September 11th and the more recent earthquake devastation in Japan brought personal safety with our proximity to Indian Point into public discussion. New York State under the direction of Governor Cuomo is giving careful consideration into the longevity of Indian Point’s operation placing concerns on the State’s emergency preparedness should an evacuation by necessary.
Regardless of what New York State decides, ROSA is confident that they are not accounting for a concentration of 5,000+ more people living along Routes 202 and 306 in the coming years. Based on a proposed development for the Patrick Farm property that was given The Town of Ramapo Planning Board’s approval, this population spike could happen.
Even if our community did not experience a nuclear disaster and were evacuated due to a severe forest fire, would you with that many more residents be able to travel to safety? Would rescue vehicles and volunteer emergency workers be able to get to the source of the problem?
One more thing you need to know is that surrounding the Patrick Farm property is a major gas line. In September 2010, there was a devastating gas line explosion in San Bruno, CA resulting in death and catastrophic property damage. ROSA is calling for The Town of Ramapo to review all potential dangers related to development near a gas line and to take a conservative approach when forecasting how a new population of residents will be protected, especially if a building project is proposed high density housing. ROSA also wants the Town to consider how such explosion fires are fought. Rescue workers use chemicals sprayed from the air, not water, to combat flames. These chemicals if administered over a sole source aquifer as exists on Patrick Farm will leach into our water supply and contaminate the millions of residents who rely on it.