Saturday, November 29, 2008

Feeding the Squirrels- Buried Fuel Tanks

As I looked out my kitchen window this morning, I was reminded that the cracked corn in the squirrel feeder was gone. They are much happier when it's full, as are the blue jays and the other little ground feeders.
Near the squirrel feeder, I can see the intake pipes to our buried fuel tank.
We are allowed by law in the state of NY to have a residential buried fuel tank, if I recall correctly from my real estate course, as long as it's under 1000 gallons.
I and others have been assisting Councilman Jay Wenk's subcommittee to contact property oweners in my neighborhood who have buried fuel tanks, to determine the potential risk to the town water supply. You see, 55 years ago, when the Bearsville Gardens was created on land once farmed by the Harder and Yerry families, the houses were placed close together, ( .2 acres) and the developer decided that the best way to manage the asthetics of fuel tanks, was to bury them.
Unfortunatly, there are a number of homeowners who have chosen not to remove or replace the original tanks, and they may pose a potential risk to the municipal water supply. The question at the moment is, how to convince or pursuade the owners of the original tanks to
address this potential problem.

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