The village of Sloatsburg is mourning the loss of one of their long-time residents and a passionate guardian of the environment in western Ramapo and Rockland County. Geoff Welch died Saturday at Pine Valley Center in Spring Valley after a battle with abdominal cancer. He worked and advocated for many causes in the area, including the Friends of Harmony Hall, Liberty Rock Park, the Torne Valley, Ramapo River Keeper, and the Ramapo River Watershed Conference. Geoff was a co-founder and board member of Harmony Hall and worked closely with Harmony Hall president Andrea LaMantia, and she says they are all devastated at his loss, and he will be missed…
In a statement, Ramapo legislator and Rockland County Legislature Majority Leader Alden Wolfe praised Geoff’s efforts surrounding the closing of the former Ramapo landfill Superfund site, blocking construction of two natural gas-fired power plants along the Torne Brook, and getting 15,000 acres in Sterling Forest, part of the Ramapo River Watershed, to be protected and portions of that to be dedicated as a state park. Funeral information was not yet available. He was 80.