Monsey, NY - Area Community to be Blamed for Lake Suzanne's Filth

Monsey, NY - Taxpayers should not have to fund the constantly needed cleanup of Lake Suzanne, a once lovely, swimmable lake and sandy beach. Now it's an open trash heap, say local officials.

The Pascack Brook, a vital Rockland-Bergen waterway that is also the source for drinking water, has footprints in the Lake Suzanne marshes of Spring Valley and Monsey and over the decades since, it has been increasingly surrounded by houses.
In about the last 20 years, the Town of Ramapo and the county have had to dredge the lake of silt and tackle mounting trash, garbage beyond the usual plastic bags and soda cans - hay bales, children's toys, tires, plastic chairs, etc.

This year, the task of cleaning up someone else's mess fell to the Rockland Drainage Agency, the Ramapo Highway Department and five AmeriCorps program participants assigned this summer to assist the Drainage Agency in projects throughout Rockland.

But officials blames the lake's condition on the area community, and that is believable enough since the lake is right in the middle of a residential area, not some remote spot where people would drive in and dump off garbage. If the community is not adding to the trash, then it is adding to the problem by largely being silent about it.
Taxpayers and volunteers should not be reponsible. Either residents do it or the Health Department and Ramapo should issue citations for litter and health code violations.