Featured Letter: Amper made the right call at EPCAL

To the Editor:

Riverhead Councilman John Dunleavy should check his facts before attacking community leaders in the newspaper (“Town did the right thing,” Nov. 29).

He charges that Pine Barrens Society executive director Richard Amper attacked the storage of cars wrecked by Superstorm Sandy on Riverhead Town land, but not on the land of private property owners.

In fact, Mr. Amper first broke the news about cars dumped in grasslands on the Burman property at EPCAL, before expressing concern about those heaped on town land. Then, he notified authorities about other car dumps in the Pine Barrens and state-designated Special Groundwater Protection areas.

The DEC and Suffolk are moving to force removal of cars from private lands and not on the land controlled by Riverhead. Most environmentalists agree with Mr. Amper that contaminants spilled from cars on pavement will end up in groundwater due to runoff from the pavement, so both sources of pollution should be addressed.

Dunleavy concludes, “Mr. Amper attacks Riverhead Town with his obviously biased opinions.”

What bias?

Matt VanGlad, Calverton

Read Mr. Dunleavy’s and more Letters to the Editor by clicking for the E-Paper.