It's been over 20 years, but Wawarsing's maddest, wettest homeowners have finally gotten what they've been clamoring for -- a clear admission, from the highest level of command at the New York City DEP, that the leaky Delaware Aqueduct has been damaging their houses. The Times-Herald Record reports:
The commissioner's visit was a break from the DEP's insistence that sufficient evidence could not draw a line from the leak to home damage. Homeowners appreciated the change of tone. When [Cas] Holloway admitted outright that a leak even existed, the Wawarsing homeowners applauded him.
"He seemed a little nervous and his hands were shaking, but I got a good feeling from his visit," said Andrea Smith, a homeowner on Route 209 who's kept a photo album of flooding since the 1980s.
Commissioner Holloway is promising some kind of help for every case where, in his words, "we are able to see a connection between the leak and problems in any of your homes." It's still unclear what kind of help is forthcoming -- homeowners are, no doubt, hoping some of it comes with a check attached.
Ulster County's blogging comptroller, Elliot Auerbach, isn't quite satisfied:
It is nice that the DEP Commissioner finally and publicly admitted the culpability of his agency but that still does not resolve the problems that the home owners are faced with. I feel the frustration of those folks in Wawarsing who return home to deal daily with flooded homes, mold infested basements and swamped properties. Let's put their needs first and address the tunnel repairs once we have helped the homeowners.
Earlier: DEP apologizes to soggy Wawarsing
