U.S. Water News Online
NEW YORK -- The city's efforts to build a plant to filter part of its drinking water supply have been endorsed by three conservation groups.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense and the New York League of Conservation Voters said they were convinced the $1.3 billion plant is necessary for the public health, The New York Times reported.
Leaders of the groups said they made the endorsements after reviewing a 20-page paper commissioned by the Department of Environmental Protection.
Eric Goldstein, a senior lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the paper made a commitment to both filtration and watershed protection.
Some critics had feared that if the water was filtered, the city would reduce its efforts to keep the water clean at the source by carefully managing the land.
``It makes the case that hasn't been made before as to why, from a public health standpoint, filtration and watershed protection are both necessary,'' Goldstein told the Times. ``It really shifts the debate from whether the Croton system water should be filtered, to where.''
The city was required to meet a court deadline at the end of May to select a site for the project, and is considering building the plant beneath Mosholu Golf Course in Van Cortlandt Park, the Times said.
Two other sites, along the Harlem River in the Bronx or in Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, are also under consideration.
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