Pumps that prevent Black Dirt flooding left out to dry

By Frances Ruth Harris
CHESTER — It's been a few years since heavy rain has turned Black Dirt fields into lakes.
It's been awhile since we've seen the strange sight of outbuildings, tractors, and crops submerged under murky brown water.
But among farmers at least, Hurricane Irene, in 2011, remains a traumatic memory. That year, an entire yield was wiped out just before harvest.
A new generation is now settling Chester in what's been called the "Black Dirt Renaissance." Sun Sprout Farm is dedicated to growing organic vegetables here. So is Small Miracles Farm, which also plans to build a fitness center, wellness center, restaurant, and farm market.
Joe Battiato, whose family has farmed these lush fields for generations, is sharing his expertise with Small Miracles Farm. He wants to see agriculture in Chester continue well into the future. But that can only happen with proper flood control, he said. He worries that a prime mechanism for flood control — pumps that are supposed to be maintained by Orange County — is being neglected.
"One of the three 36-inch pumps does not work," he said. "Another breaks down because it wasn’t installed correctly two years ago.”
The ditches off Meadow Avenue carry away excess water, so the Battiato family makes sure to keep them clean and clear. It's a tough job, because everything that floats makes its way here eventually, clogging up not only the ditches but the pumps too.
The county is obliged to keep the pumps in good working condition, Battiato said, and even collects money to do just that. Without well-maintained pumps and ditches, weeds will take over. Floods will become more devastating.
Justin Rodriguez, spokesperson for Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, said the county's Department of Public Works maintains the pumping station.
“There is some wear and tear between the new equipment and the old equipment and a new plan is being developed to renovate the pump station," he wrote in an email to The Chronicle.
Follow the waterBattiato said the pumping station on Cromline Creek, which hasn't run much in the last three, dry years, is at least 50 years old. The pumping action causes debris to clog the system. To keep it working right, the debris must be manually removed from the grate.
Tommy Zangrillo and Dave Stoddard run the pump, said Battiato, as did Zangrillo’s father before them.
After excess water is pumped into Cromline Creek, gates behind the pumping station, near the railroad tracks, close to stop it from flowing back to the fields. Once the water reaches Craigville, it flows into a dam with a small exit that allows the water to make its way slowly to the Hudson River.
If, during a flood, the water breaches the berm formed by the railroad tracks, all bets are off., Battiato said The water will then flow into residential areas in the Village of Chester, and even into homes.
"The county collects taxes from farmers for every acre of Black Dirt, so there’s supposed to be money to fix the pump," Battiato said. "But the county puts it in their general fund, and it disappears.”
Battiato believes it's essential to keep farming the area, not only for tradition, but to block devastation.
“People need to look at how Small Miracles Farm will maintain all the drainage ditches, which allow the flow of water preventing flooding," he said. "If Small Miracles doesn’t get the approval to do what they propose, then local people will have flooded bedrooms.”
A mission but no moneyViorel and Adriana Festinger, the third owners of Chester Meadow Farm, remember Hurricanes Irene and Sandy. They say the county water department collected signatures last spring to try to get some money to fix the pump house, but they haven’t heard any more about it. They said the Cromline pumps serve about 450 acres. Farmers pay around $100 per acre for the special tax to keep the pumps working, they said.
Rodriguez said the Cromline Creek Small Watershed District is a "separate taxation district with a budget approved by the Legislature."
The Small Watershed Protection Fund's Mission Statement says: "Provide manpower, equipment and material to keep access to pump station and assure that flood control pumps are operational. Fuel and maintain pumps. Clear ditches."
It continues: "Maintenance pumps and ditches to keep black dirt from flooding."
But no money is allocated to the district, even though the state has authorized a tax, collected from every Black Dirt farmer, to maintain the pumping station at Cromline Creek.
The Chronicle could not find specific amounts regarding expenditures or account balances in the county budget. Battiato said we wouldn't find it. It gets lost in the general fund, he said.
“The county collects taxes from farmers for every acre of Black Dirt, so there’s supposed to be money to fix the pump," he said. "But the county puts it in their general fund and it disappears."
Lauren Williams, Associate Director of Public Policy at the New York Farm Bureau in Albany, could not find it either.
"I’m going to keep doing some research, and hopefully I’ll be able to find something," she said in November.
Battiato said he has nothing to gain or lose by advocating for Small Miracles and others who want to farm here.
“I would hate to see it return to a jungle," he said.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the name of a road; it's Meadow Avenue, not Willow.