DEP land acquisition hearings start Monday

We're sure the NYC DEP is very anxious for the public in their upstate watershed to be well-informed about what's going on with important local watershed issues, like their controversial land acquisition program.

That's probably why they put out a press release on Friday afternoon about a hearing on Monday. In an area where most of the newspapers publish weekly. Oh, and the press release isn't on their website, either.*

All sarcasm aside: The DEP is holding three public hearings this week to discuss the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for their planned 10-year extension of the land acquisition program after its scheduled expiration in 2012. Here's the schedule:

Monday, July 12, 2010; 6:00 pm
SUNY Delhi
Evenden Hall, Room 104
2 Main Street
Delhi, NY 13753
 
Tuesday, July 13, 2010; 6:00 pm
Hunter Elementary School
7794 Main Street
Hunter, NY 12442
 
Wednesday, July 14, 2010; 6:00 pm
Tri Valley Central School
34 Moore Hill Road
Grahamsville, NY 12740

If anyone is planning to attend any of the hearings, and would like to give us a first-person account, please let us know at [email protected].

*7/14/2010 I'm gonna have to eat some crow on this one -- I just came across this announcement on the DEP site via Google (I still can't seem to find it in their press release list!), and it looks like it's dated June 1. When I got one in my email inbox the Friday before the hearings, I assumed it was the first one. Oops.

In our defense, DEP, your website is confusing.