Editorial
Filtration Crossroads

Five years ago we published a special section on filtration that is perhaps even more timely now than it was then. It was entitled, "Community at a Crossroads."

That was when the city was all set to move ahead with a water filtration plant at Mosholu Golf Course in Van Cortlandt Park. It might have succeeded if the state's highest court didn't rule that approval from the legislature was required for what is called "alienation" of parkland. 

Almost everyone around here thought the park was safe since the state Assembly always defers to the member whose district the project is in. But four years later, Speaker Sheldon Silver flouted tradition and allowed a vote on an alienation bill that narrowly passed. Governor Pataki followed suit soon thereafter with his signature. 

Perhaps we were naive, but we didn't expect the borough's elected officials to agree to a bribe of $200 million in unspecified parkland improvements with little to no knowledge of the complicated issues at hand. 

Can any of them assure a Norwood mother or father that their child's asthma will not be exacerbated by the plant's construction? Can they guarantee that children doing their homework on 213th Street or Knox Place will not be distracted for five years or more during the digging and blasting? Do they know for a fact that traffic during construction will not bring the area's already clogged arteries to a standstill? Can they really continue to state that building in the city is cheaper when the environmental study indicates that Eastview will be less expensive? 

The officials are fond of saying that these questions are why they insisted that the city complete a new environmental study analyzing the impacts of the Mosholu site.

So, if we take them at their word, then we expect to see all the elected officials who took the city's offer at DeWitt Clinton High School for the hearing on the environmental study on March 3 at 7:30 p.m. 

That said, the community is now truly at the crossroads. By June it will probably be determined once and for all whether or not this plant is going to be built in the Bronx or in Westchester. If community residents truly want the city to build the plant at Eastview, an industrial site in Westchester, as many local community leaders advocate, a large turnout at the Clinton hearing is essential. 

It is no longer fair or possible to rely on the committed core of community leaders who have been attending meetings, hearings and rallies on this issue for a decade. If there is any chance of getting the city to change course, every resident who cares about the future of Norwood and the surrounding area must stand up and be counted.

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