Dredge at Work
I have e-mailed to the website the Army Corp and DEC permits for Mudd Creek in Cutchogue so that you can view the actual permits and conditions. Click here to see the document. What I wanted to share with you is how this all happened. We need to remember that the dredge window for Mudd Creek expires on 12/15. You might recall my posting I guess about 4-6 weeks ago of the efforts to get the DEC to release the permit. The DEC application was sent by the County to the DEC back in June. The processing of this permit became delayed as a result of a reduction of staff and backlog of work.
With the assistance of Ken LaValle and Marc Alessi, this permit was released over six weeks ago. This was important as the Army Corp needed to receive this permit so that NY Dept of State could provide a letter of concurrence for the project. The application for the Army Corp permi was sent in back in July, but had not been processed until about six weeks ago. Thinking all was well, my bubble was burst when the NYDOS requested an Audubon bird report for the area for the presence of Plovers. John Sep with the Town responded and the report was provided. Now AC permits must be posted for public notice for four weeks prior to being considered for release. Thinking that all was well, my bubble was burst when the posting had not been done by the second week of November. This was when I solicited assistance from Hillary Clinton’s staff. They came through and talked the AC into posting it, with a closing date of 12/4 which was less then the normal four weeks. This action by the AC was really great and they should be commended for reducing the four week posting window. Thinking that all was well, my bubble was burst when we found out around 12/1 that one property owner objected to the project. I spoke with the property owner and addressed her concerns, and SCDPW addressed her concerns to the AC. Thinking all was well, my bubble was burst when earlier this week the permit was not released. I made a call to Tim Bishop’s office and they responded. The permit was released late Tuesday. SCDPW drove the permit around the County and into the City for approrpriate signatures in an attempt to validate the permit. Thinking that all was well, my bubble was burst when the weather prevented the rig from traveling from Riverhead to Mudd Creek yesterday. SCDPW came to the resuce by authorizing the overtime to get the job done by the dredging window deadline of this Monday, 12/15.
As one can see, many individuals should be commended for their assistance. Peter Scully and George Hammath with the DEC, Naomi Handle with the AC, John Sep with the Town, Kristen Walsh in Hillary Clinon’s office, Jon Schneider in Tim Bishop’s office, Jennifer Street with NYDOS, Marc Alessi, Ken LaValle, Bob Whelen and the team in SCDPW and now we hope Mother Nature who will be kind to us over the next four days so that the project can be completed by Monday. Anyone with nothing to do this weekend, I am sure that the guys on the rig and beach would enjoy a hot cup of coffee.
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