Mayor Thomas Urges City Council to Act on Environmental Obligations

(Tuesday, July 24, 2018) — Today, Mayor Richard Thomas urged the City Council to act on environmental compliance orders that are before them, including the authorization of payment to the Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC has ordered Mount Vernon to pay an additional $10,000 in environmental penalties.

Mayor Richard Thomas said, “It is time for the City Council to stop playing chicken with environmental regulators and to stop with the politics. Last night, the Council had an opportunity to take concrete action and they only they voted for was more litigation and lawsuits against our city. Mount Vernon faces crippling fines and penalties that could have easily been avoided. Every day that the City Council refuses to act, Mount Vernon runs the risk of thousands more dollars that our taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay.

I urge the City Council to call a special meeting to authorize payment to the DEC and fund the roles of city engineer, planning commissioner, and additional DPW crews. Mount Vernon deserves a clean environment and we need the City Council to play their part.”

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