Rye to Harrison: Fix Beaver Swamp Brook, No More Fill

– By Peter Jovanovich –

The City of Rye has demanded that New York State deny the Town/Village of Harrison's application to fill in 10,000 cubic yards of fill adjacent to Beaver Swamp Brook. Further, in a letter dated April 16 to the Department of Environmental Quality, the City urged that “corrective action be taken to rectify the stormwater flooding and wetland impacts that have resulted from modifications to the Beaver Swamp Brook Remediation Plan.”

As has been evident to Rye and Harrison residents alongside the swamp, ever since the remediation project was completed in 2005 there has been much more flooding. Because, as Rye alleged, additional fill was added during the process of removing contaminated soils, stormwater can no longer be absorbed within the confines of the swamp. Said Mayor Steve Otis, “We are taking an aggressive stance because Harrison has made significant changes, including all sorts of adjustments to the Oakland Avenue drainage, and has not shared this information with Rye.”

Rye engaged an outside consulting firm, Tessier Environmental Consulting, to produce a report on the Brook. They found that Harrison did not follow proper procedures, and double counted the additions to wetland space, while failing to account for the increase in flooding. As the report notes, “The initial plan called for a wildlife/nature preserve with low maintenance trails that would provide public access to a variety of vistas hidden on the site.” Now, Harrison is proposing to build ring roads, bleachers, ball fields and other impervious features as part of its “Project Home Run.”

Longtime Rye resident Henry King has for several years pointed out that the reclamation project would fail because the swamp sits upon a deep layer of waterlogged soil. The Tessier report confirms that judgment. It found that the wetlands are characterized by “highly organic” soils which are “very soft and vary between 12 and 55 feet below the fill. Based on these conditions, any structures bearing on this layer would be subject to excessive settlements.”

Mayor Otis says that the City will vigorously pursue its case with the DEC. “We're calling them on procedure.” Indeed, as The Rye Record has reported, Google Earth maps of the area confirm that, as the report finds, “There has been a net loss of onsite wetland as a result of the Reclamation Project.” The mayor calls on the DEC to deny Harrison's application and make Harrison return the wetland to passive open space as originally planned.

As stated in the Tessier report, Beaver Swamp Brook “is a significant ecological resource important to both the City and Harrison. In addition to serving as the municipal border between the communities, the Brook enhances the character and quality of the residential and public uses along its length.”