Documents Developed during NYC Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP) and City Environmental Quality Review Act (CEQRA)
Documents Developed during New York State, Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and State Environmental Quality Review Act (SECRA)
Requests to New York State DEC for Public Hearing
The Coalition for Wetlands and Forests (CWF) was told that in order to have a Public Hearing we needed to provide a sufficient number of letters from residents requesting a Public Hearing. CWF sent 1,700 letters to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). The response of the NYSDEC was that a public hearing was not warranted. Since we were not granted a public hearing, we lost the opportunity to have the testimony of scientists and other experts testifying about the value of wetlands and forests, such as absorbing water, preventing flooding or buffering the effects of flooding. This is one of many benefits of wetlands and forests.
Graniteville lost 1,800 mature trees which means that we lost the potential to absorb 180,000 gallons of water per day.
Graniteville was not flooded during Hurricane Sandy while there was great loss of life elsewhere on Staten Island.
During the summer of 2021, the Graniteville forest was cut down, and the spongy soil of the wetland was compacted. The small animals were compacted with the soil. Deer who could no longer enter the forest were found dead on two of the streets surrounding the forests.
On September 1st of 2021, Graniteville was flooded for the first time ever. Now the residents have to pay flood insurance which was not the case prior to Hurricane Ida. One tree will absorb 100 gallons of water per day and evaporate it.
Only letters from public figures requesting a Public Hearing are published here. Those of residents are not published here to protect their privacy.
