Rick Karlin in The Times-Union’s Capitol Confidential blog reports that both sides of the high-impact hydraulic fracturing gas drilling debate descended on Albany to submit boxes of comments and letter to the Department of Environmental Conservation in time for the Wed., Jan. 11 public comment period deadline. On Tuesday, opponents and proponents of the controversial form of natural gas drilling held dueling press conferences at the Capitol. The DEC will review the comments as part of their effort to decide if New York should allow hydro-fracking. Read the full story in Capitol Confidential.
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Some Hudson residents have raised concerns about the ongoing demolishing of a building on the corner of Columbia St. and North 3rd, where Columbia St. is blocked. The city has posted signs warning about asbestos nearby. WGXC’s Noah Reibel found Hudson’s Code Enforcement Officer, Peter Wurster, at the site and asked him why the City felt the building, at 255 Columbia St., had to come down now. PLAY CLIP
Tags: demolition, environment, Hudson
The State of Education in Hudson
Carole Osterink in The Gossips of Rivertown breaks down standardized test scores for the Hudson City School District, and finds them, “mediocre at best.” She sums up another story:
Think about the lackluster performance of HCSD students when you read Audra Jornov’s report in the Register-Star on the continuing stalemate with the Hudson Teachers’ Association: “HCSD board: Speed up talks.” The teachers’ contract expired on June 30, and the teachers’ union has not agreed to schedule a meeting to resume contract talks until October 12. In May, the HTA rejected a salary freeze that could have saved five or six teaching positions. In a report released in June by the Albany Business Review, HCSD ranked 10th highest in teacher pay among the 93 school districts included in the study, with a median salary of $60,997.
Read the full post at The Gossips of Rivertown.
Catskill to teach Mandarin Chinese
Jim Planck reports in The Daily Mail that Catskill High School will soon offer Mandarin Chinese language instruction. “Catskill has been invited to participate in a New York State initiative to bring native speakers to New York to teach high school students Mandarin,” Catskill Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Farrell said to The Daily Mail, “and to introduce the language to middle and elementary school students…. The State Education Department will accredit Chinese teachers so high school students will earn course credit, and may use Mandarin to meet foreign language requirements for graduation.” Read the full story in The Daily Mail.
Riverkeeper warns of sewage pollution, swimming risks in the Hudson
The Daily Freeman reports that environmental group Riverkeeper says that swimming in the Hudson River is unsafe 21 percent of the time because of pollution from sewage, and the section of the river between Catskill and Bear Mountain was cited as particularly problematic. Riverkeeper released a report based on water samples from the Hudson River. The report said that most of the time the river is relatively clean. “That would certainly not have been the case a few years ago,” said Andrew Jule of Columbia University, one of two scientists who took part in the study. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.
Cuomo talks to reporters
Governor Cuomo spoke to reporters Wed., Aug. 10 in this video, courtesy of Kyle Hughes at NYSNYS.com, about proposed Port Authority toll hikes, and the CSEA contract vote, and other issues.
Tags: Andrew Cuomo, Catskill High School, education, environment, Hudson River, Hudson schools, schools
‘Fracking’ comment period firm
Brian Nearing in the Albany Times-Union reports that New York Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens spoke with the Times Union Editorial Board about High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing and said the department is unlikely to extend its 60-day comment period on the proposed rules. “I am inclined to stick with the 60 days,” said Martens. “In 2009, when DEC first unveiled proposed draft rules on hydrofracking, there were nearly 14,000 comments for the department to consider, prompting the department to come back with the revised draft rules,” Nearing reports. Martens said the department was considering increasing the bond that well drillers must provide to pay for the cost of unforeseen environmental cleanups, now just $5,000. Read the full story in the Times-Union.
Mountain Top Arboretum adds cell phone tours
The Mountain Top Arboretum in Tannersville, has added cell phone-led audio tours of the grounds and podcasts of information about the site at MTArboretum.org. The arboretum has three distinct zones: the West Meadow with native and non-native conifers, and exposed, 375-million-year-old, Devonian-era bedrock, and a butterfly garden; the Woodland Walk is a deer-fenced area designed to preserve the native habitat, including the native wildflowers and Mountain Laurels planted there; and the East Meadow includes the Pine Grove, Fern Trail, and Pump House, an early 20th century building now used as an irrigation system for the meadow. Call 518-261-8300 for the audio tour that takes about a half hour for each of the three zones.
Black Dome Press changes hands
Jim Planck in The Daily Mail reports that publisher Deborah Allen of Black Dome Press in Hensonville, is retiring, selling the company to long-time Black Dome editor Steve Hoare, of Delmar. “We’ve had great authors, loyal readers, wonderful supporters, active distributors and dealers — everyone that it takes to make a publishing house successful,” Allen told Planck. Hoare will keep up the imprint’s local tradition. “The intention is to stay ‘local’,” he said in the story, “focusing on books of interest to readers in the Hudson Valley, Catskills, Adirondacks, Capital Region, Lake George and Lake Champlain, Berkshires, and Mohawk Valley.” Read the entire story in The Daily Mail.
Tags: Black Dome Press, books, DEC, environment, high-impact hydraulic fracturing, Joseph Martens, Mountain Top Arboretum
Adam Sichko in the Albany Business Review reports New York state regulators have cleared Lafarge North America Inc. to modernize its aging cement plant in Ravena. Permits have been issued after months of review, draft reports and public comment periods, all conducted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC announced the permits on Thursday. Lafarge says up to 800 workers wil be involved in the construction there, costing a few hundred million dollars. John Reagan, environmental manager for the Ravena plant, told the Business Review he expects Lafarge to break ground this fall. Lafarge calculates the construction project will generate $170 million in wages for construction workers, purchases from local supplies, and other spending. “Environmental watchdog groups and other interest groups have criticized Lafarge’s pollution in the past. Federal data show Lafarge had the fifth-largest mercury emissions of any site in New York in 2009, in any industry,” Sichko writes. and then quotes New York DEC commissioner Joseph Martens saying, “Lafarge has demonstrated its commitment to some of the most rigorous environmental standards in the country. In addition, this new facility will ensure a continued local supply of a critical building material.” Read the full story in the Business Review.
Tags: business, DEC, environment, jobs, Joseph Martens, Lafarge
Cuomo expands ‘hydrofracking’ review
NY1, The Associated Press, and many other outlets are reporting Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration has ordered an expanded environmental review of proposed natural gas “hydro-fracking” in New York after an accident in Pennsylvania in April caused a well to leak chemically tainted water for two days, driving a handful of families from their homes. A leaked internal memo dated Friday said the Pennsylvania accident raised issues about the technology and extraction method, which has been assailed by some environmentalists as unsafe. Read the whole story at NY1.
Local water quality
It will be hot today, and you may consider getting in some body of water to cool off. Riverkeeper, the local water advocate group, has posted water quality tests for our area, and the first results went up May 19. All of the local tests show “unacceptable” water quality due to high enterococcus count. Heavy rains this spring have muddied local waters. (Clinical infections caused by Enterococcus include urinary tract infections, bacteremia, bacterial endocarditis, diverticulitis, and meningitis, according to Wikipedia.)
•Athens:
o Athens Sewage Treatment Plant Outfall (119 enterococcus count)
•Coxsackie:
o Coxsackie Waterfront Park (378)
o Gay’s Point midchannel (260)
•Catskill:
o Catskill Creek – East End (816)
o Catskill Creek – First Bridge (727)
o Catskill Creek Launch Ramp (147)
o Hudson Launch Ramp (238)
o Inbocht Bay (411)
Summer looks busy–and fun–for Ancram kids
Diane Valden in The Columbia Paper reports that Ancram’s summer camp program for youngsters was approved at its May 19 meeting. “Ruth Thomas, who will direct the program, said with an enrollment of 50 kids, she expects the program to make a $3,500 profit,” the reporter wrote. “Mrs. Thomas, the wife of Councilman Chris Thomas, asked the town for $2,500 up-front to buy a used tent, fix the basketball court and install a railing to help people negotiate a steep hill near the pool.” The program includes swimming lessons at the town pool, and run from July 5 through August 12, Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cost is $65 for Town of Ancram residents and $75 for non-residents. Adrienne Citrin of the Ancramdale Neighbors Helping Neighbors organization said the group will provide two five-week scholarships for youngsters whose families can’t afford to pay. Ancram residents must register for the program at the Town Hall, 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, June 4 or 11; non-residents register June 18. Potential campers must bring proof of residency and immunization records. Anyone with questions should contact Mrs. Thomas at (518) 329-7309. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.
Radio, Radio
Word of two new local radio stations coming on the air soon with local content. Well, one is new, and one returns to the airwaves. Jim Planck in The Daily Mail reports that WCKL returns to 560 AM at 6 a.m. June 15. “Our proposed programming will be family-oriented — everything from music to talk shows,” General Manager Brian Dodge of Ghent told the newspaper. “We’ll bring back some of the old things that WCKL used to do — like the Swap Shop, and the Talk of the Town, with people invited in.” The new station at Bard College, WLHV (88.1-FM), won’t be on the air for another year, but is kicking off its “fundraising and promotional campaign” June 3 at the Black Swan Pub in Tivoli with:
•TULiP members Raissa St. Pierre and Tim Davis spinning 78s
•Members of the dynamic ensemble Contemporaneous performing works for violin and clarinet
•Three readings by faculty in Bard’s Language and Thinking Program
•Punk band El Front performing a radio-themed set
•A radio theater performance by Douglas Stone
•Different Guns (Ben Fundis, John Rosenthal, and Sasha Pearl) performing an acoustic set
Tags: environment, Hudson River, radio, Riverkeeper, water quality, WCKL, WLHV
WGXC Town Recorder Sam Sebren reports from the WGXC aired a live broadcast of the SnowFlow festival at the Full Moon Resort Sat. Feb. 12 in Big Indian, in Ulster County, in the middle of the Catskill park. The event celebrated water, with artist Matt Bua creating a snow house warm enough for him to sleep in for two nights, and others skiing down Belleayre Mountain with no-fracking signs, and all sorts of talks about the Catskills’ water supply. Saturday night’s broadcast was run by WGXC Town Recorder Sam Sebren, and included performances from Kingston’s legendary Pauline Oliveros; Tianna Kennedy and Hannah Marcus; and Bard professor Miguel Frasconi and and former Mercury Rev member Suzanne Thorpe. Frascone and Thorpe literally played with water, with Frascone’s poured into glasses of different amounts, and Thorpe playing a mixture of snow and Pop Rocks in some type of instrument. Click here to listen to a recording of Kennedy and Marcus opening up the show. Click here to listen to Thorpe and Frascone perform. WGXC Town Recorder Sam Sebren also made lots of other recordings of snow, ice, water, and people talking about all those things. Those recordings will be posted in the coming days.
Tags: art, environment, hydraulic fracturing, local audio, music, Pauline Oliveros, snow, SnowFlow, water, watershed
Two media accounts of the report from scientists from the Harvard University School of Health Thursday night at Ravena High School about heavy metal exposure to members of the Ravena community differ enough to make one wonder what really happened there.
From The Albany Times-Union story Friday headlined “Town sees mercury spike”:
“Nearly one person in 10 tested for toxic mercury had elevated blood levels enough to warrant a visit to their doctor, according to a study of people who live around the Lafarge cement plant by the Harvard University School of Public Health.” — Brain Nearing
From The Daily Mail story Saturday headlined “Harvard’s Lafarge test results inconclusive”:
“Results from a study by the Harvard School of Public Health eagerly awaited by local environmental groups about the presence of heavy metals in human blood and hair in people from the Ravena area have proved inconclusive.” — Hilary Hawke
So what was said at the meeting? Let’s go to the audiotape, or, digital file.
WGXC’s Sam Sebren recorded the meeting, so you can hear for yourself what happened Thursday night at Ravena High. Click here to listen to an mp3 recording or paste the following url into your computer’s media player:
http://www.wgxc.org/media/uploaded_files/2011/01/Harvardhealthprelimstudy_RavenaHigh_010611.mp3
UPDATE: Sunday, The Register-Star and The Daily Mail, ran the following correction to the story both papers ran on Saturday:
Editor’s note: The percentages reported for higher than normal mercury levels in the “Harvard metals test results aren’t definitive” story that ran Saturday was erroneously cited as 7.3 percent of the 172 participants.The correct number is 9 percent for adult blood samples and 10 percent for all participants’ hair samples. The following is the corrected version of the story.
Tags: CASE, environment, Lafarge, local audio, mercury, town meetings
Tune in today
TUNE IN WGXC will air the following live shows on WGXC Online Radio Thursday:
•WGXC Morning Show/Tell It Like It Is 9/10 a.m.
•Crossroads, Alan Skerrett’s jazz show noon-2 p.m.
•Cheryl K. jazz show 7-9:30 p.m.
•The Magic Stranger “’69″ 9:30-midnight
Click here to listen.
Town meetings tonight
SLOOP ELEANOR Informational meeting for possibly restoring historic boat Sloop Eleanor return to Hudson. Meet at 5 p.m. at Wunderbar in Hudson to discuss restoring 1903 sail boat. More information: 828-7884.
RAVENA HEALTH Presentation and Q&A about Ravena health concerns surrounding the Lafarge cement plant. Dr. Michael Bank, principal investigator for the Harvard School of Public Health’s study of heavy metals in people within a ten-mile radius of the Ravena Lafarge Cement Plant, presents group results of his study at 8 p.m. at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School auditorium, 2025 Route 9W, Ravena. Individual results will be released at a later date. Bank’s research was sparked by a request from CASE (Community Advocates for Safe Emissions) co-founders Elyse Griffins and Elyse Kunz. Harvard tested blood and hair of 185 volunteer individuals on May 15 and 16, 2010 at Pieter B. Coeymans Elementary School in Ravena. Bank_HSPH_Press_Release_FINAL-1
Weather
CLOUDY Around freezing.
Astronomical bodies
TIDES Hudson: High, 4:18 p.m./Low, 11 p.m.
SUNRISE/SUNSET 7:24 a.m./4:37 p.m.
MOONRISE/MOONSET 8:37 a.m./7:15 p.m.
Birthdays
JANUARY 6: Alan Watts, Syd Barrett, and Van McCoy.
Tags: environment, health, Lafarge, Sloop Eleanor
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced in the final moments of 2010 the emergency adoption of revisions to the state regulation implementing the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) program. According to a DEC press release: “The revised greenhouse gas regulations will shield smaller sources from regulations that are aimed at larger, more significant sources. With this revised regulation, smaller sources in New York such as schools, auto-body garages, churches, multi-family residential buildings or dwellings, warehouses, shopping centers, restaurants, and other small commercial facilities will not be subject to the federal regulation of greenhouse gases beginning January 2, 2011.”
Tags: DEC, environment, greenhouse gas emissions
Next up in the Lafarge cement plant expansion review process unfolding in the southern Albany County community of Ravena, but drawing in increasing numbers of concerned citizens and environmental watchdogs from Columbia and Greene counties, is a January 6 report on a Harvard School of Public Health study of the effects of heavy metals pollution on persons living within a ten mile radius of a plant such as Ravena’s. Dr. Michael Bank, principal investigator for the Harvard School of Public Health will report on group results on blood and hair tests of 185 volunteer individuals tested May 15 and 16, 2010 at Pieter B. Coeymans Elementary School in Ravena. The study came about when several local residents in Ravena formed Community Advocates for Safe Emissions (CASE), who then approaches the noted school about a study to put better perspective on a state Department of Health look into the cement plant’s history, in light of its current request before the state to expand and allegedly better clean up its activities. Lafarge was recently named one of the state’s top air polluters. The Register Star has a story on the study and what’s happening at Lafarge out today.
Tags: environment, Harvard School of Public Health, health, Lafarge, state Department of Health
The Columbia Paper follows up on the story the Register-Star reported Sunday that Copake firefighters put out three burning piles of construction and demolition material at Salvatore Cascino’s Copake Valley Farm on Route 22 Saturday afternoon, after being called to the scene by a state Department of Environmental Conservation officer who was allegedly investigating illegally controlled burns. This came two days after Cascino was found not guilty of a charge that he dumped more than 70 cubic yards of solid waste and petroleum at an unpermitted facility in Clermont. Now Diane Valden reports two days after Saturday’s incident, a truck driver who works for Cascino and was driving a truck owned by Cascino, was ticketed for hauling a load of construction debris from Cascino’s Copake land to his property in Dover Plains, Dutchess County. From The Columbia Paper story:
“The DEC’s Region 3 press office provided The Columbia Paper with a list of 10 offenses for which the driver and Cascino’s business entities were cited by DEC Officer Deo Read III. Truck driver Steven P. Grafals was charged with transporting an uncovered load of solid waste, a violation that carries a fine that can range between $1,500 and $15,000 if the person or company is guilty. He was also charged with the release of 30 cubic yards of solid waste into the environment, a misdemeanor for which the penalty is a fine ranging from $3,750 to $22,500 upon conviction. Taconic Meadows, LLC, and Bronx County Recycling, LLC, Mr. Cascino’s business entities, were each cited for release of 30 cubic yards of solid waste into the environment, a misdemeanor; operating a solid waste facility without a permit, a violation ($1,500 to $15,000 fine); disturbing a protected stream without a permit, a misdemeanor (possible fine of up to $10,000); and altering a fresh water wetland without a permit, a violation (potential fine of $500 to $1,000).”
Tags: DEC, environment, Salvatore Cascino
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)’s Environmental Board today approved new stricter performance standards for new outdoor wood boilers (OWBs) sold in the state. The regulation will go into effect 30 days after it is filed with the Secretary of State. Many, including Greene County’s representative in the New York State Senate James Seward, complained that the DEC rushed this process without proper public input. Environmentalists can cheer the stricter guidelines, with new OWBs burning 90 percent cleaner than older models, according to the DEC. “This is about ensuring that new outdoor wood boilers burn cleaner — not only for people who buy OWBs and their families, but also for their neighbors. It’s not unlike the switch to cleaner cars,” said Acting DEC Commissioner Peter Iwanowicz in a prepared statement. “It’s also to ensure that OWB stacks are high enough to disperse emissions rather than having them blow directly into houses and other dwellings. That’s important for public health. Also, we have listened to the agricultural community and made appropriate exceptions for farming operations.” The regulation approved today includes stack height requirements for new OWBs that will reduce the impact of emission plumes on neighboring property owners. In addition, new OWBs will be required to be set back a minimum of 100 feet from neighboring properties — except for OWBs used in agricultural operations, which must be at least 100 feet from neighboring homes. Both new and existing OWBs will be subject to fuel restrictions limiting boilers to only clean wood. The text of the final rule before the Environmental Board is available at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/69348.html on the DEC website.
Tags: DEC, environment, James Seward, outdoor wood boilers, OWB, Peter Iwanowicz
The New York State Environmental Board will meet at 2 p.m., Dec. 22, 2010, in Room 129 at the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) main offices at 625 Broadway, Albany, New York and consider a rulemaking action proposed by DEC: Part 247, Outdoor Wood Boilers; and Part 200, General Provisions. This meeting will be webcast soon after the conclusion of the meeting. To observe the meeting, go to www.dec.ny.gov/public/36245.html.
For a weighted analysis on what’s at stake in this discussion, including Farm Bureau objections to today’s meeting and growing concerns about these types of boilers, read the Daily Freeman story on the subject here.
Tags: environment, outdoor wood boilers
The 111th Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count is this Tuesday, with thousands of volunteers helping the census. Locally, the Catskill-Coxsackie count is headed by two local ornithological enthusiasts, Richard Guthrie and Larry Federman and covers a fifteen-mile radius centered at Green Lake, and branches out 7.5 miles in all directions. New Baltimore marks the territory’s northern boundary, while the eastern line extends into Columbia County. A team will cover the Hudson River from Coxsackie to Athens, another will focus on grasslands preserves, another on Round Top, and a Coxsackie Flats group. Imbought Bay at the tip of Catskill marks the southernmost border. E-mail Richard Guthrie at gaeltic@capital.net to get involved. In Dutchess County, contact Susanne Norris at 845-229-0174 or make reservations at 845-486-1966 for meeting from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at Wallace Center, Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites, in Hyde Park.
Tags: birds, environment, Larry Federman, Richard Guthrie
Salvatore Cascino
Cascino, a 70-year-old Larchmont, Westchester County resident and his company, Bronx County Recycling, were indicted in April by the state Attorney General’s Office on two class A misdemeanors — operating an unpermitted landfill and fourth-degree endangering public health, safety, or the environment.
Both parties stand accused of illegally dumping more than 70 cubic yards of solid waste and releasing petroleum at an unpermitted facility off Route 9G, just south of Firehouse Road, in Clermont between Dec. 31, 2007 and July 2009. The maximum penalty for the crimes is two years in prison.
According to Larson, “Witness credibility appeared to be as much on trial as the charges.”
Read these gripping stories, which play with issues involving our local environment and continuing downstate attitudes towards our upstate scenery, as they continue unfolding over the coming week, here and here.
Tags: courtroom drama, DEC, environment, Salvatore Cascino
Ward Stone, former NYS DEC wildlife pathologist, speaking at DOH Public Health Assessment meeting about Ravena's Lafarge cement plant. Photo by San Sebren.
Ward Stone, who resigned as a pathologist at the Department of Environmental Conservation earlier this year, spoke at length at the Department of Health’s Public Health Assessment meeting Thursday night at RCS High School in Ravena. Sam Sebren recorded Stone’s comments. Click here to listen to an audio mp3 recording, or copy and paste the following url into your computer’s media player:
http://www.wgxc.org/media/uploaded_files/2010/12/WardStone_DOHLafargeHealthAssessmentmeeting_RCSHighSchool_120910_20101211_0037.mp3
Tags: DOH, environment, Lafarge, local audio, town meetings, Ward Stone
Gov. David Paterson
Gov. David Paterson on Alan Chartock’s “Capitol Connection” (airing again 1 p.m. Saturday on WAMC) would not say whether he will sign a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations in the wake of the New York Assembly passing the bill last week. The deadline for signing is Monday. Excerpts from Paterson, via Capitol Confidential:
“This is a bill that delays any action. It’s a moratorium on a decision over hydrofracking that was written in the spring of last year. So the date that is the end of the moratorium is May 20. So, in other words, it only commands what happens for the next four and a half months. It is our opinion that the DEC — who I have urged to be scrupulously careful in examining this issue — cannot come to a conclusion within that same four and a half months. So what I’m saying is that the issue is very serious, but whether the legislation is signed or not probably won’t make a difference, because that decision is six months off anyway.”
Tags: Alan Chartock, David Paterson, environment, fracking, hydraulic fracturing, Marcellus Shale, WAMC
Bettsy Prophonic of NYS DOH at Public Health Assessment hearing on Ravena's Lafarge cement plant. Photo by Sam Sebren.
WGXC volunteer Sam Sebren recorded audio and took photos at Thursday night’s NYS Department of Health (DOH) Public Health Assessment meeting at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School. From Sebren:
“Members of the community clearly expressed frustration and anger at the NYS DOH Public Assessment Hearing, Dec. 9 at the RCS High School in Ravena. After years of requests, there is still no clear data about the contaminants being produced and dispersed by the Lafarge cement factory in Ravena. Ward Stone, retired NYS Wildlife Pathologist minced no words and said, “We need to take care of the environment. Because we’re all dependent on it and it’s falling apart.” This hearing was a chance for people to comment and ask questions. People can still make comments to the DOH until Feb 15.”
To listen to the mp3 audio recording of the meeting, click here, or copy and paste the following url into your computer’s media player:
http://archive.free103point9.org/2010/12/RavenaDOHhearing_WGXC_12090.mp3
Jan Storm of NYS DOH leads DOH hearing on Lafarge Ravena cement plant. Photo by Sam Sebren.
Susan Falzon of Friends of Hudson speaking at the Lafarge DOH hearing in Ravena. Photo by Sam Sebren.
Slide asking audience for questions at DOH Health Assessment meeting about Lafarge cement plant. Photo by Sam Sebren.
Tags: Bettsy Prophonic, DOH, environment, Jan Storm, Lafarge, local audio, Susan Falzon, town meetings, Ward Stone
Elyse Griffin from CASE spoke at the Lafarge DEC hearing 120810 at RCS High. Photo by Sam Sebren.
Lafarge representatives at a Lafarge Environmental impact Statement Public Informational Meeting at RCS High School, Ravena 120810. Photo by Sam Sebren.
Sam Sebren from WGXC took photos and recorded the Lafarge Environmental impact Statement Public Informational Meeting tonight at RCS High School, Ravena. Click here to listen to mp3 audio recording of the hearing, or paste the following url into your computer’s media player:
http://www.wgxc.org/media/uploaded_files/2010/12/LafargeEnvironmentalImpactPublicMtg_120810.mp3
Tags: environment, Lafarge, local audio, town meetings
Engineer says there’s no getting over some decrepit bridges
Debora Gilbert in The Columbia Paper goes on a tour of decaying Columbia County bridges with Dean Knox, Director of the Engineering Division of the Columbia County Department of Public Works. The bridges in need of repair in Columbia County they visit include Gallitanville’s single-lane Mill Hill Road Bridge, the Pleasant Vale Bridge in Clermont, and Copake’s Miller Bridge on Empire Road, which will reopen this month.
DEC accepting applications for Urban Forestry Grants
Municipalities, public benefit corporations, public authorities, school districts and not-for-profit organizations that have a public ownership interest in a property or are acting on behalf of a public property owner may apply for grants through the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, from $2,500 to $62,500 depending on municipal population, with a 50/50 match requirement. Eligible projects include tree inventories and management plans, tree and shrub planting and maintenance, and green infrastructure projects such as green roofs and rain gardens. Communities impacted by the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive and damaging beetle, can also seek funding for projects that include removal of at-risk trees or new tree plantings. Additionally, $1,000 “Quick Start Arbor Day” grants – with no match requirement – are available to help communities generate support for a tree program with an Arbor Day celebration. Applicants may obtain all necessary instructions and forms at www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5285.html. Grant applications must be postmarked by Feb. 10, 2011, and sent to: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Urban Forestry, Division of Lands and Forests, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4253. For more information, call DEC at (518) 402-9425.
Saratoga Race Track may close?
Jimmy Vielkind in Capitol Confidential quotes Larry Schwartz, the NYC Off Track Betting chairman and secretary to Gov. David Paterson, saying there’s a “definite possibility” that the Saratoga Race Track will close as a result of the shutdown of Off Track Betting (OTB). The OTB corporation shut its doors at last night because it is out of money, and a restructuring plan was not approved by the Senate. “I think that’s a definite possibility. I’ve been talking with both the thoroughbred industry and the harness industry. They’ve indicated real concerns to me,” Schwartz told the Times-Union blogger. “I think this is going to have a devastating impact to horse breeders because 40 percent of the fund that they get to cover their expenses…has been eliminated.”
Designs to showcase look of new facility
Doron Tyler Antrim in The Daily Mail reports design plans for the new Cairo public library will be unveiled tonight with a booksigning by three local authors from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the current library, in Cairo’s municipal building at 512 Main Street. Writers include Hudson Talbott, author and illustrator of “River of Dreams;” retirement consultant Patrice Jenkins, author of “What Will I Do All Day?;” and Chet Meyer, co-author of “The Tooth Fairy Legend.”
Town meetings tonight
Public Information Meeting on State DOH Public Health Assessment of Lafarge’s Ravena Plant at 7 p.m. at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School, 2025 Route 9W, Ravena.
Birthdays
Dec. 9 birthdays include Redd Foxx, John Cassavetes, and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Tags: bridges, Cairo Library, DOH, environment, forests, grants, Lafarge, libraries, OTB
Perry picked for Taconic Hills school board
Christine Perry was chosen to fill the vacant seat on the Taconic Hills School Board at a meeting last Wednesday, according to the board’s website. Perry becomes a replacement for John Mastropolo, who resigned in September. Usually, voters decide on school board officials, but this time the board took over the entire process, making all decisions in executive session. The board picked between Perry, Sally Williamson, and Joan Spencer. In a story about this issue, John Mason in the Register-Star writes, “According to Robert Freeman of the state Committee on Open Government, the only court decision dealing with how school boards may select new members found that such decisions should be made in open, not closed, session.” Perry’s seat will be decided by voters again in May 2011.
Ravitch has low opinion of Capitol press coverage
Casey Seiler in Capitol Confidential reports on the interview between host Susan Arbetter of the “The Capitol Pressroom” (which will air live Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. on WGXC) and Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch. The outgoing Lt. Gov. told Arbetter that too much coverage of state government was devoted to scandals and “gotcha” journalism, at the cost of a more complete look at pressing problems such as infrastructure decay and the fiscal troubles affecting the state and nation. Ravitch, for instance, said more ink/bytes had been devoted to former Sen. Hiram Monserrate’s antics than to the actual state budget. “What the media does by putting so much emphasis on the misdeeds of very few is to create a culture in which going into politics isn’t attractive,” he said.
Central Hudson cleanup video
Albany-based television station YNN is hosting a video from Central Hudson showing their experiments in cleaning the Hudson River. From YNN, but sounding like it came straight from a press release: “Crews were hard a work using a crane to pull the two ton mats off the river floor. Central Hudson says the mats have been in the river for more than a year and says they are testing them to see how well the mats trap contaminants that have made it into the river from the company’s old Manufactured Gas Plant site. The plant closed in 1972 and the site is on the Poughkeepsie waterfront. The company says they expect the project to last until the end of the month.”
Skiing this weekend?
WGXC reported Friday that Windham Mountain began making snow last weekend, and both Hunter Mountain and Catamount Ski in Hillsdale in Columbia County report they will begin snowmaking after this week’s rain passes. Hunter and Windham hope to be open this weekend.
Birthdays
Nov. 30 birthdays include Mark Twain, G. Gordon Liddy, and Abbie Hoffman.
Tags: Catamount Ski, Central Hudson, Christine Perry, environment, Hudson River, Hunter Mountain, local video, schools, skiing, snow, Taconic Hills School Board, Windham Mountain
NAPA Auto Parts store in Catskill on former site of Catskill Chrome Plating Company and later a Superfund site.
Doron Tyler Antrim in The Daily Mail reported last week that a residential property on Cauterskill Road in Catskill may be taken off the state Superfund list in January, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. “Records show the former property owners to be Patricia and Paul Helmadach, who once owned the Catskill Chrome Plating Company on West Bridge Street,” Antrim wrote. “That site was listed as a federal Superfund site until March 2007. The half-acre property, located at 5040-5048 Cauterskill Road, was used for the storage and disposal of plating solutions and untreated sludges from the mid 1980s until 1993, according to DEC records. Soil samples showed significant levels of cadmium, chromium and cyanide contamination.” Google maps (View Larger Map) show 5040 Cauterskill Road is perhaps the location — it is within a mile of Kaaterskill Creek. Antrim’s story says the cleanup there took five years with 2,000 cubic yards of soil removed, costing $385,000.
Tags: environment, Hudson River, Superfund site
NISKAYUNA — The Times Union in Albany follows up on the recent radioactive leak story involving the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory on the Mohawk in Latham by reporting today on a new federal investigation that has found that Knolls workers felt pressed by bosses to ignore safety issues and get work done faster.
A draft report, filed by investigators for the Department of Energy and obtained by the Times Union, also concluded that Washington Group International, a private company performing work under a $69 million contract, made missteps that led to an “uncontrolled spread of radioactive contamination” during the Sept. 29 demolition of a tainted Cold War-era research building at the research complex.
Tags: environment, nuclear power
RAVENA — Brian Nearing at the Albany Times Union reports this morning that Lafarge North America has finally filed a completed application with the state Department of Environmental Conservation outlining consequences of its proposed $500 million expansion/renovation project, more than two years after announcing plans to replace its aging cement plant, which is the state’s second-largest source of airborne mercury,
A completed draft Environmental Impact Statement will be released on Wednesday, according to a notice also set to be issued Wednesday by the DEC that was obtained by the Times Union.
The EIS release will start a 90-day public comment period that will end Feb. 22. A public information meeting on the plant is set for Dec. 8 at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School, located across the street from the plant. A public hearing is set for Jan. 20 at the high school.
Lafarge announced plans in July 2008 to rebuild its two high-temperature kilns, which have been in place since the plant was built in 1962, with modern, less-polluting versions.
In September, Lafarge received a five-year extension of its federal air pollution permit from the DEC.
The new facility will be able to produce about 63 percent more cement, up from 1.7 million tons a year to 2.8 million tons. While emissions of carbon monoxide will increase, “other emissions will decrease or remain constant,” according to the DEC notice.
When Lafarge announced the project, the company indicated construction would begin in 2013 and take three years to complete.
Copies of the draft Environmental Impact Statement will be available Wednesday online at http://www.bethlehemchamber.com/modernization, as well as at DEC headquarters on Broadway in Albany; the town halls of Coeymans, Stuyvesant, Chatham, Kinderhook, Schodack and New Baltimore; and at public libraries in Kinderhook, North Chatham, Chatham, Valatie and Ravena.
For more on this story click HERE.
Tags: environment, Lafarge
CLC gets grant for trail linking Copake and Hillsdale
The Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC), in conjunction with the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association (HVRTA), are getting a $121,965 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation to fund preliminary designs and final construction plans for a five-mile addition to the Harlem Valley Rail Trail from the current terminus in Copake Falls into the hamlet of Hillsdale, according to a CLC press release. The project will link Taconic State Park in Copake Falls, the Roeliff Jansen State Park, The Roeliff Jansen Community Library, the Hamlet of Hillsdale, the Hillsdale Community Wetland, and the Rheinstrom Hill Audubon Sanctuary on a trail corridor already owned by New York State. “Extending the trail would bring enormous economic, recreational and development opportunities to Hillsdale,” says Art Baer, Hillsdale Town Supervisor. “It is an important first step in the implementation of our recently completed Hamlet Design and Development Plan.” Named after the Harlem Line from New York City to the Village of Chatham on the New York Central Rail Road, the trains stopped running in 1976 and the tracks were removed, leaving a 46-mile corridor ideally suited for a rails-to-trails project. In 1989, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (NYS Parks) purchased 20.38 miles of the right-of-way in southern Columbia County and northern Dutchess County.
Voters pass bus proposition, elect Hafensteiner
Hilary Hawke in The Ravena News-Herald reports Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk voters passed by 82 votes a reworked bus proposition that previously failed in a May vote, and elected Sarah Hafensteiner to fill the Board of Education seat vacated when Rosemary Puckett resigned over the summer. Hafensteiner won by four votes over Rodney Krzykowski, 230 to 226, with Judith Sylvester (192) and Darcy Micelli (179), following. The bus proposal was $100,000 and one bus less that voters shot down in May.
Hannaford to open supermarket in New Lebanon
From The Business Review:
Hannaford supermarket chain signed a lease with the owner of the Valley Plaza Shopping Center in the Columbia County town. The full-service supermarket and pharmacy will be built on the site of the Capital District Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., next to the Route 20 plaza that contains the former New Lebanon Supermarket. OTB will move into the former New Lebanon Supermarket.
This weekend
Deer hunting season opens Nov. 20.
The Estate of Dominick Dunne at Auction Nov. 20 at Stair Auctioneers and Appraisers, Hudson.
Birthdays
Nov. 19 birthdays include Jeane Kirkpatrick, Allison Janney, and Jodie Foster.
Tags: Art Baer, development, environment, hunting
Mark Scheerer from Public News Service reports:
The LaFarge cement plant in Ravena, south of Albany, is one of many cement factories nationwide under orders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cut back on dangerous mercury emissions. The cement industry announced last Friday it’s going to fight the new rules, and Earthjustice has responded quickly. On behalf of six environmental groups, the law firm is filing a brief in support of the EPA’s decision, saying it would avoid 2500 premature deaths nationwide every year, and result in up to $18 billion worth of health benefits. Susan Falzon, an environmental activist, lives across the Hudson River from the LaFarge facility and is disappointed in the industry’s resistance. “This is just a further delay that just causes all of us to be taking more mercury into our systems.” The industry trade group, the Portland Cement Association, argues that the proposed emission limits are too low and some plants won’t be able to meet them. And it says the new rules are a threat to many cement companies, the jobs they provide, and the communities where they are located. Attorney Jim Pew with Earthjustice says the industry’s argument is “nonsense” and the EPA has determined that the economic benefits of meeting the rules will outweigh the costs. He adds that the U.S. cement industry is largely owned by multi-billion-dollar foreign companies. “It’s not going to drive them out of business. It’s not going to cause them to cut jobs. They can do this, but they would just rather keep the money and let their toxic pollution go on killing people here in America.” Susan Falzon is director of Friends of Hudson, a local group that’s been fighting the cement industry over pollution for many years. She’s not surprised they are resisting the EPA rules. “It is a rule with requirements that they can easily meet if they are willing to take on the expense. It makes me very angry to see how cynical they can be with people’s lives.” Read the entire story here.
Tags: environment, Lafarge, Susan Falzon
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) state Environmental Board will consider new regulations for outdoor wood boilers at its October 25 meeting in Albany. The new regulations set stricter standards for new outdoor wood boilers sold in New York State. If approved, the regulation would go into effect 30 days after its filing with the state Secretary of State. H/T Watershed Post.
Tags: environment, outdoor wood boilers
Stephanie Lee in the Times-Union reports:
The state has allowed the Lafarge cement plant to continue its current level of mercury emissions until 2013, when a federal standard will cut the rate nearly in half. The air permit for the plant, renewed Monday by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, caps the annual amount of mercury it releases into the air at 176 pounds to meet a new state law. Lafarge, the state’s second-largest source of airborne mercury pollution, must cut its yearly mercury emissions nearly in half by 2013. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last month that the annual nationwide limit will be set at about 95 pounds, a change that will force more than 100 cement plants to spend an estimated $1 billion to comply. Read the entire story in the Albany Times-Union.
Tags: business, environment, Lafarge
Congressman Scott Murphy will hold a “Kick-Off” for his Columbia County campaign Thu. Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at 731 Warren St. in Hudson. Murphy is running for re-election against Kinderhook Republican Chris Gibson.
Tags: Chris Gibson, environment, Scott Murphy
Julia Reischel in The Watershed Post analyzes Steve Israel’s reporting in the Times Herald-Record:
The Times Herald-Record’s Steve Israel writes that even though a potential moratorium on gas drilling in New York state will only last until May (and that’s only if it’s approved by the State Assembly and the governor), nobody will be fracking until next August, at least:
Whether the Assembly and governor do what the state Senate just did and approve a moratorium on drilling permits until May, the state Department of Environmental Conservation won’t be ready with new drilling regulations until at least then. Drilling of the gas-rich Marcellus shale can’t start before that.And that, he adds, is why the state Senate voted for the moratorium in the first place:
The DEC timeline gave wavering lawmakers the political cover to vote for a delay that may have happened anyway, moratorium or no moratorium.
Tags: environment, hydraulic fracturing
Mike McCagg in ccScoop writes about the proposed power line to be placed in the Hudson River, from near the Albany county line down to New York City. McCagg quotes Scenic Hudson’s Hayley Mauskapf, an environmental advocacy associate, about the proposed 420-mile power transmission line would be buried along the bottom of the Hudson River from near Selkirk down the river into Yonkers and Manhattan:
“We see that there is a potential to bring some renewable energy to New York State and to get rid of some of the coal or nuclear sources we have,” said Scenic Hudson’s Hayley Mauskapf, an environmental advocacy associate. However, she added, “a project of this type and magnitude is unprecedented in the Hudson Valley, so of course we have some concerns.” Among those are the impact of the electromagnetic field, the installation process effects, the thermo effect and the impact of the re-suspension of PCBs in the river sediment, she said.
McCagg’s story says the $1.9 billion plan will bring 1,000 megawatts of renewable wind and hydropower from Quebec to Westchester County, New York City and Bridgeport, Conn. Read the entire story in ccScoop.
Tags: environment, Hudson River
Hal Zucker speaks next about sustainable lifestyles at Greene County Eco-Fair at Agroforestry Center in Acra.
Tags: Agroforestry Center, environment, local audio, local video, WGXC
Mark Bomba from Alteris Renewables speaks about solar power at Greene County Eco-Fair at Agroforestry Center in Acra, NY.
Tags: Agroforestry Center, environment, local audio, local video, WGXC
Joe Laquatra from Cornell University is beamed in with a presentation about Home Energy Efficiency at Greene County Eco-Fair at the Agroforesty Center in Acra. Watch video above or listen to audio at www.wgxc.org or:
http://comm.free103point9.org:8000/cairo.mp3.m3u
Tags: Agroforestry Center, environment, local audio, local video, WGXC
Watch video above of Sarah Charlop-Powers from NYSERDA speaking about making your home energy efficient at Greene County Eco-Fair in Acra. (Note: Twitcam text lists incorrect information about content of this video.)
Tags: environment, local audio, local video, WGXC
William J. Kemble in The Daily Freeman says the emerald ash borer beetle that kills ash trees is in Woodstock:
“The Comeau Trails Tasks Force (members) were out and they reported to our office that they found what might have been an emerald ash borer on the Comeau property in an ash tree,” he said. Alan White, executive director of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, said the beetle, native to China, has no known natural enemies in the United States. “It was first detected in 2002 in Michigan,” he said. “There were millions of dollars invested in trying to control it in Michigan and, then, in Ohio and various other states in the Midwest and, frankly, there wasn’t a lot of success.” White said a finding of the beetle on private property along state Route 212 in Saugerties led to a wider search that found the insect in other areas. “That inventory and survey process indicates that there are active populations of emerald ash borer…in the southern tip of Greene County and, then, it basically travels down the Hudson River just north of Kingston,” he said. “A number of those detections that they made were far enough west that it appears to me to be a fair assumption that the town of Woodstock needs to start thinking about what that means.” Read the entire story in The Daily Freeman.
Tags: emerald ash borer, environment, forests
Second annual Eco-Fair in Cairo, NY, WGXC co-sponsors for second year. Workshops on a variety of environmentally friendly topics tba. Click on this PDF for more information. Sponsored by Cairo Chamber of Commerce. WGXC will be at the Eco-Fair with Max Goldfarb’s M49 solar-powered radio truck. Tour the solar-powered radio truck with Goldfarb outside the Agroforestry Center in Acra, and WGXC will be webstreaming the speakers from inside the Agroforestry Center all day. Tune in WGXC Online Radio at www.wgxc.org.
Schedule
11:00-11:30 Opening
11:30-12:00 Kevin Bailey- Sycaway Solar and Wind
12:00-12:30 Erin Brady – Emerald Ash Borer is Here!
12:30-1:00 Sarah Powers-NYSERDA, Making your Home Energy Efficient
1:00-1:15 Pete Lopez NYS Assemblyman – The Importance of Sustainability
1:15-2:00 Dr. Joe Laquatra, Cornell University- Energy Efficiency & Healthy Homes
2:00-2:30 Mark Bomba- Alteris Renewables
2:30-3:00 Hal Zucker-Sustainable Living
3:00-3:30 Dr. Tanya Holonko DVM – Environmentally Friendly Ways to Have Healthy Animals
3:30-4:00 Overview of the Cairo Durham E..A.R.T.H. club. (‘ Establishing Environmental Action and Responsibility for Tomorrow’s Habitats’) The club’s mission is to help students learn about the environment and to become aware of the role which they can assume as responsible global citizens and future leaders.
Tags: Agroforestry Center, environment, festivals
William J. Kemble in The Daily Freeman reports:
“A state Department of Environmental Conservation spokeswoman Monday said reviews of about 2,000 comments on proposed rules governing outdoor wood-burning boilers could mean the issue remains unsettled through April 2011. Spokeswoman Lori Severino during a telephone interview noted there was no shortage of concern on both sides…. Severino said another round of public hearings could be set if significant changes are made in the proposed rules…. Under the proposal there boiler stacks would have to be a minimum of 2 feet above the peak of any roof of a structure located within 150 feet of the boiler. Regulations would prohibit use of boilers between April 15 to Sept. 30 in the Hudson Valley.” Read the entire story in The Daily Freeman.
Tags: environment, outdoor wood boilers
Lissa Harris in Watershed Post reports the Environmental Protection Agency first moved a public hearing about hydraulic fracturing from Binghamton to Syracuse three days before the a was scheduled, and now has postponed the meeting. The Binghamton Press & Sun reports:
“We have a beautiful convention center here that can easily accommodate 1,000 or 1,200 people, but in the last day we continued to get calls about additional people, and that number is easily growing to more than 5,000,” [Sandy] Baker, [the vice president of sales and marketing at the Oncenter, the proposed venue] said. “In order to accommodate all of the safety issues, we need more time to plan this.”
Tags: environment, town meetings
On The Air
WGXC is on 90.7-FM now, at full-power, 3300 watts. We cover all parts of Greene County except parts of the mountaintop, and all of Columbia County except for a bit of Western Columbia County south of Germantown. WGXC also covers a large part of southern Albany County. We have heard reports that the signal is getting from Delaware County to Great Barrington, from Selkirk to Saugerties, from Pine Plains to the I-90 extension.
Local weather/webcams
National Weather Service, Albany
Hawthorne Valley Farm Weather Page
When the computer is turned on, the Hawthorne Valley Farm Weather Page reports weather information in Harlemville. Check dates and times to see whether reports are live or from when the computer was turned off.
Greene County webcams:
Catskill webcam: Thomas Cole House Claude Mirror
Nearby webcams:
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