Harm from resort outweighs good

I'd like to clarify two misconceptions in your editorial on the Ulster golf
resort:

- The Pepacton as well as the Ashokan Reservoir would be affected by the proposed mega-resort, as would the streams flowing into these reservoirs. Toxic substances used in golf ''turf management'' would run into these waterways, as would silt, chemical nutrients and road residue coursing down the vast impermeable acreage formed by buildings, roads, rooftops and parking lots. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of treated effluent would be sent daily into two local streams, and other streams would be warmed by wastewater treatment discharge. All of this would affect not only the 9 million New Yorkers served by the reservoirs, but also the wildlife who drink or live in the streams -- including the region's trout.

- The much-vaunted jobs and tax revenue benefits to local residents are far less than meet the eye. The developer concedes that the effect on the local economy during the eight-year construction period would be ''marginal,'' with most construction work going to commuters. Ditto for the high-paying hospitality management jobs in a finished resort. For locals, there would be seasonal, low-paying jobs that would lower the area's median income.

Meanwhile, with the resort exempt from its full tax levy until 2025, the increasing tax burden to support added infrastructure would fall on the rest of us, many of whom could be priced out of our homes.

Susanna Margolis, Fleischmanns