Consultant: No Plant Possible But More Time Needed

By JORDAN MOSS

An engineering consultant hired by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the citizens advisory committee (CAC) it formed for the Croton watershed, said filtration of the system may not be necessary, but more time is needed to perform the tests that would prove it. Frank X. Browne, the outside consultant who studied the findings of DEP's own consultants - known as the Joint Venture - presented his finding at the final meeting of the non-filtration avoidance subcommittee of the Croton CAC.

"It shows that there wasn't enough study of watershed protection which is what we've been saying from the very beginning," said Karen Argenti, a member of the CAC.

Browne encouraged the DEP to "petition" the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ask for more time to do the studies. As things stand now, the DEP must build a filtration plant according to a strict schedule of deadlines.

"The DEP should start petitioning and should not wait," Browne advised at the meeting, which was held in Montefiore Medical Center's Cherkasky Auditorium.

The DEP did not return a call requesting comment.

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