OntheWilderSide

Hello all,Hope you are having a great summer so far!  Please take a moment to read this e-mail as it includes lots of important and good stuff.

Inside this update: 
1) NYS DOT extends public comment period! 
2) Two minutes, two stamps and one person campaign continues
3) Rally to Protest and STOP the TRIM
4) Morning Hike at Edgewood sponsored by Seatuck Environmental Association.

NYS DOT extends public comment period for the proposed TRIM facility adjacent to state nature preserve and blocks from residential communities of Dix Hills, Brentwood and Deer Park!

Because of all the many letters you all signed and sent to Governor Spitzer, the deadline for the public comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Study for the TRIM Facility (truck, train, crane heavy freight depot), proposed by the NYS DOT — HAS BEEN EXTENDED!!  This is unheard of and it proves what I have been saying all along….ONE PERSON DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  We have gotten Albany’s attention!  Thank you!!

The deadline is now September 24.  Which means that we need to get even more letters signed and sent to Governor Spitzer.  He, and he alone, can stop this project from moving forward.  Personally, I send him one letter per week and will continue to do that until we kill this thing.

More than 1,000 letters have now been sent to the Governor in less than one month. Thank you so much to all of you who have signed letters or who have knocked on doors to get letters signed. WE NEED TO DOUBLE THAT NUMBER.  Anyone who lives in New York State can and should send this letter!!  PLEASE, we need your help in getting another 1,000 letters signed. 

This is NOT the time for complacency!  Let Albany know you care!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:  IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY SIGNED A LETTER — print out the form letters attached (use whichever one you prefer), sign, send original to Spitzer and a copy to Friends (address at bottom of letters).  We will, on your behalf send to the NYS DOT and all your elected reps.  TWO MINUTES, TWO STAMPS and ONE PERSON…..makes the difference!  Do it TODAY.Pass this e-mail on to others and urge them to get involved.  Print out the form letters and make copies and get all your neighbors, family, friends, co-workers to sign them.  Have them either send original to Spitzer with a copy to Friends or just put all of them in a big envelope and send to Friends……we will send to Spitzer and all their reps.  We are trying to make it easy for you…please, two minutes is all it takes!

If you need a lot of letters, let me know and I will send you a supply. Of course, you can always use the form letters to write your own letter……whatever you prefer!

Please also write to any of your environmental and advocacy groups (Pine Barrens Society, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, NYPIRG, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Advocates of NY, etc) and ask them to speak out against this project.  Most have not done so publicly.  Remind them that they were founded to protect Long Island’s and/or New York’s natural resources — our air, our water, our open spaces — and that as public charities they are getting funded to do just that.  Long Island’s environment is Long Island’s environment.  It cannot be segmented as if some of it matters and some of it doesn’t.  IT ALL MATTERS.

Edgewood is a rare and fragile wildlife habitat…an irreplaceable natural resource….it is a special groundwater protection area (a source of our drinking water) and it MUST BE PROTECTED from further development.  Let these groups knows that you are watching them to see what they do to protect the citizens and the environment of the Dix Hills, Brentwood, and Deer Park region.  If Edgewood is protected, all of Long Island is protected.  Demand permanent protection for Edgewood and Long Island!

SAVE the DATE!!  RALLY AT PINE HILL LANE and COMMACK ROAD TO PROTEST THE NYS DOT proposed TRIM facility adjacent to the Preserve.  DON’T LET IT HAPPEN!  BRING A SIGN and/or your best protest voice!  SAY NO TO INTERMODAL! Thursday, August 16 at 5:30PM.  Last rally on 7/13 was a huge success with more than 600 people.  We need to break the 1,000 mark.  PLEASE — come for an hour or more!!  More details to follow soon.

MORNING HIKE AT EDGEWOOD
Saturday, August 4th, 9:30am to 11:00am
Former Edgewood Hospital is now home to an increasing diversity of wildlife….come learn!Led by Long Island naturalist and high school science teacher, Tom Vitti.

If you haven’t been on a hike with Tom Vitti, you are in for a real treat!  Don’t miss this hike!

Hike is free, but please call to reserve a spot or for more info……631-356-3681.  Hike is organized and sponsored by The Seatuck Environmental Association.

Bring water.

Finally, if you haven’t visited Seatuck’s new home, don’t delay!  The Scully Sanctuary is just that….a sublime and wonderful sanctuary……..in the woods, but near the water.  The building is simply gorgeous!  GO SEE IT TODAY.  And while you are there, sign up to help….they need all sorts of help!

Go on the hike this Saturday and learn about Edgewood.  Then take a visit to Islip to see the Scully Sanctuary before the summer is over.  You will realize just how lucky we are to live on Long Island and why we must fight to protect these glorious places!

Enjoy the rest of your summer…..but please keep those letters coming!  We need your help!

  Cheers and all the very best to you and yours,

Patricia Burkhart
Friends of the Edgewood Preserve
P.O. Box 162
Deer Park, NY 11729
631-242-7402

The Honorable Eliot Spitzer
Governor, State of New York
State Capitol
Albany NY 12224

Dear Governor Spitzer,

      I urge you to support permanent protection for the Edgewood Oak-Brush Plains State Preserve and the surrounding residential communities of Brentwood, Deer Park and Dix Hills by opposing the proposed NYS DOT Long Island Truck to Rail Intermodal (LI TRIM) project in the Brentwood Hamlet of the Town of Islip.

      The Edgewood Oak-Brush Plains State Preserve is an irreplaceable 850-acre, unique and fragile ecosystem that is home to an incredibly diverse variety of migratory birds and other wildlife. The preserve (and surrounding land) is the largest remnant of pitch pine scrub oak brush on Long Island, and the second largest in New York State. These lands are also part of a critical recharge recharge area (Special Groundwater Protection Area) which is a major source of drinking water for both Nassau and Suffolk Counties and provides prime nesting for plant and animal species that are on the state’s Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern lists.

      Construction of this truck, rail and crane heavy cargo container facility right next to this fragile habitat will, by the DOT’s own admission in their environmental impact study, harm the birds and other wildlife that live and thrive there, and the many families in the region, especially Brentwood, Dix Hills and Deer Park will face enormous risks and hazards. It will have a major impact on air and water quality, creating a situation where carcinogenic diesel emissions will linger over a radius of many miles; the effect is cumulative. Suffolk County already has the highest rate of pollution-related deaths in the entire state and it went from a B rating to D rating in small particulate air debris. Brentwood already has the highest rate of asthma in children on Long Island. This project will further endanger these children’s lives. No one can guarantee that children in any of these communities will be safe! The excess noise, vibrations, and light glare emanating from this 24/7 site will further endanger wildlife and forever affect the quality of life in the neighboring communities. 

      Moreover, it should be noted that in Chapter 635, Section 7 of the Laws of 1987, it was established that any Pilgrim State Hospital Land no longer needed by the hospital should be incorporated into the Oak Brush Plains State Preserve. Also in 1987, the state passed the Sole Source Aquifer Protection Act, which limits development within the Deep Flow Recharge Area. The Edgewood Preserve and surrounding lands must be protected from overdevelopment or the sustainability of our water supply will be in real jeopardy. Please uphold this legislation and stop the transfer of this land (which is part of a significant contiguous forest habitat) for a noisy, polluting and invasive facility, which is in no way compatible with the surrounding areas. Former Governors Pataki and Cuomo recognized the importance of the Oak Brush Plains. I find it hard to fathom that the voters who put you in office are in agreement with you on this issue. I kindly urge you to stop this project from moving forward. I appreciate your consideration of my letter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Name

Address

Cc: Friends of the Edgewood Preserve, P.O. Box 162, Deer Park, NY 11729   

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