Site preparation work at the Mosholu Golf Course for the Croton filtration plant has already begun. Archaeologists have begun to identify areas to look for historic artifacts at hundreds of points around the golf course (marked by tiny red flags), and it appears that the red Xs pictured here identify trees that will be cut down to make way for the facility. 

While Charles Sturcken, a DEP spokesman, said he was not sure if the Xs relate to the filtration plant project, he did say the trees would eventually be removed. The first trees to go, however, would be those along the 233rd Street exit off the Major Deegan Expressway, so that the DEP can make way for a new entrance to the construction site in the park. 

Meanwhile, three lawsuits are making their way through the courts. The latest one, 
brought by the town of Eastchester, argues that because the town will have to filter its water if the plant is built in the Bronx (rather than further upstream in Westchester), that fact should have been considered in the environmental impact statement. 

The DEP disagrees. "We believe this claim is baseless," Sturcken said.