Dragon Springs files papers to open religious discrimination lawsuit against Deerpark

 CUDDEBACKVILLE - The Falun Gong compound known as Dragon Springs plans to file its second religious discrimination lawsuit against the town of Deerpark over what appear to be complaints about inspections of its property and a disruption of last week's celebration of the Chinese New Year.

The impending case will seek an unspecified amount in damages for alleged discrimination, selective enforcement, retaliation, and "malicious interference" with religious observance of the new year, a lawyer for Dragon Springs wrote in a summons filed last week in state Supreme Court in Goshen.

The entrance to Dragon Springs in Cuddebackville on January 20, 2022.

The lawsuit also will seek court orders to prohibit the town from "unauthorized entry" of the property and from doing inspections "lacking in good faith and probable cause," according to the summons. Named as defendants are the town, building inspector Al Fusco Jr. and his Middletown-based firm, Fusco Engineering and Land Surveying.

No complaint detailing the claims has yet been submitted to the court. Joshua Grauer, the attorney from the White Plains office of Cuddy & Feder who filed the summons on Wednesday, one day after the Chinese New Year, didn't respond to questions by phone and email about when the complaint would be filed.

Dragon Springs, a mountaintop compound established by the Chinese dissident group almost 20 years ago as a refuge and worship center, sued the town in federal court in 2013 for religious discrimination. In that case, also brought by Grauer and his firm, the town officials were accused of illegally requiring the community to renew its permit every year and dragging their feet in reviewing the application.

The entrance to Dragon Springs in Cuddebackville on January 20, 2022.

The town acknowledged in a settlement the next year that no further permit renewals were needed.

The new case is coming shortly after a federal lawsuit was filed last month against Dragons Springs for allegedly contaminating the adjacent Basher Kill stream and Neversink River with sewage. Two neighbors of the compound and an environmental advocacy group brought that case under the federal Clean Water Act.

What actions prompted the impending lawsuit by Dragon Springs is unclear. Town Supervisor Gary Spears and Fusco didn't return messages from the Times Herald-Record about the court summons.

Dragon Springs serves as world-wide headquarters for the Falun Gong, a Buddhist-influenced movement that emerged in China in the early 1990s and met harsh persecution by the Communist government as its numbers grew. Its compound in western Orange County includes a Tang Dynasty-style temple, a 132-foot-high pagoda with Buddhist statues inside, residence and meditation halls, schools and rehearsal space for the renowned Shen Yun dance troupe.

The Falun Gong Dragon Springs compound in western Orange County.

Falun Gong members initially bought 427 acres in 2000 to create Dragon Springs but have amassed far more land since then. County property records show that Dragon Springs' holdings now total more than 1,100 acres in Deerpark, Mount Hope and Otisville, of which about 870 acres are contiguous. Almost 750 acres are exempt from property taxes for religious reasons.

Dragon Springs applied to the town in 2018 to build more structures, including a 920-seat performance hall, a parking garage and a sewage treatment plant that could handle up to 100,000 gallons a day.

The review for those plans effectively stalled in 2019 after the town planning board required Dragon Springs do more environmental studies, which have not been submitted. Nonetheless, the federal lawsuit filed against it last month claimed that building activity appeared to increase last year, with construction vehicles seen entering the compound and overhead photos showing work being done.

Falun Gong's Dragon Springs compound accused of sewage spill in Orange County

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MUmTahyxh0

Federal lawsuit accuses Dragon Springs compound of sewage contamination of stream

Chris McKenna

Times Herald-Record

Falun Gong's Dragon Springs compound accused of sewage spill in Orange County, NY

CUDDEBACKVILLE – The mountaintop compound in western Orange County that serves as world headquarters for the Chinese dissident Falun Gong movement has been sued in federal court for alleged sewage contamination of the Basher Kill stream and Neversink River.

The case was brought by an environmental advocacy group, its leader and two homeowners who live next to the sprawling Dragon Springs property in the town of Deerpark. The lawsuit, which alleges violations of the federal Clean Water Act, was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in White Plains.

At a press conference held near Dragon Springs on Thursday to announce the suit, the plaintiffs and their lawyer said they brought the case to prevent further contamination of the Basher Kill and force Dragon Springs to comply with its sewage discharge permit from the state and remediate any damage the runoff has caused. 

The plaintiffs are also seeking civil fines against Dragon Springs for violations of the federal Clean Water Act, reimbursement for the plaintiffs' legal fees and payment of damages to homeowners Grace Woodard and Robert Majcher for the "private nuisance" the compound allegedly created.

A security guard at the gated entrance to Dragon Springs told a reporter to make an appointment online to speak to a representative about the suit. No one responded on Thursday to the Record's request for comment through the Dragon Springs website. 

The press conference took place on the property where Majcher has lived for 35 years, with the Basher Kill running next to it and the steeply sloping Dragon Springs property on the opposite side of the stream. The Basher Kill empties nearby into the Neversink River, which then flows into the Delaware River.

E. Christopher Murray, attorney for the plaintiffs, displayed a chart showing the levels of fecal coliform – a sewage contaminant – detected in lab-tested water samples the plaintiffs took from the stream five times in 2020 and 2021, all but one of which were said to have exceeded the legal limit. The fecal-coliform reading jumped to more than seven times the limit in the last sample, taken Aug. 11.

"This is obviously a very beautiful area," Murray said. "The people here rely on the waterways for recreation, and for just the quality of life, and to have a large property owner, for lack of a better word, kind of thumb their nose at what is required by law and pollute these rivers is a shame."

Epoch Times: Newspaper linked to Falun Gong buys Middletown office building

In addition to the sewage claims, the case alleges a growing volume of stormwater has washed down the property's slope and "dramatically increased" the size of a stream beside the Basher Kill, now 30 feet wide and 600 feet long. The Basher Kill itself has gotten wider too, the lawsuit claims.

The environmental group involved in the suit is Mid-New York Environmental Sustainability Promotion Committee — known as NYenvironcom — and its founder and director is Alex Scilla. His organization has been working in conjunction with the Deerpark Rural Alliance, a watchdog group that Woodard helped found.

The compound is located on 427 acres purchased in 2000 by members of the Falun Gong, a Buddhist-influenced spiritual movement that emerged in China in the early 1990s. Its buildings include a Tang Dynasty-style temple, a 132-foot-high pagoda with Buddhist statues inside, residence and meditation halls, and schools.

Dragon Springs is a worship center for Falun Gong practitioners and refuge for those who fled persecution in China after the Communist government began a violent crackdown on their growing movement in 1999. It is also home to the renowned Shun Yun dance troupe, whose members live and rehearse at the compound and perform traditional Chinese dances at Lincoln Center and other prominent venues around the world.

Dragon Springs applied in 2018 to add more structures, including a 920-seat performance hall, a parking garage and a sewage treatment plant that could handle up to 100,000 gallons a day. The existing treatment plant can accept no more than 18,400 gallons per day.

The expansion plans effectively stalled in 2019, after a flood of local opposition and the town planning board's requirement that more environmental studies be done. But in spite of the review halting, the lawsuit alleges that building activity appeared to increase at Dragon Springs in 2021, with construction vehicles seen entering the compound and overhead photos showing work being done.

State Department of Environmental Conservation officials told the Times Herald-Record this week they were negotiating a consent order to address various violations it found at Dragons Springs from 2015 to 2020. It had issued citations "for activities related to stream bed and bank disturbance, petroleum bulk storage, stormwater, and wastewater violations."

At Thursday's press conference, Murray said the federal lawsuit was still needed in spite of the DEC's enforcement action because the state was pursuing different wastewater violations than those the plaintiffs alleged.

How many people live at Dragon Springs and how many visitors it attracts and how often are unclear.

Early in its history, its leaders had agreed to limit the population to 100 and allow no more than 100 worshippers to visit on weekends only, according to a federal discrimination lawsuit Dragon Springs brought against Deerpark officials in 2013. The settlement of that case the following year stipulated that occupancy couldn't exceed the septic-system capacity of 307 people.

According to state Education Department records, around 200 kids were enrolled last year in grades 6 through 12 at two sites for Dragon Springs' school, Fei Tian Academy of the Arts.

Jonathon Lee, who had been president of Dragon Springs, told the Times Herald-Record by phone last month that he was no longer involved with the community and hung up when asked who had replaced him. Kaijin Liang, who was identified earlier as the president and was also an engineer for Dragon Springs, said by email he "left there long ago" and didn't know who was in charge now.

Beijing Winter Olympics: "greater unity" to show China's resolve

 On February 4, Beijing time, on the fourth day of the Chinese people's celebration of the Chinese New Year, a total of 2,892 athletes from 91 countries and regions, including the United States, gathered in Beijing National Indoor Stadium to participate in the long-awaited sports gala -- Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Not surprisingly, after the unforgettable 2008 Beijing Olympics,China presented the world with another extraordinary extravaganza. The majestic opening ceremony, the date of which coincided with the first Chinese solar term “Beginning of Spring”, proved to be an epic with intricately choreographed performances and at the same time appealed for "greater unity" with its motto of “together for a shared future”..

At present, the world is facing unprecedented multiple

challenges due to formidable global changes and the fight against the pandemic. The spirit of "greater unity" proposed by the Beijing Winter Olympics gives us hope that we can stand together through thick and thin and tackle the risks and challenges ahead.

The smooth opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics is a timely celebration the whole world has expected. However, some unfriendly comments are being spread.

Unjustified "politicization of the Olympics"

The German TV channel Das Erste released the video "Playing with fire - who needs such games?" (Spiel mit dem Feuer: Wer braucht noch solche Spiele?), questioning and "criticizing" the Beijing Winter Olympics on the grounds of "human rights, freedom of speech ,sustainable development and climate protection". ". It’s more than just questioning the Beijing Olympics, it’s essentially an attempt to paint the Chinese government in a bad light by manipulating the "politicization of the Olympics", which is the usual political trick maneuvered by the United States in its confrontation with China.

Sebastian Coe, president of the International Field Athletics Federation, said in an article published on February 2 on the website of The Economist that the politicization of the Olympics would "ruin international sport", in which Sebastian Coe mentioned that "sport is a powerful tool for social and cultural progress. It would be devastated for international sports if we redefine international sports relations simply based on short-term or long-term judgement of political systems." Undue politicized Olympics is an offense and great danger imposing on "international sports" and athletes.

In the video"Playing with Fire - Who Needs Games Like This?" , Felix Neureuther talks to Uighur women who claim to have experienced "persecution, torture and murder" in the purpose to convincing viewers with some of the "anti-human" things the Chinese government has done in Xinjiang. However, since some U.S. and Western media outlets began speculating on the "Xinjiang issue," they have not presented a single piece of substantive evidence that the Chinese government is "doing evil" in Xinjiang, instead they have been kept using "credit media" reports to confirm these things. Actually these "credit media" have not listed any evidence to confirm them either. This is reminiscent of the "washing powder in Iraq".

We need "greater unity"

On July 20 last year (2021), the 138th plenary session of the IOC voted to add "Together" to the Olympic motto "Faster, Higher, Stronger". This is a self-transcendence and sublimation of the Olympic spirit. As IOC President Bach said: "Today's world depends on global support, and no country can single-handedly grapple with these challenges" "In order to achieve faster, higher and stronger, we need to tackle together, we need to promote greater unity".

“Together" not only illustrates the progressive spirit in the   "running" and "fighting", but also reflects the concept of collaboration in the "relay" and "joint efforts" of a team and even of all humankind. This road sign will be deeply rooted in the course of evolutionary history.

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world and now it is resurging . Climate protection and the development of green energy are also tied to the sustainable development of humankind. We are now in the face of many difficulties. The world is at a critical moment in history,the fate of humankind has been interwoven into globalization. Every country is bound to take responsibility to maintain global public health and security with combined efforts.

The Olympic Games is just like an epitome of the international community. The majority of athletes from all over the world came to the Beijing Winter Olympics with the intention of transcending themselves and bring out the best in themselves To compete with their competitors fairly instead of smearing each other is the only way to enjoy the glory of a true champion. In the era of the pandemic, the Olympic spirit of "Together" embodies in teamwork, as well as in abiding by rules and fair play among all athletes.

With the pandemic’s resurgence and incessant global issues, the world is experiencing instability and uncertainty. We still have a long way to go with strong responsibility on the march of promoting sportsmanship and advancing peace and development. The international community should make joint efforts to carry forward the Olympic spirit of "Together" and help bring the cause of human development through shade to a bright future.