More Trees, Less Plastic, Reduced Flooding Goals of Federated Conservationists

By Michael Gold

Imagine a Westchester with more shade trees planted in town centers, reduced plastic packaging for take-out foods and other products and parking lots with permeable surfaces to absorb storm runoff.

Rand Manasse and Larry O’Connell, co-presidents of the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County (FCWC), are working to help ease the pain of climate change. I met with them recently to learn more about what the FCWC does.

The organization is working with nonprofit groups to develop programs and grants to increase green space in the county’s urban spaces. The goal is to make living, working and shopping in these areas healthier and more comfortable.

More tree cover would not only help shoppers and pedestrians, but commercial buildings too. Increased heat means stores have to crank up their air conditioning units, which increases their utility bills.

“It has been reported that energy for AC usage will increase approximately 1 to 9 percent for each two-degree increase in temperature,” Manasse pointed out.

The FCWC is also working with the state legislature to try to pass a law reducing plastic packaging, Manasse said. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Peter Harckham (D-Lewisboro), passed in the Senate this past June and is awaiting passage in the Assembly.

The FCWC is one of the many groups of environmental advocates and stakeholders, including the Sierra Club, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Beyond Plastics and the New York League of Conservation Voters trying to turn the bill into state law, stated Tom Staudter, spokesperson for Harckham’s office, in an e-mail.

The bill is important, Staudter emphasized, because, right now, “municipalities, many with tight budgets, spend millions each year to pick up packaging and recycling.” Plus, he stated, “not everything gets recycled.” Recycling rates for all kinds of materials are too low, he explained.

The FCWC is focused on county issues, too, from flooding and stormwater runoff, land use and clean water to environmental justice.

“Westchester County sewers can’t handle flooding,” Manasse said.

During severe storms, sewer systems release water into the county’s rivers and Long Island Sound. Manasse advocates rebuilding the systems to allow for the increased volume of rainfall.

“We are getting thousand-year storms” on a regular basis, Manasse said. “This was the hottest July ever. Climate change is what’s driving these flooding events. We have destruction of property. People are being killed,” he explained.

Two women in southwest Connecticut, about 60 miles from Westchester, died in flash floods on a state road in August.

O’Connell, who hunts for new ideas by going to environmental conferences around the country, told me he had once viewed a demonstration of a permeable parking lot surface, which he thought “was a great idea, when you see all this water” from torrential rains, he said.

The permeable asphalt O’Connell looked at had a composite material that allowed water to sink into the ground, potentially preventing road flooding.

In terms of land use, the FCWC believes in development that “has to be done in an environmentally sound way,” Manasse said. For instance, the FCWC is examining a proposal to build more than 30 homes on a ridge above Pocantico Lake.

“Consistent with FCWC’s original and long-standing mission to advocate for public parks, FCWC is working to ensure that the proposed development adjacent to Westchester County’s Pocantico Lake Public Park does not ruin the park-going and recreational experience for all Westchester residents that enjoy the park, in addition to ensuring that the beauty and environmentally sensitive features of the park are protected,” Manasse wrote in an e-mail after our interview.

“The situation at Pocantico Lake County Park is a perfect example of why the FCWC is needed,” said Rhea Mallett.

Mallett is part of a countywide grassroots movement to save the lake from the proposed development, which “could impact wildlife and wildlife habitat and pollute a potential source of drinking water for Westchester County,” she explained.

Also, the FCWC is examining the proposed Rye Lake Water Filtration Plant, near Westchester County Airport.

Concerning environmental justice, the FCWC highlights the work of community groups, such as in Mount Vernon, where the Environmental Leaders of Color (ELOC) has sponsored campaigns to recycle cooking oil and help prevent sewer system overflow.

Both Manasse and O’Connell have business backgrounds. Manasse was a financial turnaround specialist, then founded a solar company, which has installed solar arrays. He’s now a green energy investor.

O’Connell worked for Con Edison for 20 years as a project manager, then spent eight years as an MTA financial analyst. He’s currently an economics and statistics professor at several area colleges.

They recommend people compost and purchase electric lawn equipment and electric vehicles.

To sign up for FCWC’s newsletters on environmental actions you can take, visit https://www.fcwc.org/join-us.

Michael Gold has had articles published in the New York Daily News, the Albany Times Union, and other newspapers, and The Hardy Society Journal, a British literary publication.