Delaware Riverside Conservancy Milestones:

DELAWARE RIVERSIDE CONSERVANCY MILESTONES
September 13, 2006 Incorporated as a New Jersey, non-profit organization by a group of passionate Delaware River residents in order to combat serious issues affecting the river and its residents, property owners and businesses, the Delaware Riverside Conservancy (DRC) is rapidly growing and expanding up and down the entire Delaware River Basin. Since its incorporation, the DRC has been subsequently and formally recognized by the State of New Jersey as a charitable organization and is registered in accordance with New Jersey Charitable Guidelines.

The original purposes and goals of the DRC in protecting, advocating and defending the rights and property of Delaware River residents, property owners, businesses and recreational users, continues to drive this organization. Flooding, fly ash, sewage, pollution, and various other issues have plagued the Delaware River and have devastated the lives, property, livelihood, and recreation of those who live, work and recreate on the Delaware River.

Since its inception, the DRC has been aggressively fighting and addressing serious issues through various means. The group takes its responsibilities to the river, property owners, businesses, and recreational users of the river, very seriously and utilizes and employs various means, including political, public relations, legal, etc., in the pursuit of reaching its goals. A brief glimpse into the progress the DRC has made in combating current flooding and pollution issues is outlined below.

• In June of 2005, the DRC, through their attorney, Jeffrey M. Russo, filed a Notice of Claim directly against the City of New York in regard to the egregious mismanagement of their reservoirs during the April, 2005 flooding event. The Notice of Claim was served upon the City of New York and contained eleven (11) distinct causes of action against the City of New York relating to the operation of their reservoirs during the April, 2005 flood.

• The DRC Flood Committee Chairman, Dr. Bill Vogt, has been strongly advocating flood control reform since the group’s inception. Dr. Vogt has played an active role in reservoir management and attends a variety of public meetings, including, but not limited to Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and general and flood advisory committee meetings. Dr. Vogt actively participates in flood control discussions and has made presentations to overseeing authorities on the role the reservoirs play in flooding and the lack of regulation thereof.

• Through his extensive research and work on the subject, Dr. Vogt has made several public power point presentations and continues to communicate and advocate on behalf of the DRC. Dr. Vogt’s tireless efforts have resulted in the DRC being formally recognized as a major player in flood control. Additionally, Dr. Vogt has been instrumental in effectuating changes with New York City and the DRBC with respect to flood control regulations and reservoir voids.

• On September 20, 2005, the DRC, through their attorney, Jeffrey M. Russo filed a Notice of Intent to file a Citizens Suit against PP&L in response to the massive spill of 100 million gallons of fly ash slurry and toxic pollutants directly into the Delaware River. The fly ash spill was catastrophic and unprecedented in scale. The DRC felt compelled to take immediate and aggressive action directly against the polluters and the PA. DEP in order to assure the proper and adequate protection of the river and its property owners. The Notice was served upon the EPA, NJDEP, PADEP, DRBC, LMBT Board of Supervisors, and the polluter, PP&L Corp.

• On November 18, 2005 the PADEP filed a formal lawsuit against PP&L Corp. in response to the DRC’s Notice of Intent to file a citizen’s suit. The PADEP alleged significant and severe violations in a 32-page Complaint filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and captioned Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection v. PPL Generation and PPL Martins Creek, No. 584MD 2005.

• On January 19, 2006, the DRC through its legal counsel, filed a formal Petition to Intervene in the above captioned enforcement action in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. The DRC took this action in order to assure that the group and its individual members, as well as the watershed as a whole, were properly and adequately protected. Several formal pleadings and legal documents, including briefs, were submitted to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on behalf of the DRC in order to achieve full intervention status and become a named party in the enforcement action. The DRC, through its legal counsel, Jeffrey M. Russo, Esq. and John Zaiter, Esq., appeared on behalf of the DRC in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and conducted a hearing and oral argument on the issue of intervention and participation of the DRC in the enforcement action.

• On February 24, 2006, the Honorable Keith B. Quigley, Senior Judge of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued a Court Order granting the DRC’s Petition to Intervene. This Court Order made the DRC a party to the enforcement action and the DRC, through its legal counsel, has been an active party in this litigation, which is ongoing and continuing.

• On March 30, 2006, the DRC’s legal counsel filed a Class Action Complaint on behalf of several individual members of the DRC against PP&L, claiming various causes of action and damages directly related to the massive fly ash spill of August, 2005. The Class Action Complaint was filed in New Jersey Superior Court and captioned Thomas & Nancy Shappell, et al. v. PPL Corp., PPL Generation, LLC, PPL Martins Creek, LLC. The class action was subsequently removed to Federal Court and is currently being actively litigated by the DRC’s legal counsel in New Jersey District Federal Court in Trenton, New Jersey. The purpose of the class action was to address the wide-spread damages caused to the property owners and businesses of the Delaware River directly due to the catastrophic fly ash spill. The class action provides for damages otherwise not provided in the enforcement action as the DRC intervened in the enforcement action for injunctive and reclamation forms of relief in order to protect the river, oversee the cleanup, and assure that PP&L was appropriately held accountable via major fines and penalties by the PADEP.

• In addition to the formal legal notices, motions, pleadings and lawsuits filed on behalf of the DRC, the DRC’s legal counsel is actively involved in flooding and pollution issues. The DRC’s legal counsel has been retained on an on-going and continual basis and addresses any and all issues that arise in the course of representation. The DRC’s legal counsel frequently appears at public meetings regarding flooding, fly ash, pollution, etc., and consistently and continually advocates aggressively on behalf of the DRC publicly, as well as through litigation.

• Through its legal counsel, the DRC is currently in the process of serving Tort Claims Notices directly against the City of New York relating to the June, 2006 flooding event. These Tort Claim Notices will be representative of the DRC’s continuing commitment and dedication to immediate flood reform and oversight of reservoirs and the entire Delaware River Basin.

• The DRC has retained the services of a highly qualified hydrologist in order to evaluate data and documentation relating to the flooding events that have affected the DRC membership and entire Delaware River Basin. The expert hydrologist retained by the DRC will also act as a consultant in order to address any issues with respect to proposals, plans, reports, models, etc., produced by public or private entities.