As this situation at High Acres unfolds, it is becoming very clear that Fresh Air for the Eastside, Inc. (FAFE) needs to become more organized. We believe the time has com for fundraising efforts. This will allow us to better conduct our own sampling throughout the community, and provide us the possibility to consult with our own environmental experts to help us better understand what is happening in our community.
The gravity of this situation is becoming too big to manage this effort solely through a public Facebook group. We are hoping to elevate FAFE to a more formalized group. Therefore, we are asking that the members of the Facebook group who are interested in becoming a formal member of FAFE fill out the form below, confirming your membership interest. So many of you have expressed an interest, but now we need real commitments.
As many of you know, we have already been working with Knauf Shaw LLP, local environmental attorneys. FAFE needs to be prepared to handle the expenses that will arise, like court filing fees, hiring experts, and legal fees. If litigation is initiated, it will be brought under the corporate name FAFE. However, some members of FAFE do still need to be named in the Complaint in order to demonstrate standing (i.e. that the group includes members as far as 5 miles from the landfill and a number in between). In this type of action, FAFE would be suing to get WM into compliance, and possibly for property damages if we can make a solid demonstration of such damages. At least this initial case would not be for personal injury.
As we wait for sample data to come in, see how WM progresses, and see what the Town and DEC plan to do, our focus right now is to get more organized and start our fundraising efforts. We are hoping to hold regular meetings, and initiate committees to handle specific tasks. So please fill out the survey below or send an email to FreshAirForTheEastside@gmail.com with your name, address, phone number and level of interest.
Please use an email address that you regularly check, because important information regarding any potential litigation will be shared via email, not on Facebook. Right now, we already know there are WM-affiliated users in the Facebook group, and we need to have a way to communicate securely. In the event that litigation seems inevitable, we would like to share our FAFE Membership list with Knauf Shaw, so that they can share secure and privileged communications via email. At this time, we are just accumulating the list for FAFE membership purposes. In addition, if we do decide to sue, we will also use this information to determine whether you are or are not willing to put your name and address in the Complaint.
Since we anticipate that you have questions, we have assembled an FAQ page to address your concerns. These are questions we had ourselves, and the answers developed in conjunction with Knauf Shaw to help you understand the move to becoming an official FAFE member. Click here to view our FAQ.
