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234.97 RESOLUTION OPPOSING DREDGING OF THE UPPER HUDSON RIVER AND CREATION OF A TOXIC WASTE LANDFILL RESOLUTION NO.: 234. 1997 INTRODUCED BY: Mrs. Connie Goedert WHO MOVED ITS ADOPTION SECONDED BY: Mr. Theodore Turner WHEREAS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reassessing its 1984 decision not to dredge the Upper Hudson River to remove buried sediment containing PCBs, and WHEREAS, the EPA has recently released a report that suggests the Agency may be preparing to reverse its position and order dredging, and WHEREAS, PCB landfill projects have twice before been proposed for agricultural properties in the Town of Fort Edward and have twice been stopped through legal action, political action and the vigilance of citizens of Fort Edward, Washington County and surrounding communities, and WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Fort Edward has steadfastly opposed Upper Hudson River remediation options that involve PCB dredge-and-landfill projects of any kind, and has asked other municipalities to join Fort Edward in opposition to such projects based on their negative regional impacts, and WHEREAS, a PCB dredge-and-landfill project would have significant, long-term adverse environmental, economic and social consequences for all Upper Hudson River communities, especially affecting the agricultural industry, which depends on consumer confidence in the purity of its products, confidence likely to be undermined by the presence of a hazardous waste landfill; and especially impairing the continuing efforts to make local communities attractive places to live, work and raise families because a PCB landfill would destroy forever the pastoral quality of life that is our greatest asset, and WHEREAS, a Hudson River dredging project would disrupt normal recreational use of the river and jeopardize future public and private investments in river-related amenities affecting the entire Upper Hudson region, and WHEREAS, the mere possibility of a PCB dredge-and-landfill project adversely affects land values throughout the Upper Hudson region and discourages private investment that might lead to the creation of new jobs, and WHEREAS, representatives of Washington County and many local governments have taken an active role in EPA's public meetings and have repeatedly asked EPA to evaluate all of the adverse impacts of a PCB landfill on the resources and economy of the county, and WHEREAS, EPA has conducted no such evaluation and has made no commitment to conduct such an evaluation before any decision to establish a PCB landfill is reached, and WHEREAS, a significant body of scientific evidence demonstrates that conditions in the Hudson River are improving, with PCB levels declining in water, sediment and fish, such that the State of New York has reopened the catch-and-release fishery in the Upper River, and WHEREAS, dredging contaminated sediments has been shown to be ineffective in improving environmental conditions elsewhere, and WHEREAS, there is no credible scientific evidence that dredging sediments from the bottom of the Hudson River would significantly accelerate the improvements already taking place as a result of ongoing remediation work and the river's natural recovery processes, and WHEREAS, EPA itself determined in 1984 that a major dredging project "could be environmentally devastating to the river ecosystem and cannot be considered to adequately protect the environment," (USEPA, Superfund Record of Decision at Page 8) and determined that "the actual reliability and effectiveness of current dredging technologies in this particular situation is subject to considerable uncertainty," (Decision at Page 11), and WHEREAS, EPA recognized that the many tons of material to be removed in a dredging project would require an "impractically large containment facility" (Decision at Page 8), and WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury finds there is no demonstrated environmental benefit to a dredge-and-landfill project on the Hudson River and many unmitigated long-term negative environmental, economic and social consequences affecting the entire region would result, and WHEREAS, the Town of Fort Edward Town Board has requested that the Town of Queensbury Town Board join it and other communities in opposition to the proposed dredging project, and WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury finds that a dredge-and-landfill project would be a gross, unwarranted and unnecessary insult to the Hudson River itself and the communities of the Upper Hudson region, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury, in concert with the Town Board of the Town of Fort Edward, hereby expresses its opposition to Hudson River remediation measures that involve dredge-and-landfill efforts of any kind and hereby authorizes and directs the Town Supervisor to transmit notice of such opposition, in writing, to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner; Region II USEPA Administrator Jeanne M. Fox; U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and U.S. Sen. Alphonse D'Amato; U.S. Rep. Gerald B. Solomon; New York Gov. George E. Pataki; Acting New York State Environmental Conservation Commissioner John Cahill; New York State Sen. Ronald B. Stafford, and New York State Assemblyman Bobby D'Andrea and New York State Assemblywoman Elizabeth Little. Duly adopted this 2nd day of June, 1997, by the following vote: AYES : Mrs. Pulver, Mr. Turner, Mrs. Goedert, Mr. Champagne NOES : None ABSENT: Mrs. Monahan I, Caroline H. Barber, Deputy Town Clerk of the Town of Queensbury, Warren County, New York, do hereby certify that I have compared the foregoing with the original resolution as listed above adopted at a Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Queensbury held on the 2nd day of June, 1997 at which a quorum was present and that the same is a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole original thereof to date. IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereto set my hand and the SEAL of said Town of Queensbury, this 18th day of June, 1997. SEAL SIGNED:_______________________________________ Caroline H. Barber Deputy Town Clerk-Queensbury