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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 16-39

May 10, 2016

Contact:

deppressoffice@dep.nyc.gov (845) 334-7868

Overhead Utility Work Will Require Temporary Closure for Recreation at Pepacton Reservoir

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection today announced that a portion of Pepacton Reservoir will be closed to recreation for several days while utility workers perform maintenance to safety markers on power lines that pass over the reservoir. New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) will be working on the lines beginning Friday, May 13, and it expects to be finished by May 20. Workers stationed on a helicopter will replace marker balls on the power lines. These marker balls are important for safety because they make the power lines more visible to pilots.

To ensure public safety during the work, DEP will close the portion of the reservoir where the work is happening. The portion of the reservoir to be closed is located off State Route 30 just north of Miller Hollow, between Miller Hollow and Holiday Brook. All other portions of the reservoir will remain open for fishing. DEP Police will help monitor the area to ensure fishermen do not enter the work area accidentally.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing more than one billion gallons of high quality water each day to roughly 9.5 million New Yorkers. This includes more than 70 upstate communities and institutions in Ulster, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties who consume an average of 110 million total gallons of drinking water daily from New York City’s water supply system. This water comes from the Catskill, Delaware, and Croton watersheds that extend more than 125 miles from the City, and the system comprises 19 reservoirs, three controlled lakes, and numerous tunnels and aqueducts. DEP has nearly 6,000 employees, including almost 1,000 scientists, engineers, surveyors, watershed maintainers and other professionals in the upstate watershed. In addition to its $70 million payroll and $157 million in annual taxes paid in upstate counties, DEP has invested more than $1.7 billion in watershed protection programs—including partnership organizations such as the Catskill Watershed Corporation and the Watershed Agricultural Council—that support sustainable farming practices, environmentally sensitive economic development, and local economic opportunity. In addition, DEP has a robust capital program with nearly $14 billion in investments planned over the next 10 years that will create up to 3,000 construction-related jobs per year. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

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