Truesdale Lake  

South Salem, New York

January 24, 2017
by rob
1 Comment

Letter About Proposed Changes to Town Wetlands Law

Passing on this note from Janet Andersen who is a resident in the Twin Lakes neighborhood, a member of the Three Lakes Council, and Chair of the Lewisboro Conservation Advisory Council (CAC).

Friends and neighbors,

The Town Board proposed a new wetland code that is so flawed and so alarming that I cannot believe they will vote on it as it stands. However, since the changes in this law would lead to increased pollution in our lakes, and possibly to degraded drinking water supplies, it’s not too early to let the Town Board know of your concerns.

You can write to supervisor@lewisborogov.com or confsecy@lewisborogov.com, and ask that the message be distributed to the town board. Tell them that the water quality of the lake is important to you, and that you don’t want the board to weaken the protection of those waters and allow more algae and weeds to grow. You could also tell them that you care about safe drinking water, and you don’t want the protection of that vital resource to be diminished.

I’ll provide a details of a few examples where I feel the new law could endanger our lakes. Our current law prohibits animal pens and manure storage within 150 feet of the edge of our lake. The proposed law would allow animal pens, chicken coops, and manure storage to abut our lakes with no buffer distance at all. I can’t justify allowing new sources of phosphorus next to our lakes, streams, and wetlands. The proposed code would also allow new chemical and petroleum bulk storage facilities to be placed next to lakes with no buffer, an equally perplexing provision.

[more at link…] Continue reading