DATE: February 5. 2001
***For Immediate Release
CEASE, the local grassroots group fighting to stop EPA’s dredging plan in the Upper Hudson, has obtained a previously-undisclosed EPA document that identifies 12 upper river communities for 30-acre hazardous waste de-watering and processing facilities.
Publicly, EPA had only identified two possible locations for the facilities—Moreau and Albany. Elected officials in both communities have rejected siting of the massive processing plants within their boundaries.
Additional upper river communities identified in the secret document for the additional facilities are.
“Keeping this document from the public makes a mockery of the public participation process,” said Tim Havens, CEASE president. “EPA is asking people to comment on their proposal, yet they’re withholding critical information about the proposal. This is intolerable behavior from an agency that is supposed to be working for the public.”
Representatives of CEASE will be appealing to newly-confirmed EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman to investigate why the document was not released to the public as part of the Agency’s Feasibility Study.
“This study was conducted back in 1999, but was intentionally excluded from the Agency’s Feasibility Study,” said Merrilyn Pulver, CEASE member. “We only got a copy of the document after our attorney filed a Freedom of Information request. A draft memo is still being kept from us. We demand an investigation into why EPA chose to keep this report secret. And we demand to know what other documents EPA is hiding.”
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