Invitation Letter to the Public
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
23 September 1998
Dear Concerned Citizen:
The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustee Council is planning to perform an assessment of natural resource damages in the Hudson River. Over the next few years, and coordinated with the EPA's Hudson River Reassessment, the Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees - the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) - will be conducting an assessment of natural resource damages associated with General Electric's PCB contamination of the Hudson River below Hudson Falls.
The Trustees will be developing a Hudson River Natural Resource Damages Assessment Plan. The purpose of the Plan is to ensure that the trustees perform the assessment in a planned and systematic manner, using appropriate methodologies for evaluating and quantifying injuries to the Hudson River's natural resources. The planning process will also allow the Trustees to determine whether the assessment can be conducted at a reasonable cost.
Before preparing the Plan itself, the Trustees have first prepared a document, the Draft Scope. The Scope isa preliminary outline of the contents of the Hudson River Natural Resource Damages Assessment Plan.
The Trustees are offering this Draft Scope for public comment so that we may involve all concerns at the earliest possible stage. It may be useful for you, as you read the Scope, to consider the following questions:
1) Will the NRDA Plan address all of the significant injuries?
2) Will the NRDA Plan address injuries which are insignificant and should not be studied or measured?
3) Are there assessment methodologies which should or should not be employed in the Assessment?
You do not need to confine your review to these questions; the entire Draft Scope is subject to revision. Nevertheless, your answers to these questions can provide especially useful information to the Trustees. All written (letter, e-mail or fax) comments on this document must be submitted to Steve Sanford and received no later than 11 December 1998. For additional information, please contact one of the representatives listed below.
The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees look forward to your continued participation in the assessment and restoration of Hudson River natural resources.
Public Meetings Two meetings will be held in each location, from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM and again from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM.
| October 26 | October 27 | October 28 | November 4 | November 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany | Fort Edward | Hudson | Poughkeepsie | White Plains |
| NYS Museum Empire State Plaza | Washington County Municipal Center | Columbia-Green Community College | Poughkeepsie Town Hall | 85 Court St. |
| Mtg. Rooms A & B Concourse Level | Room B230 (2nd Floor) | Room 322 | Between Rt. 44 and Rt. 55 | Basement Conference Room |
| Madison Ave. | 383 Broadway | 4400 Route 23 | 1 Overocker Rd. | 85 Court St. |
Trustee contacts
| NYSDEC | NOAA | Interior |
|---|---|---|
| Steven Jay Sanford Natural Resource Damages Unit Room 403 50 Wolf Road ( is now 625 Broadway) Albany, NY 12233-1090 sxsanfor@gw.dec.state.ny.us www.dec.ny.gov |
Lisa DiPinto Damage Assessment Center 1305 East-West Highway SSMC4 Rm 10218 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: (301) 713-3038 x 187 Fax: (301) 713-4387 Lisa.DiPinto@noaa.gov www-orca.nos.noaa.gov/darp |
Anne Secord US Fish and Wildlife Service 3817 Luker Rd Cortland, NY 13045 Phone: (607) 753-9334 Fax: (607) 753-9699 Anne_Secord@fws.gov www.doi.gov/oepc/frlist.html |
Note: On NYSDEC's Web page, the Hudson NRDA information is under "Outdoors", "Natural Resources Reports and Data". USEPA also has Hudson information: www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfun/hudson.htm
Information Repositories Official documents relating to the Hudson River Natural Resource Damages Assessment are available at the following locations:
| Adriance Memorial Library 93 Market St. Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 |
NYSDEC-Region 4 1150 N. Wescott Rd. Schenectady, N.Y. 12306 |
Saratoga County EMC 50 W. High Street Ballston Spa, NY 12020 |
Saratoga Spr. Pub. Library 320 Broadway Saratoga Spr., NY 12866 |
| Catskill Public Library 1 Franklin St. Catskill, NY 12414 |
NYSDEC-Region 5 Route 86 Ray Brook, NY 12977 |
White Plains Pub.Library 100 Martine Avenue White Plains, NY 12601 |
Ossining Public Library 53 Croton Ave. Ossining, NY 10562 |
| Troy Public Library 100 Second St. Troy, NY 12180 |
NYSDEC - Region 3 21 South Putt Corners Rd. New Paltz, NY 12561 |
New York State Library CEC Empire State Plaza Albany, NY 12230 |
Crandall Library City Park Glens Falls, NY 12801 |
| USEPA-Region 2 Superfund Records Center 290 Broadway, 18th Floor New York, NY 10007-1866 |
NYSDEC Central Office NRD Unit 625 Broadway Albany, NY 12233 |
Cornell Coop. Extension New York Sea Grant 74 John St. Kingston, NY 12401 |
County Clerk's Office Washington Co. Office Bldg. Upper Broadway Fort Edward, NY 12828 |
| Richards Library 36 Elm Street Warrensburg, NY 12885 |
Johnsburg Library 219 Main Street North Creek, NY 12853 |
Dutchess Co. EMC Farm & Home Center Rte.44, PO Box 259 Millbrook, NY 12545 |
