Water Contamination Suit Against Dragon Springs Continues
By David Ofshinsky
Deerpark. NYEnvironcom, a local environmental nonprofit, recently continued their legal efforts to hold Dragon Springs Buddhist, Inc., in Deerpark, responsible for water contamination by filing opposition to Dragon Springs’ motion to dismiss an earlier complaint in the US District Court, Southern District of New York.
In 2022, Environcon and co-plaintiffs filed a complaint against Dragon Springs Buddhist, Inc., an entity of the Falun Gong religious group, alleging violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) at its religious, educational, and residential compound in Deerpark. Initially dismissed by the court for procedural issues, the complaint was amended and refiled in January 2023. In response, Dragon Springs filed a motion to dismiss in August 2023, which NYEnvironcom is now opposing with a challenge filed on Dec. 8.
NYEnvironcom claims Dragon Springs violates the CWA with its surface water discharge of fecal coliform into the Basher Kill and Neversink River. In its motion to dismiss, Dragon Springs contended that NYEnvironcom did not specify to what extent Dragon Springs had exceeded its State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit, and that NYEnvironcom did not identify the point source of the fecal contamination.
NYEnvironcom countered that the Dragon Springs SPDES permit only allows for wastewater discharge into an underground septic and leach field system, not surface waters, and that the CWA prohibits any type of wastewater discharge without a permit. It further states that Dragon Springs can be identified as the point source because of its location and evidence from testing.
NYEnvironcom noted the compound is in an isolated area near a steep slope, adjacent to the Basher Kill and Neversink River. The slope contains gullies and pathways that are point sources that enter into the waterways. From July 2020 to July 2023, NYEnvironcom tested both immediately upstream and downstream from the compound. Upstream results have ranged from 50.4 to 70.6 parts of fecal coliform per 100ml, while downstream results came in at 290 to 2,419.6 parts of fecal coliform per 100ml. According to New York Department of Environmental Conservation standards, water should not exceed 200 parts of Fecal Coliform per 100ml.
NYEnvironcom also requested that the Court disregard details included in Dragon Springs’ defense as prejudicial, extraneous, outside the scope of the case and an attempt to impugn the reputation of the plaintiffs. Among those details are the LinkedIn profile of one plaintiff, the NYEnvironcom website and the China 2022 International Religious Freedom Report.
A court date has not been set to address the recent filings.
Community focused news can only succeed with community support. Please consider the various subscription levels.
ncG1vNJzZmiilajAqq%2FAbmefZqOqr7TAwJyiZ5ufonyxe9aaq56qXZi8r8DApqCnmaSevK950q6grWWRnK6qutKt