Letter: Water, Not Warehouse: What Does It Mean?
It means the Greater Milford Area is at a critical turning point. Irresponsible developers want to put a MEGA Warehouse on top of the heart of the Milford Springs Aquifer that sits directly under and around the I 84/Rt.6 Interchange. This Aquifer provides water to 2,400 customers of the Milford Water Authority and it provides over 50 homes with their well water.
PENNDOT and the Federal Highway Administration made a mistake in 1968 and placed this Interchange right on top of the Milford Aquifer. Milford was compensated that year for the damage done to its Springs - but that mistake still haunts development around the I 84 Exit 46 Interchange ever since.
So the question becomes, do the local citizens value their drinking water source - the Milford Aquifer and Springs, or do they value a MEGA Warehouse more?
However, the community is fighting back. The Milford Water Authority, Milford Borough, The Milford Twp. Planning Commission, and recently the Pike County Commissioners along with Friends of the Milford Aquifer, The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Air, Soil and Water, Delaware Valley Action and other local groups have all joined the fight against them.
These developers are also a powerful group of investors, threatening to sue if they do not get their way. These developers include, MILPROP II Associates LLC., National Land Developers and LVL Engineering. Historically, some of these same developers wanted to put a Shopping Mall in 1989, and Home Depot in 2000 in this exact same spot. They were defeated by community outrage. But they have not learned their lesson and are back again in 2023 with a MEGA Warehouse Project.
This small group of investors is trying to cash in on the latest MEGA Warehouse craze that shows signs of maxing out. They do not even have a vendor. So this is a spec building, hoping that if they build it - they will come. They are seeking approval from the Milford Township Supervisors without doing an Aquifer Impact Study. A study that any reputable developer would do - if building on top of a Town's drinking water aquifer.
They do not want to do this needed Aquifer study because they say the 50 thousand dollars is too much of an up front investment - they want their application approval first. As part of a smoke and mirrors operation - they hired 4 experts to try to pull the wool over the public's eyes that this is a perfect site for a 434 thousand sq. ft. MEGA Warehouse. That is 16.46 Football Fields of impervious surface on top of a fully functioning Glacial Outwash, Sand and Gravel, Unconfined Aquifer - just 2.800 ft and 8 Hour flow time to the Milford Springs below.
An Unconfined Aquifer does not have any protective bedrock layers like a confined aquifer - that you have to drill deep for water. By contrast, an Unconfined Aquifer is shallow, about 30-65 ft. deep and is notoriously sensitive to surface water pollutants that easily filter through sand and gravel to the water below. If they place a MEGA Warehouse directly on top, where 350 truck trips and 499 car trips per day will traverse - they are putting our aquifer in the direct line of any leaking truck and car contaminants.
Leaks like: Engine Oil, Anti-Freeze, Brake Fluid, Transmission Fluid, Power Steering Fluid, Diesel and Gasoline are potential aquifer contaminants. Plus, air pollution from burning gasoline and diesel fuel - creates harmful byproducts like nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Volatile Organic Compounds like benzene, acetaldehyde, and 1,3-butadiene, hydrocarbons, and formaldehyde - are other contaminants. These chemicals can form "Particulate Matter or Soot" that can easily be carried to the shallow aquifer by rainwater.
Plus what if the worst scenario happens - a fire, explosion, an accident, or a natural disaster? The water or foam needed to put out the fire creates highly contaminant runoff that will go directly into the Milford Aquifer and Exceptional Value Stream - Sawkill Creek directly next to this site. Our Exceptional Value Streams in PA are rapidly disappearing with only 2% left. They need our protection, not exploitation. A recent study shows our PA Pocono Region EV Streams provide 3 billion in economic stimulation.
Historically, Milford has a strong environmental ethic. By way of Gifford Pinchot, the first forestry school was started in Milford Pa. This led to the creation of the National Forestry Service. With Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford helped preserve 23 million acres for posterity. Milford is the Birthplace of the Modern Conservation Movement.
Instead of a MEGA Warehouse, this Aquifer Land should be placed in a Conservation easement and preserved forever. Tom Hoff the former esteemed director of the Milford Water Authority said in 2006, "It is easier to buy the land, than to fix the springs."
That is what WATER Not WAREHOUSE means. If these developers get this first MEGA Warehouse - the rest of the undeveloped land around this Interchange - 365 acres in total, will explode with more MEGA Warehouses and all the support systems necessary like - truck stops, fast food, hotels/motels and the like. All this will be on top of or within "steep-slope influence" to our drinking water supply. Just because you cannot see the water like a reservoir, rest assured it is there. Many Scientific Studies and hydrological tests have proven and delineated the presence of this aquifer in this spot. The many visible ponds and wetlands that are in every quadrant of this Interchange are a dead give away of the aquifer below.
So you have to ask yourself - Why do these developers NOT want to do an Aquifer Impact Study up front? Why have they hired experts to do preliminary "Assessments" - not real local data collection studies? They claimed they did an Environmental Impact Study with NO professional studies to back that up.
They have a wetlands expert that says - "there is much to do about the Aquifer "... "this is a good spot for a warehouse." They hired a city planner that did not do a Cost Benefit Analysis but his assessment is - "I can see no downsides to this project." They hired a Traffic expert that looked at truck/car book formulas - not local data and came to the conclusion - "this warehouse will have no adverse effect on our traffic patterns." And the best shocker of all - they hired a Source Water Protection expert that says "Source Water Protection Studies are living documents that generate data," for communities to embrace. But then he disparages the Milford Water Authority's Source Water Protection Plan of 2006 that was done by a grant from the PA DEP and performed by a licenced Hydrologist. He said, "I am not impressed by this study." Of course not - you were paid to diminish our scientific data and replace it with your measly "assessment." How gullible do you think the citizens of Pike County are?
So now that you know this background and agree with the Statement - "Water Not Warehouse," here are Concrete Steps the Common Voting Citizen Can Take:
Action 1) Place on your calendar, Monday May 22, 2032, at 6pm The Public Hearing for this MEGA Warehouse Project at the Delaware Valley High School Auditorium. LVL Engineering and National Lands Developers will present their smoke and mirrors case to the Milford Twp. Supervisors. Be a front row witness to this pathetic display of hubris. Come show support for our drinking water and for the future health and safety of our community.
Action 2) Take the Milford Twp. Comprehensive Plan Survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MilfordTownship and emphasize better water protection in decision making and ordinance Writing. Ask to help place this sensitive Aquifer Land into a conservation easement to protect it forever. (Do not worry if you do not reside in Milford Twp. - Water does not obey Municipal Boundaries and water is a Human Right and a PA Constitutional Right.)
Action 3) As part of the Imagine Pike PA. 2035 initiative, take the Pike County Comprehensive Plan Community Input Survey that can be accessed at this link - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WVJCM3V
Please ask the Commissioners to protect our sensitive Drinking Water Sources as Pike County continues to grow in the future. Ask to help place this sensitive Aquifer Land into a conservation easement to protect it forever. This Comprehensive Plan Community Input Survey ends on May 30, 2023 - so take this survey ASAP.
Action 4) Ask for a Yard Sign that says - WATER Not WAREHOUSE. Contact vdibiasi54@gmail.com for your sign. Or pick yours up at the ARTERY at 210 Broad Street, Milford PA. between 10 am - 6pm. Thursday thru. Monday. DVA! also has more of our WATER Not WAREHOUSE signs. If anyone would like one/some, write us: delawarevalleyaction@gmail.com and we'll deliver them
Action 5) Join and/or help the mission of the Facebook Group - Friends of the Milford Aquifer:https://www.facebook.com/groups/940720343329153.
Thank You. Vito DiBiasi
Friends of the Milford Aquifer
vdibiasi54@gmail.com
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