KINGSTON – The Catskill Mountainkeeper is on the side of Ulster County government with its planned lawsuit against the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

The county is upset over the way the DEP handled ridding the Lower Esopus Creek of turbid water. It took the DEP three months before it flushed the dirty water from the creek, prompting County Executive Michael Hein to say he will move forward with a lawsuit to prevent the New York City agency from doing it again.

Catskill Mountainkeeper Executive Director Ramsay Adams is supportive of the county’s position.

“We need to hold the DEP’s feet to the fire,” he said. “Watershed communities have to fight for their clean water and their resources and the fact that the Esopus that the Esopus has been too turbid is something that needs to get fixed, so we completely support the efforts of Ulster County to stand up for itself.”

The DEP recently flushed the Lower Esopus that brought the creek up to clean water standards.