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.
ANOTHER VIEW: Tougher rules needed on ATVs in forest preserves
Posted Apr 13, 2019 at 8:00 AM
Leaders in Albany should heed a call from a coalition of conservation groups and enact a law to ban the private use of all-terrain vehicles in forest preserve lands. In short, they destroy precious public lands not only through noise and pollution but by tearing up trails, threatening public safety and otherwise infecting the natural environment by doing long-term damage to soil and wetlands and putting animal life in jeopardy.
Catskill Mountainkeeper says Trump is “stealing states’ rights" to protect clean water
Thursday, April 11, 2019
LIVINGSTON MANOR – President Trump signed an executive order while in Texas on Wednesday that the White House said rolls back regulations to the oil and gas industry.
Wes Gillingham, the associate director of Catskill Mountainkeeper headquartered in Livingston Manor, said the order “attempts to limit states’ abilities to block dirty and dangerous fossil fuel pipelines under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.”
Read moreState acquires 50 acres of land in Catskill
March 26, 2019
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos announced Friday that the state has acquired 50 acres of property in the town of Catskill in Greene County. The lands will become part of New York’s Forest Preserve. DEC acquired the property for $1 from Edward Maby. The property had been in the Maby/Mabie family since 1896, according to a media release.
“Forests are crucial to the future of our planet and one of our greatest natural treasures that we must preserve and protect,” Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul said, in the release. “We are committed to enhancing the historical sites and recreational opportunities across the state for children and families. This addition to the Catskill Forest Preserve will continue to increase the tourism industry and strengthen the economy of the area.”
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Pushing the Climate and Community Protection Act
On February 12, the New York State Senate held its first ever hearing on climate change. That’s a rather astounding fact, given that climate change has been on the national agenda for at least four decades, and a growing number of people have considered it to be the top threat to humans for at least 10 years.
Through all that time, of course, corporations that benefit from the use of fossil fuels have been pumping millions of dollars into efforts to deny climate change. A report from Greenpeace (www.bit.ly/kochgreenpeace) found that Koch Family Foundations alone “have spent $127,013,955 directly financing 92 groups that have attacked climate change science and policy solutions from 1997–2017.”
Group touts natural gas savings, wants more pipeline capacity, fracking
FILE - This June 12, 2014 file photo shows Dominion Energy's Cove Point LNG Terminal in Lusby, Md. Natural gas overtook coal as the top source of U.S. electric power generation for the first time ever in April of 2015, a milestone that has been in the making for years as the price of gas slides and new regulations make coal more risky for power generators. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File) ORG XMIT: NYBZ166 ORG XMIT: MER2015071311255494
Houston-based Consumer Energy Alliance Wednesday said New Yorkers have saved more than $30 billion in the past decade on their energy bills thanks to lower natural gas prices.
But the group also said savings could be even greater if more pipelines to deliver the product could be built and if fracking could tap into existing Marcellus shale gas deposits in the state's Southern Tier.
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OCCA director to lobby for watershed in D.C.
March 3, 2019
Leslie Orzetti, executive director of the Otsego County Conservation Association, will be part of a delegation to meet with New York members of Congress in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, according to a media release.
The delegation will meet to discuss maintaining programs to protect water quality in the New York portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed as part of Chesapeake Bay Lobby Day, organized by the Choose Clean Water Coalition.
Orzetti said it will be her first time attending the event.
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Letter: Catskill Mountainkeeper can help with home heating advice
February 5, 2019
In “Prepare for winter weather challenges,” Jan. 29, Michael Randall discussed frozen pipes and suggested adding insulation and leaving a tap open. I’d like to highlight the importance of improving building envelopes, which will not only keep pipes from freezing, but increase your home’s energy efficiency and decrease your energy bills.
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