March 1, 2018 is the deadline to submit comments to the NYS DEC to stop the assault on 40 acres of the biologically productive marsh of Tallman Mountain State Park just south of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Plans to apply glyphosate to kill Phragmites (an “invasive” reed that has grown into a prominent storm and tidal wave buffer along the shore) include several years of glyphospate application (the active ingredient in Roundup), without an assessment of hazards to residents, aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. Futher, pollution of Sparkill Creek, an 8-mile tributary of the Hudson River Estuary, has not been considered.
JOIN the PIERMONT MARSH ALLIANCE, NY4WHALES/ NY4WILDLIFE, and other concerned groups and citizens as we combat this major threat to aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna (including insects!) of this important region. Send your comments today! More info below from the flyers by THE PIERMONT MARSH ALLIANCE:
URGENT REMINDER FROM
The Piermont Marsh Alliance
PLEASE SEND WRITTEN COMMENTS on the DEC’s Draft Plan
before March 1, 2018 deadline
DEC is accepting written comments on its Draft Piermont Marsh Reserve Management Plan are being accepted until this coming Thursday, March 1, 2018.
To stop this plan, It is CRITICAL that we all send in our comments, even if we attended the 2/5 meeting.
Choose one of three ways to do this:
1) Submit your comment by e-mail to hrnerr@dec.ny.gov.
2) Submit your comment by mail to NYS DEC, PO Box 315, Staatsburg, NY 12580.
3) For those who are pressed for time, we have a one-page ad in this week’s Our Town News, which you can sign and mail to DEC. If you’d like us to send you a PDF of this page, just email us back.
*** VERY IMPORTANT: Please also send your comment to Governor Cuomo. Mailing address: The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor, NYS State Capitol Building, Albany, NY 12224. You can also call the Governor’s office: 518-474-8390.
If you would like to cc us, please feel free to do so:(piermontmarshalliance@verizon.net)
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If you could use some talking points, here they are:
The DEC Plan disregards the community’s clearly expressed opposition to the use of herbicide (Glyphosate) in the Piermont Marsh.
The size of the project remains considerable – 40 acres, i.e. approximately 30 football fields.
The Plan does not address the destruction of habitat and harm to existing wildlife that would result.
The Plan in no way addresses the severe pollution of the Sparkill Creek.
The prediction that sea level rise will wipe out the Marsh makes it likely that the Plan will turn out to be an expensive, futile endeavor.
The Plan, should it go forward, will result in a ten-year eyesore.
Thank you for all that you do!
Marthe for the PMA Steering Committee
Brief overview of the issues raised by DEC’s
Draft Piermont Marsh Reserve Management Plan
being presented this Monday night in Village Hall
“FIRST DO NO HARM.”
The DEC has reduced the scope of the eradication of Phragmites from the Marsh, and now acknowledges that Phragmites provides valuable ecological services, including – most importantly for Piermont – serving as a buffer that reduces the destruction from storm surges. DEC has also instituted a number of monitoring and research protocols. However, DEC’s plan remains seriously flawed.
While the overall project size has been reduced to 40 acres to be done in three phases, DEC reserves the right to expand at some future date. 40 acres is approximately equivalent to 30 football fields. This is not a small area.
The treatment area would be mowed, then treated with glyphosate-based herbicide, then mowed again. This would be repeated on a yearly basis for at least several years. Additionally, black plastic would be used along any land boundaries.
DEC quotes a recent (12/2017) EPA determination that “…glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.” But this only gives one side of the argument, in what remains a hotly debated issue in the scientific community. Last year, California EPA determined that glyphosate should be listed as a known carcinogen. A number of European countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and France either have in place or are instituting bans on the use of this chemical.
DEC purports to protect human populations from exposure to the herbicide by selecting a treatment area that is approximately half a mile from both Piermont and Palisades, but does not address the impact of the herbicide on the living ecosystem of the Marsh and specifically the wildlife – turtles, birds, fish, etc. – that lives in or depends on the Marsh.
The DEC’s goal of re-establishing a marsh of the past remains fundamentally futile. Phragmites is uniquely well adapted to the present polluted conditions of the water and will re-invade, absent an indefinite cycle of chemical treatment. Phragmites’ unique ability to accrete soil makes it potentially more viable than other plants as water levels rise due to the effects of climate change. However, sea level rise, if sufficiently pronounced, may well increase salinity levels to the point at which even Phragmites could not survive. The only certainty in the Plan is that an already fragile ecosystem would be further poisoned by the addition of herbicide.
Aesthetic consequences of eradication remain a concern, as the treatment area is likely to be an eyesore for several years, disrupting the visual sweep of the Marsh.
Marthe for the PMA Steering Committee
The Piermont Marsh Alliance
Piermont Landing
Piermont, New York 10968