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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE03-73

November 26, 2003

Contact: Ian Michaels (718) 595-6600

New DEP Police Precinct Opens In Grahamsville

Commissioner Christopher O. Ward of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today marked the opening of the Department’s new police precinct stationhouse in Grahamsville with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new building at the intersection of Routes 42 and 55.

The Department also opened a second building in Grahamsville today for engineering and land management offices, including a steam-cleaning facility for boats. Continuing its partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers following security threats related to the September 11th attacks, the Corps performed the bulk of the design work for the new buildings and acted as construction manager for the project.

“The new buildings at Grahamsville will allow us to better serve the region and to react more quickly to any threats to the water supply,” said Commissioner Ward. “We also work closely with local law enforcement agencies throughout the watershed to supplement the important work they do. We look forward to our continued cooperation with Sullivan County officials to maintain a safe, secure and clean environment.”

The Department of Environmental Protection will hold a Community Day at the precinct on November 29, from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Refreshments will be served as local residents get to meet officers and members of the DEP Division of Environmental Police. Representatives from the police canine unit, emergency services unit, scuba unit and detective bureau will be on hand to answer questions and provide information about the unique mission of “environmental policing.”

The new $2.2 million, one-story, brick precinct stationhouse will house the DEP Environmental Enforcement Division’s 4th Precinct, including the Detective Bureau and Intelligence Division for West of Hudson watershed areas. Approximately 25 environmental police officers and two civilian staff members will be assigned to the building, which will serve as a base of operations for DEP Environmental Enforcement Officers 24-hours-a-day. Construction on the new building began in August 2001.

Grahamsville is the first of five new police precinct stationhouses the DEP will be dedicating in the next few months in the Catskill/Delaware watershed area. Other facilities are scheduled to open soon in Olive, Beerston, Gilboa and Downsville.

The DEP Police has over 200 environmental police officers serving in New York City and nine watershed counties. Charged primarily with protecting the water supply that nine million New Yorkers rely on every day, the DEP Police also supplement local police agencies in their day-to-day activities of community service and public protection.

 

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