Description of Events.

 08/21/06 (Monday)

     On 08/21/06, around afternoon Fire department and Department of Health contacted Mr. Thomas Thomas and informed him about an oil spill on the Church Premises. On arrival at the Church it was found that the garden hose which was connected to the waterline was purposefully inserted into the entry port of the Oil Tank and the water was left running for an unknown amount of time with the intent of causing a spill. This resulted in an overflow of a mixture of Oil and water which percolated into the Soil, flowed all the way down to the basement, boiler room and through the retaining wall on to the walkway in the street. Neighbors who witnessed the leak contacted Yonkers Fire department and Police who in turn contacted the Department of health. DOH who arrived at the scene contacted Tri-State Environmental Services, Inc. to clean up the oil in the Tank in order to prevent further spill/ leakage. All the committee members were present in the church later in the evening. State police took report of the incident from the members who were present. Later on at night committee members contacted the Yonkers police Dept and obtained the police report number. Copy of the police report would be available in about two weeks.
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08/22/06 (Tuesday)

Alex Joseph and Thomas Kurien, Committee members arrived at the church at 9.00 AM and waited for the Insurance personnel but he did not show up.  At about 9.30 A.M Mr. Todd Eusey, form the Department of Environment Conservation and Ms. Danielle, from Department of Health arrived at the Church. Mr. Eusey took photographs of the damaged areas, he also informed that work for the removal of the soil and other debris had to commence within a few days. Request for additional time was declined. Ms. Danielle from DOH also made a report and insisted insurance intervention within 24 – 48 hrs.

Since DEC instructed that work should commence within days. Secretary called for an emergency Community Meeting to discuss the involvement of the Knanaya Community. The committee meeting was held at the residence of Mr. Juby Thomas (as the environment in the church was not favorable) in the presence of all the current committee members.

The following decisions were taken.

(a)   To call for an emergency meeting of all Church members to discuss issues related to the incident.

(b)  Each committee member was assigned a definite area to contact the respective members to expedite the process.

(c)  Fund raising.

(d)  Granting of contract.

(e)   Ascertain the deed and title of the church.

(f)    The Emergency meeting was scheduled to be held on 08/25/06 Thursday at 7.00 Pm at St. Peters Knanaya Church, Yonkers.

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08/23/06 (Wednesday)

         Assigned individual contacted the respective members in various areas to convey the message regarding the Emergency meeting and the same was posted in the “WEB SITE.” 

Committee Members got together at the Church and boarded the entry to the basement in order to minimize the odor from entering in to the main floor. Which might cause dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, burning sensations, headache etc? Agenda for the Emergency meeting was also formulated.

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08/24/06 (Thursday)

Adjuster for Church Mutual Insurance Mr. Al Carbonero, visited the church and took photographs of the damage. He informed Mr. Biju Joseph (Treasurer) and Mr. Alex Joseph (CM) who were present about the coverage. According to Mr. Carbonero, the structure of the Church has only been insured. Therefore any damage that has incurred due to the oil spill on the property will not be covered further, if the basement needs to be excavated as per states recommendations then another assessment needs to be done to assess the value at a future date.

A total of fifteen Church Members including the six committee members were present in the meeting which was conducted by Secretary, who was authorized by the President. Details of the events till date were summarized.

The following options were laid out on the table.

(a)   To grant the contract to Tri-State Environmental Services, Inc. Who were familiar with the problem. Rather than inviting other contractors who would take a longer period of time to respond, and

(b)   To raise funds through individual contributions i.e to divide the entire expense among all the members equally, or

(c)  To encourage individuals / families to volunteer to loan money to the Church, this would be repaid in about five years, or

(d)  Since work had to be undertaken immediately and funds were required upon completion, raising a substantial amount of money within such a short period of time was deemed to be impossible. It was therefore decided to pledge the Church and raise funds by applying for line of credit.

All the members present were in favor of the decision (a) and (d).

The meeting was adjourned at 9.30 PM.

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08/26/06 (Saturday)

Tri-State Environmental Services installed two exhaust fans inside the church to blow out the air from inside the Church to prevent uneasiness as per the recommendation of the state.

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08/27/06 (Sunday)

    Church Holy mass was celebrated by Rev. Fr. E.M. Abraham vicar of St.Peter’s church, Yonkers and Rev. Fr. C. M. Punnoose. Secretary Mr. Elias Mathew presented the updates of the incidents till date. Majority of church members were present in today’s service. It was unanimously decided by all members present to.

(1)     Hire a Lawyer to represent the Church for future legal expertise and to communicate with agencies such as DEC, DOH, YPD, State Police and Insurance Agencies etc.

(2)     Contact the appropriate financial agencies to obtain line of credit to finance the current project.

(3)     It was also decided to draft a memorandum, which would be signed by all the members of the church and forwarded to the political representatives of the county and state to pursue into the vandalism and to apprehend the culprit(s).

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