Bedford Audubon Society

BAS Position on Development of Seven Springs Property
presented by Donald C. Pachner, Chair, Conservation Committee
e-mail conservation@bedfordaudubon.org

RE: Trump Organization proposal for Seven Springs Golf Course in Bedford, New Castle & Mount Kisco
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Hearing - SPDES (State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) Permit
December 17, 2001 at Fox Lane High School, Bedford, NY

TO: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 3 (hereinafter referred to as “DEC”)

Bedford Audubon Society is an 800 member chapter of National Audubon Society covering the region of northern Westchester and eastern Putnam Counties in New York. We are the second-oldest Audubon chapter in New York State. If all our members could be here this evening, they would be present to argue against this misguided proposal to develop the scenic and historic Seven Springs property.

Particularly troubling to our members, Mr. Trump has relied extensively in his proposal on unproven linear adsorption technology to treat wastewater effluent, dangerously close to the sole drinking water reservoir for the Village of Mount Kisco. The DEC cannot be a party to rolling the dice with the health of 10,000 New York State residents!*

The proposed cutting of thousands of trees by the applicant will significantly increase runoff of pesticides and fertilizers into Byram Lake. Engineered solutions are subject to proper maintenance and acts of God. No matter how little runoff of these pollutants are shown in the proposal, a severe storm event or construction accident could easily impair the area around the proposed site for decades to come.

I would like to remind the DEC of the aftermath of their contested wetlands permit approval for construction of a golf course near Lincoln Hall School by Somers Golf Associates in Somers, which resulted in one of the worst cases of pollution in the history of the New York City water supply system. The damaged areas will take many years to recover, and some parts of the affected area will take decades and much longer to be restored. Some trout spawning streams were impacted severely.

Along with Concerned Somers Residents and The Hudson Riverkeeper, I had represented Sierra Club through the end of the regulatory process at the Fresh Water Wetlands Appeals Board in Albany, where DEC had unwisely denied its jurisdiction over the threatened wetland due to construction boundaries outside the wetland. The rest is history, and we hope that the DEC has learned from this mistake.

Habitat, breeding areas and migratory staging areas for wildlife including avian wildlife in our region is under increasing pressure from fragmentation of wild open spaces they are relied on for food, protection and breeding. Unlike people, wild animals in a natural ecosystem require a minimum geographic space in a healthy ecosystem for survival and reproduction. Many wetlands bird species and those requiring large amounts of unfragmented open space are either declining in our region, or arc coming into closer contact with people as a result of habitat loss.

The brilliant biologist Rachel Carson once told an audience of journalists: “Mankind has gone very far into an artificial world of his own creation. He has sought to insulate himself with steel and concrete from the realities of earth and water. Perhaps he is intoxicated by his own power, as he goes farther and farther into experiments for the destruction of himself and his world. For this unhappy trend there is no single remedy — no panacea. But I believe that the more clearly we can focus on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for its destruction.”

The Seven Springs permit application before the DEC flies in the face of common sense. Any reasonably diligent regulator can clearly see the folly of developing one of the most historic and scenic wild open spaces in our region, situated just above the sole local drinking water reservoir servicing 10,000 members of our local community. We urge the DEC to deny any permit that could impair the natural state of this site.

*The state SPDES program is reviewed annually and must be renewed periodically under the NPDES program, If DEC fails to deny permits such as this one, they could imperil N.Y. State’s federal clean water funding.