Questions Every Monroe Resident Should Ask Their Town Supervisor
Did the Village of Kiryas Joel knowingly contaminate a well used by Town of Monroe residents through the installation of an unauthorized salt shed? The answer is yes according to the Town Supervisor.
Below, you will find an email sent to Town of Monroe Supervisor Tony Cardone by The Monroe Gazette. As of this writing, no answer has been received by this publication.
Town of Monroe residents are encouraged to ask the Supervisor to answer these questions so that we can have a clear answer concerning the situation he described regarding the contamination of Well #4 by the Village of Kiryas Joel. The well is pictured below.
The Supervisor can be reached at tcardone@monroeny.org but I encourage you to copy Councilwoman Richardson on any emails sent to him, as the Supervisor has a long history of claiming he didn’t receive emails about important issues. Her email is mrichardson@monroeny.org
Pictured Above: The Nettie-Fred Cooperative Corporation is a group of homeowners who own property around Mombasha Lake aka the Mombasha Reservoir. The Mombasha Reservoir provides the Village of Monroe with its drinking water.
At some point (the date and time of the meeting is currently unknown) members of Nettie-Fred participated in a call with the Village and Town of Monroe — along with a unknown company — to discuss potential sources of contamination of the Reservoir. Discussion of this call can be found in this video beginning at 50:01.
During this call, the company identified “at least 25 sources of contamination—either proven or thought to be proven.” One of those sources is Well #4 and the Salt Shed built by the Village of Kiryas Joel. According to participants, the company told people on this call that they have not checked the status of these potential sources of contamination.
When asked about what’s being done to address these sources, the Mayor of the Village of Monroe, Neil Dwyer, stated that they cannot enforce or otherwise police many of these sources since they are located within the Town of Monroe. That leaves the burden on Supervisor Tony Cardone to remedy these issues.
Mr. Cardone,
At the August 20th, 2024, Village of Monroe Board meeting, you disclosed that you were aware of a known contaminant impacting the water supply of Monroe residents.
According to your statement, you said that the cause of this contamination was a salt shed erected over what Mr. Evan Bierker said was "Pump #4" on Schunnemunk Road. You corrected him to say it was "Well #4."
During your statement, you said, "We have issued violations to the Village of KJ on it. We're probably going to commence legal action in the next couple of months" (emphasis added.)
You went on to say, "There was a discussion had between Gedalya Segedin, myself, and Councilman McGinn about four years ago. (emphasis added)
He told us what he wanted to do. [...] He came in, told us what he would like to do. We said 'Ok you have to go through the process.' Next thing you know, there's a salt shed up."
Finally, you said, "I actually had a conversation today with our attorney about it. So, it's in the works. And sadly, this type of stuff takes time.
Now, since you have a problem telling the truth, I'd like to remind you that everything I just transcribed came from the following video recorded by the Village of Monroe.
Your comments can be found at 1:10:04.
Based on the statements you factually gave the Village of Monroe during a public hearing, I am sending you the following questions.
1. Did your conversation with Mr. Segedin take place before or after your election campaign for Town Supervisor in 2020? What was the exact date of your first meeting with Mr. Segedin?
2. Did you have any subsequent meetings with Mr. Segedin about this salt shed? Your email to Mr. Segedin suggests you did not.
3. When did you first become aware of the Salt Shed's installation? What actions did you take to address this issue upon learning of it beyond emailing Mr. Segedin?
Pictured Above: The Salt Shed on Schunnemunk Road that Town of Monroe Supervisor, Tony Cardone, claims was placed over the pump intake for Well #4 and causing the contamination.
4. You stated in an email to Mr. Segedin that you met with Preston Felton to discuss Mr. Segedin's unauthorized installation of the salt shed. Is that correct? When did this meeting take place? What action was suggested that you take?
5. The Town of Monroe has stated there are no records related to contamination related to the Salt Shed at Well 4. You stated you sent violations. Can you identify what violations you sent, on what dates, and what Mr. Segedin's response was, if any?
6. The Orange County Department of Health is unaware of this situation, believing the Well to belong to the Village of Monroe when first told about it. They were also unaware of any actions taken by the Town of Monroe against the Village of Kiryas Joel. Orange County Department of Health has stated they do not have any records of violations sent or known contamination of Well #4.
Did you notify the Orange County Department of Health about the installation of the salt shed? If so, when? What course of action did they recommend the Town take?
[A note to readers: Despite Supervisor Cardone’s description of a salt shed being built over the pump intake for Well #4, the Orange County Department of Health has stated that they are only aware of a salt shed located 3,000 feet from the well.]
7. Did you notify the State Department of Environmental Conservation about the installation of the salt shed? If so, when? What course of action did they recommend the Town take?
[A note to readers: Calls to the State DEC were referred to the Orange County Department of Health. Their response is noted above.]
8. Did you withhold information concerning the contamination to aid Mrs. Dorey Houle's run for the State Senate? More specifically, did you bury important information about the health and safety of Monroe residents in order to garner the political support of Mr. Segedin and Rebbe Teitelbaum?
9. Did you again withhold information concerning the contamination to aid Mrs. Houle's second run for the State Senate, only to threaten a lawsuit against Mr. Segedin after learning Teitelbaum and Segedin would not be supporting Mrs. Houle this November?
10. Did you meet with Mr. Nugent on the morning of August 20th, 2024 as stated?
[A note to readers: Mr. Nugent, Town Attorney, was asked a yes or no question via email: Did you meet with Supervisor Cardone on the morning of August 20th, 2024. He did not respond.]
11. Can you explain why it took four years for this issue to become something the public was aware about?
12. Can you explain the lack of legal action by the Town of Monroe against Kiryas Joel on this issue for four years?
13. You stated "this stuff takes time," but does it really take four years for a Town to draft a letter to a neighboring village that's contaminating its waters?
14. To your knowledge, how bad is this contamination?
15. To your knowledge, does this contamination impact the aquifer that provides drinking water to all Monroe residents? If so, did you notify the Environmental Protection Agency who would be able to act against the Village of Kiryas Joel under the Safe Drinking Water Act?
[The Monroe Gazette has reached out to the EPA and is currently awaiting comment.]
16. What remediation is being done to clean up this contamination?
17. When will the remediation be completed? Do Town residents need to boil their water? Did the Town fail to disclose the need for residents to boil their water?
18. Will the Village of Kiryas Joel pay for the clean-up, or will Town residents be responsible?
19. When will the Town begin legal proceedings against the Village of Kiryas Joel? Why are you waiting until after the election to do so?
20. What would you like to say to residents of Monroe about why you took four years to address this problem?
If Mr. Cardone answers these questions, we will let you know.
At the Town of Monroe Board meeting held on September 3rd, 2024, Mr. Cardone and Mrs. Houle did not mention this situation in any way, shape, or form.
Councilwoman Maureen Richardson later stated that no information was provided to Town Councilmembers about this situation either.
At this time, Mr. Gedalya Segedin has not been accessible for comment, nor has he returned phone calls placed to his office by The Monroe Gazette.
We have also reached out to the Village of Monroe to clarify why Orange County’s Department of Health is stating the well belongs to, and is supervised, by the Village while Supervisor Cardone says the opposite.