A fracking threat we can’t afford
September 10, 2020--In this powerful Daily News op-ed Mountainkeeper's board member, Mark Ruffalo, and our Sr Research Director, Kathy Nolan, sound the alarm on a dirty and dangerous fracked liquefied natural gas project that threatens the Delaware River as well as the people and creatures that rely upon its waters.
Ulster County issues cease and desist order against town of Kingston polluter
August 24, 2020 - Click the headline above to read the Daily Freeman's coverage of Mountainkeeper's ongoing work to stop illegal dumping.
Historical assessment could undermine plan for fabrication plant on Route 28
August 21, 2020 - Click the link above to read the Daily Freeman's coverage of New York State's August 7th letter notifying the Town of Kingston’s Planning Board that the Hemlock Bluestone Quarry Archaeological District is now eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, giving the land special consideration during environmental reviews. The determination will require the owners of a proposed concrete and steel fabrication plant to conduct an additional archaeological assessment to determine if historic quarry resources are located within the proposed project area and if so, how the site preparation work (including blasting) and construction will impact these resources.
NY Fracking Ban Budget Letter
March 11, 2020
Dear Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie,
We, the undersigned environmental, public health, and anti-fracking organizations, ask that you put the existing legislation to ban fracking (S06906 and A09678) in your respective budgets. The fracking ban bill, introduced by Sen. Metzger and Assemblyman Englebright, codifies the state's regulatory ban on fracking that the Department of Environmental Conservation established in 2015.
February 24, 2020 - After eight long years of fighting, it looks like the Constitution Pipeline may finally be dead: "Williams — with support from its partners, Duke, Cabot and AltaGas — has halted investment in the proposed Constitution project. While Constitution did receive positive outcomes in recent court proceedings and permit applications, the underlying risk adjusted return for this greenfield pipeline project has diminished in such a way that further development is no longer supported," reported the Daily Star.
Mountainkeeper's own Associate Director Wes Gillingham was quoted in the national outlet E&E News, "We need to move away from fossil fuels and move in a just transition into renewable energy," Gillingham said. "This is a huge victory, and one of the things that I am hopeful about — if this holds and they don't try to put in another proposal — [is] it will be the beginning of the end for natural gas production in this region."
We’re optimistic, and can’t thank our friends at Earthjustice enough for their fabulous legal work, as well as the tireless efforts of dozens of organizations and thousands of Mountainkeeper supporters who have fought long and hard to protect NY from being ravaged by another dirty gas project.
How an Application for Propane Fracking Attempts to Circumvent New York’s Fracking Ban
By Justin Mikulka • Thursday, August 22, 2019 - 09:58
Four years after New York announced the state was banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Tioga Energy Partners, LLC has filed an application with the state to frack for natural gas, but there's a catch. The company is proposing to swap propane into the industry standard mix that usually calls for water.
Join Us! Woodstock EcoSalon, July 28, 2019
Please join Catskill Mountainkeeper on Sunday, July 28th for a Woodstock EcoSalon, Benefit Concert, and Brunch at the Colony, a cornerstone of the vibrant Woodstock music and art scene.
Saugerties and DEC seek warrants for unpermitted landfill tests
Mid Hudson News
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
SAUGERTIES - The state Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking a warrant to test two unpermitted debris landfills in Saugerties, and a “transfer station,” owned by Joseph and Rachael Karolys, according to a DEC letter dated Tuesday, May 14, sent to an environmental attorney hired by local watchdog group Catskill Mountainkeeper.
Saugerties town officials are seeking their own warrant, simultaneously battling the operation, which dumped unprocessed construction and demolition materials from New York City, in piles up to 30 feet high, since 2016. The piles are estimated at 46,000 cubic yards, for each of the two dump sites.
Read moreControversial Saugerties dumping restrained, but not stopped
by /April 25, 2019
The Town of Saugerties Zoning Board of Appeals last week affirmed a stop-work order for one of four of Joe Karolys’ properties that are being used as construction and demolition debris dumps.
But that’s not enough to stop operations altogether at the four sites. That will take an order from a state Supreme Court judge, and that order could itself be challenged again by Karolys.
Read moreEnvironmentalists Want Faster Processing for Renewable Projects
BY NICK REISMAN
PUBLISHED 6:40 AM ET APR. 23, 2019A coalition of environmental groups this week released a letter to the Public Service Commission urging New York officials to hasten the siting process to build solar, wind, and other renewable energy projects around the state.
“The climate challenges we face demand immediate action,” the groups wrote in the letter. “New York’s clean energy goals are laudable, but if the regulatory process is too lengthy and arduous, it will be difficult if not impossible to meet them.”
Signing on to the letter are groups that represent a range of environmental interests around the state, including Audubon New York, Catskill Mountainkeeper, the New York League of Conservation Voters, among others.
