Piermont Marsh Update
The Thruway Authority is attempting to go green with mixed results. In exchange for a Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) permit to build the new Tappan Zee Bridge (along with millions of dollars in low and noninterest loans from New York state), the Thruway Authority is required to implement numerous environmental mitigation projects including the restoration of the Piermont Marsh. At issue is what restoration of the marsh means. According to the DEC, it is the eradication of the mighty Phragmites, an invasive non-native reed now common in many wetland areas.
In May the DEC hosted an informational meeting at Piermont Town Hall about the proposed project. Presented was much information about other Phragmites eradication projects, but little addressing the concerns of Piermont residents and others who fear the marsh will be reduced to a wasteland by digging, herbicides, and acres of black plastic – methods used with marginal success in other areas.
Betsey Blair, Hudson Habitat Manager for the DEC, presented a proposal for small-scale pilot projects intended to preserve what is left of what she described as the Hudson River’s last remaining salt marsh. According to Blair, these projects would be at the southern end of the marsh and would be invisible from the village of Piermont.
Erik Kiviat, executive director of Hudsonia, an environmental non-profit specializing in advisement to non-biologists making land use decisions, reviewed Phragmites management techniques.
Gary Bickle, an environmental consultant hired by the Thruway Authority, presented his experience as manager of a 3000-acre Phragmites remediation project primarily on the Alloway Creek in southern New Jersey. The project began in 1996, and numerous techniques were tried, but Bickle said the most effective technique, burning in late fall, would not be a viable option in an area as populated as Piermont. He added that any plan implementing herbicides would require repeated applications for well beyond five years.
Also presented were similarly mixed results from Phragmites eradication projects in Constitution Marsh (Garrison), Ramshorn Marsh (Catskill), and Iona Island (Stony Point).
After an impassioned question and answer session, Blair closed the meeting by reiterating that the DEC will formulate a plan and that there will be an opportunity to comment on that plan. Her statements did little to assuage fears that the DEC will plow ahead in spite of local opposition.
An online petition opposing the use of herbicides in the marsh currently has over 10,000 signatures.
After repeated requests from 10964 for updated information, Wendy Rosenbach, regional citizen participation specialist for the DEC, responded by email that the DEC and the Palisades Interstate Parks Commission will “meet with the public this fall to review conservation strategies and solicit public input. Following this, a draft management plan will be released, again with opportunities for public comment, followed by a final management plan.” Stay tuned.