating 10 million gallons of brackish water a day, impact the sensitive environment of Haverstraw Bay? How will it impact over-development in the County? Who will benefit, who will be hurt, and what's happened to Rockland's existing water supply from reservoirs? If you live or work in Rockland and drink water, it's in your vital interests to come to this meeting and find out: February 23, 2012, 7:00 PM Where: Clarkstown Town Hall, 10 Maple Avenue, New City, NY 10956 INFORMATIONAL MEETING  ON PROPOSED ROCKLAND DESALINATION PLANT Meanwhile, here are some facts about the plant to consider: Radioactivity leaking from Indian Point cannot be adequately filtered out of drinking water. Not only is Indian Point leaking radioactive isotopes into the Hudson River, it also stores three times the radioactivity of Fukushima on site in unfortified fuel pools, which also have a history of leaks.  The potential for radioactive contamination via the desalinization plant and the potential human health impacts of drinking the water has yet to be adequately assessed.  Meanwhile, residents are a captive market and should not be made guinea pigs; they deserve the right to choose whether they want to this water piped into their homes or not. The plant will be environmentally destructive. Desalinization has environmental impacts on the very sensitive aquatic ecology of Haverstraw Bay. Taking 10 million gallons of water per day and returning concentrated brine to this critical habitat is likely to further compromise declining fish populations, including Atlantic sturgeon which has recently be designated as an endangered species.  For more information, read the Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed plant. Rockland doesn't need a desalinization plant. Rockland is water-rich and has a large reservoir that should supply residents' needs given proper management. Water conservation, green stormwater infrastructure practices and water recycling can provide additional fresh water, without resorting to energy-intensive, expensive technology to treat brackish water from the Hudson. So why build a desalination plant? Privatizing public water resources makes billions in corporate profits. United Water of New York's French-based parent company, Suez Environnement, is a multinational corporation which profits from privatizing water resources around the world. It made over $18 billion in 2010.  It actively seeks to privatize water resources in our region for profit.  Part of UWNY's business model for the Haverstraw plant is to make more money by exporting excess desalinized water to New Jersey, while Rockland ratepayers bear the capital costs of building this unneeded, destructive facility.  That may be an effective strategy for boosting the company's enormous profits, but it's not a sustainable water management strategy for us. For further information, contact: Hudson River Sloop Clearwater 724 Wolcott Avenue Beacon, New York 12508 www.clearwater.org 845-265-8080