Renalise Vasquez testifies on Project Esencia
Renalise Vasquez, environmental planner and Sierra Club Puerto Rico chapter director, testifies in support of Resolution 494. She details Project Esencia's water demands, environmental threats, and tax credits.
Thank you.
And if we can try, and I was tardy, so important to keep remarks to two minutes.
And with that, I'll call Hernales.
You may begin.
Good afternoon members of New York City Council.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
My name is Renalise Vasquez.
I am environmental planner from Guayama and chapter director of the Sierra Club Puerto Rico chapter.
21 years ago, our chapter was forged in the heat of the struggle to protect the North's ecological corridor.
Today, that legacy of resistance has grown into a powerful movement of more than 2,000 members across the archipelago, including right here, members of Cabo Rojo.
And I am here today in strong support of the resolution for 9-4.
Today we have more than 2,000 in the corridor.
The Donaris Ecological Corridor Community offers resort with more than 3,000 proposal units and three golf courses.
And it's the same that Cabo Rojo is today fighting.
We warn about water shortage, lost beaches across and threat of the nesting habitat on the Tinglar.
During the hurricane in Maria, it wetland absorbed rainwater and helped to shield nearby community.
That struggle taught us that the cost is worth more than a development wants to build on.
and the government can choose to protect it.
Cabo Rojo now faces a similar decision.
Project Essencia will cover over more than 2,000 acres and three miles of coastal lines near national resources, wetlands, and habitats for the Enders Guaybario.
The project has yet not answered the basic question, where will the water came from?
The Aqueduct and Sewer Authority told the Puerto Rico Senate that the plant serving Cabo Rojo cannot meet Essencia's estimated demand of 1.2 million gallons of water a day.
The developers say that they will rely on private wells.
Time expired.
Only one of five well-tested provide viably.
It reports Yale was about one-ninth of the project daily demand.
We signed up saltwater intrusion.
A promise of self-sufficiency cannot replace an independent long-term water study.
Essencia is associated with an estimated $497,700,000 in tax credit.
Meanwhile, the median household income in Cabo Rojo is about $26,400, and 38% of the residents live in poverty.
Puerto Ricans are repeatedly told there is no money for the public services or community needs, and a federal oversight board has overseen a budget.
Hi, if you could just wrap up in 30 seconds.
College, fantasy.
Can be complete on the development of the board is complicity of the system.
Our role of needs.
They're defining jobs and investment.
Public resources to support reliable water.
Resiliency home, access to beaches, and restore habitat that the people remain in their community.
Its residents should not have to put their water and cost of the risk of the government.
They have investigated, testified, organized, and marched, and they are not standing in the Puerto Rico future.
They are existing in a future where they can still live in their home.
Bye.
If you could just wrap up, please.
Thank you.
Approve this resolution 454.
Thank you.