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Opinion: Study not needed to see how bad water plan is, says Ogdensburg man

Posted 7/26/19

The headline read “Stefanik Supports IJC 2014 Plan Study” and she will advocate for congress to fund the study. How much time and money were spent to come up with the 2014 Plan? Is the IJC …

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Opinion: Study not needed to see how bad water plan is, says Ogdensburg man

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The headline read “Stefanik Supports IJC 2014 Plan Study” and she will advocate for congress to fund the study. How much time and money were spent to come up with the 2014 Plan? Is the IJC admitting that the 2014 Plan is flawed?

Why else would they need to have additional studies? Our government wasted money every day and paying for additional studies of the 2014 Plan would be a total waste money. If they are going to move forward with more studies then so be it but while the studies are taking place suspend the 2014 Plan and go back to the 1958 Plan. Here we are in the third week of July and the water levels along the St. Lawrence River are still way above what they should be.

The congresswoman stated that she has consistently been meeting with constituents impacted by the flooding. Well from what I know she has met with local government officials but not with the residents that are impacted by the high-water levels.

She attended a meeting back in May in Clayton, and the only non-government officials that were allowed to attend were the Save The River Organization. This has been a similar trend whenever the IJC has held local meetings on the flooding. Residents are locked out and have no voice in this matter. The Save The River Organization is a big supporter of the 2014 Plan so the fact that they get a seat at the table tells me that neither the congresswoman or the IJC want to hear opposing opinions.

What will next spring be like if they can’t get the water levels substantially lower this fall? In my opinion that would be catastrophic. The letter that the Save The River sent to the IJC this week requesting that they periodically suspend shipping on the river to be able to increase outflows, tells me that they too are getting concerned about not getting levels to an exceptable level.

Bottom line is that congresswoman loves to secure money for whatever projects, so secure the money for the IJC to do additional studies but in the meantime suspend the 2014 Plan. I for one do not need a study to see how bad the 2014 Plan has been for those of us that live along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario.

Dick Beaulieu

Ogdensburg