Pete Lopez is looking for answers and accountability on a series of missteps and failures at New York City's Gilboa Dam during Hurricane Irene.
To that end, he's asking for a joint hearing by the Assembly and Senates-and hopefully some financial compensation for the damages DEP's decisions caused.
"Is it safe? Can it be safe?" Assemblyman Lopez asked of the 90-year-old NYC-owned dam.
"We've been terrorized by this thing hanging over our heads long enough. It's time for some real answers."
The scenario of what happened at the dam as Irene hit is sobering, Assemblyman Lopez said.
Video feed from the dam was lost and communications failed, "even as waters surged to record levels, rivaling...Niagara Falls..."
Downed trees and unruly winds foiled DEP's backup plans for getting engineers to the site and a false warning that the dam had failed caused widespread panic in the Schoharie Valley.
"I was at the Emergency Management Center when [DEP's] Paul Rush called and said a 'potentially hazardous situation was developing'," Mr. Lopez said.
"My response was, 'So, you're telling us to get the hell out of there?', and his answer was, 'Yes.""
Problems continued with Hurricane Lee when sirens at the dam malfunctioned and weary and gun-shy residents were evacuated again.
DEP has said it will help replace the dam's warning sirens lost in the flood, but Assemblyman Lopez said that's not enough; people's lives are at stake.
"It all begs the question: What the heck are we doing? And should we be doing it differently?"
Howard Bartholomew, president of the Dam Concerned Citizens, agrees.
Mr. Bartholomew said his concerns focus in large part on a 200-foot notch cut in the dam for construction work-a notch that no one outside DEP knew about.
That notch and a temporary wooden bulkhead changed the flow of water over the dam, he said, and when the bulkhead failed at 10:04am the morning of the storm, it sent a wall of water downstream-to the New York Power Authority's upper reservoir.
"DEP needs to be held accountable," Mr. Bartholomew said, echoing Assemblyman Lopez's words.
"The Power Authority didn't know of that notch...they didn't know that water was coming. DEP placed that dam in jeopardy too," calling for additional flood gates.
"They should realize their responsibility doesn't end at the base of the dam. We wish them no harm, but they should do us no harm either."
Bob Mann, Blenhein supervisor, said he backs Assemblyman Lopez's call for a hearing; he wants all the rumors he's heard put to rest.
"It's important to us to understand whether everything they've done there is proper," he said.
Mr. Mann also said that if DEP's management of the dam was in any way responsible for damage in the Valley, they need to come forward with compensation for repairs.
The same goes, he added, for the New York Power Authority.
'You hear a lot of things," he said. "The rumors are flying.
"Maybe under oath, we can get the truth," added Mr. Bartholomew.