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.

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.

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.

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.

by Christina Coulter/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.

By Observer-Dispatch
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.

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.”

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.”