State denies CPV permit, delays opening
By Chris McKenna
August 3, 2018
WAWAYANDA — State officials have dealt a setback to Competitive Power Ventures as it prepared to begin operating its Orange County power plant, denying a renewal of the plant’s air permit and notifying its operators they must first get a federal permit.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced its decision in a letter to CPV officials on Wednesday, one day after the air permit DEC granted in 2013 expired. A department official explained that a change in federal regulations required CPV to get a so-called Title V permit from the Environmental Protection Agency before starting up the plant, something the company had not done.
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Over 100 Groups Support Continued Investigation of Exxon Mobil by NY Attorney General Barbara Underwood
August 1, 2018
(NY) – More than a hundred environmental, faith, and community groups have signed onto a new letter to New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood supporting her continued investigation into ExxonMobil. Thus far, the AG’s office has been investigating the role fossil fuel companies may have played in misleading the public and investors about the realities of climate change.
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Troubling times at farmers markets
By Judy Rife
July 7, 2018
WARWICK — Laura Soons Thorton steadily replaced the boxes of pies and the trays of pastries as the crowd of customers surged in search of Dad’s favorite on Father’s Day at the Warwick Valley Farmers Market.
As they clutched their boxes of Scotty’s Pies and waited to fork over their $17.50, Thorton fielded questions from the uninitiated.
Yes, we make everything from scratch. Yes, we roll the dough by hand. Yes, we use our own recipes. Yes, we use fruit from our own orchards.
“They’re the best,” volunteered one customer.
“Yes, they are,″ echoed another. “I’ve been coming here for years.″
But Thorton, who sold 35,000 pies last year at three markets and her family’s Soons Orchards in New Hampton, said business isn’t what it used to be.
Read moreJumping Worms Will Eat Your Lawn!
Check For These And Other Invasives
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June 14, 2018
The Emerald Ash Borer provides a recent and chilling example. The adults are small bullet-shaped, bright green beetles. Larvae are little white caterpillars that eat their way through the living part of the tree under the bark. In their homeland in northern Asia they are controlled, in a "balance" by predators, particularly parasitic wasps — tiny black critters the size of rice grains — who lay their eggs on the EAB larvae and eggs.
‘We’re Scrambling:’ New York Dairy Farmers Struggling To Stay In Business
By Tony Aiello
June 13, 2013
CALLICOON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — June is “National Dairy Month,” but this year, many New York family farmers say they have little to celebrate.
Before the month is over, dozens of them may be out of business, including six in Sullivan County.
CBS2’s Tony Aiello spent the day with some of them in the Catskills.
On a lush hillside overlooking the Callicoon Creek Valley is The Diehl Family Dairy Farm, established in 1842.
Adam Diehl is generation number five to run the milking operation with his wife, Alice. Their daughter, Michaela, hopes to be generation six.
Read morePreservation group buys land to expand Bashakill area
By Daniel Axelrod
May 21, 2018
WURTSBORO – Two recent land purchases by the Open Space Institute will link the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area in Wurtsboro to Wurtsboro Ridge, Roosa Gap and Shawangunk Ridge state forests.
The acquisitions also are important steps toward unifying the 71-mile Shawangunk Ridge Trail, from Rosendale in Ulster County to High Point State Park in New Jersey, so hikers never have to walk on private property or roads.
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More than 100 groups send plastic bag ban letter to Gov. Cuomo
May 14, 2018
Dear Governor Cuomo:
We, the undersigned, strongly support New York State enacting a comprehensive policy to curb the use of single-use bags this legislative session.
As you are aware, our organizations have worked with municipalities throughout New York to successfully enact policies that reduce disposable bag use and encourage consumers to switch to reusable alternatives. We applaud your commitment to address plastic bag pollution on a state-wide level and we want to work with your office to enact an effective, comprehensive program this year.
U.S. Supreme Court won’t save Constitution Pipeline
By Fritz Mayer
May 2, 2018
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on May 1 declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that would prevent the pipeline from going forward. The proposed 125-mile line would run from Pennsylvania to New York, and eventually deliver gas to New York City, Westchester and other communities.
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