Tom Ellis – Save the Pine Bush

Ward Stone was employed by the state but he worked for the people, animals, and environment

April 11, 2023 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

Published in the Altamont Enterprise, 3/2/23 To the Editor: I greatly appreciate your full-page commentary in the Feb. 16 issue about Ward Stone [“From the editor: A scientist who strove to make a healthier Earth”]. I knew Ward for 40 years. Ward was a rare public servant: competent, articulate, hardworking, fearless. He insisted he had a right and duty to inform and warn the public about environmental health threats. He was employed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation but…

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Efforts to Close the Dunn Dump Continue: All Trucks Enroute to the Dump Violate Traffic Laws

February 13, 2023 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis RENSSELAER, NY: Efforts to close the Waste Connections Dunn construction and demolition debris landfill in Rensselaer continue despite little news coverage of the ongoing public health crisis. The dump is located on a hilltop at the end of Partition Street, borders the Rensselaer public school campus, a cemetery, and in between Rensselaer and East Greenbush neighborhoods. Interstate 90 passes in front of the school campus; thus the campus, athletic fields, students, staff, and visitors are bombarded from…

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Amanda Dillon: Science in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve

February 13, 2023 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Amanda Dillon, field ecologist and entomologist for the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (Commission), was the speaker at the November 16 Save the Pine Bush virtual meeting. She discussed “Science in the Albany PIne Bush Preserve.” Amanda Dillon earned both a BS in Natural History and Interpretation in 2007 and a MS in Environmental Forest Biology with a concentration in entomology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Ms….

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Ask Albany County to Dedicate Funds to Buy Pine Bush

November 20, 2022 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

Dear All, Save the Pine Bush made a great showing at the Albany County Legislature budget hearing held two days before Thanksgiving. Seven of the eight speakers at the hearing asked for funds to buy Pine Bush. Good for us! Tomorrow, December 5, the Albany County Legislature will vote on the budget. Let’s continue our ask to the Albany County Legislature for funds to purchase the remaining privately-held properties in the Pine Bush ecosystem. Anyone can speak at…

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The Dunn Dump Should be Closed!

November 1, 2022 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis New Yorkers live in an environmental health Twilight Zone. Governor Hochul and the state legislature are seeking election or reelection this fall, encouraging voters to approve a $4.2 billion environmental bond act, while quietly facilitating continued operations in Rensselaer of the largest construction and demolition debris dump in the state, and that borders a 1100 student-staff school. Many people think it insane to operate a dump next to a school. The NYS Legislature has not enacted legislation…

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A Wild Idea: How the Environmental Movement Tamed the Adirondacks

November 1, 2022 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Long time SPB member Tom Ellis spoke at the June 22 SPB virtual meeting. He reviewed the book, “A Wild Idea: How the Environmental Movement Tamed the Adirondacks” by Brad Edmondson, published last year. Tom discussed the same book at an in-person review on May 24 for the Friends of the Albany Public Library. Tom said the title of the book (A Wild Idea) came from what, in the late 1960s, was a utopian belief:…

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Practical Steps We Can Take to Save Our Climate

June 11, 2022 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis Ed. Note: Here is the PowerPoint for the lecture. We are working on getting the audio from the lecture online in the coming weeks. ALBANY, NY: Tina Lieberman and Bill Reinhardt spoke remotely at an Earth Day April 20 SPB meeting about practical steps we can take to reduce carbon emissions and save our climate. Lynne introduced the program and Carole Waterman the speakers. Tina spoke first, then Bill, each then took turns, with finally a discussion…

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Close Waste Connections Dunn Construction and Demolition Debris Dump!

June 11, 2022 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis RENSSELAER, NY: Rensselaer and East Greenbush (R&EG) residents continue organizing to close the Waste Connections (WC) Dunn construction and demolition debris dump. The overarching issue is the dump is sited in a major population area and thus affects many people. It is located next to the Rensselaer public school campus and in between R&EG neighborhoods. Tractor trailers–sometimes in convoys–traverse downtown Rensselaer streets every weekday from 6:30 a.m. until late afternoon, ruining the health and quality of life…

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Save the Pine Bush Update and the War on Terror

April 6, 2022 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Lynne Jackson spoke about current developments in the Pine Bush and Steve Downs about The War on Terror – Twenty Years Later, at the February 23 Save the Pine Bush virtual meeting. After thanking SPB members for their financial contributions to assist one of SPB’s dinner chefs, Adam Baldwin, with his sudden medical bills, Lynne thanked Andy Arthur for creating an on-line “event sweeper” that quickly identifies proposed projects in the pine barrens sections of…

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Efforts Continue in 2022 to Rein in Two Local Polluters

April 6, 2022 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY& RENSSELAER, NY: In early March, the mayor of Cohoes called for the end to Norlite’s hazardous waste incineration in the city. He acknowledged Norlite can continue operating its cement business without burning poisonous wastes. Profits would decrease because Norlite would have to purchase and pay for fuel rather than being paid to take it. An end to hazardous waste burning would be a relief to Cohoes and Troy residents. DEC, which has been obsessed for decades…

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The Damaging Health Effects of the Dunn Dump

February 12, 2022 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis RENSSELAER, NY: David Carpenter, a renowned local physician who studies the human health impacts of toxic materials, spoke at a December 2nd East Greenbush Town Board (EGTB) forum on the Dunn dump. He was the first presenter on a five-person panel. The Dunn construction and demolition debris dump, owned by Waste Connections, sits atop a hill next to the Rensselaer public school campus and the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, and in between Rensselaer and East Greenbush neighborhoods. Odors…

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Save the Pine Bush Loses a Friend – Lou Ismay

February 12, 2022 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Lou Ismay died on October 12. He was 96. One of the great environmental leaders and educators of the last half-century, he pioneered a unique course–the Environmental Forum–at the University at Albany where students chose and worked on important short- and long-term environmental projects that were often handed over to new students who took the course the following semester. Some projects continued for years. NYS government employees often provided tips for projects. The course was…

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What Really Happens to the Dunn Dump Complaints?

September 28, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis RENSSELAER, NY: The Rensselaer Environmental Coalition continues its four-year-campaign to immediately close the construction and demolition debris dump in Rensselaer while dealing with an unresponsive state government. Residents of Rensselaer and East Greenbush (R&EG) remain disgusted with how the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) takes odor and other complaints about the dump. DEC set up a system where people dial a DEC-supplied telephone number that is answered by Dunn Waste Connections — the owners of the…

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Lafarge Can’t Burn Tires!

June 3, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

By Tom Ellis, June/July 2021 Newsletter HUDSON RIVER VALLEY: Residents of Hudson River valley, but especially Ravena and Coeymans, won a great victory on May 5 when the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) commissioner issued a short statement revoking its prior authorization for the Lafarge cement company’s to burn tires at its Ravena cement kiln. The DEC statement said the “Lafarge facility currently lacks the infrastructure to burn TDF [tire derived fuel], and has not, nor has it ever,…

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The Pine Bush & the Pandemic – April 2021 Save the Pine Bush Lecture by Long time Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (APBPC) Conservation Director Neil Gifford

June 3, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

By Tom Ellis, June/July 2021 Save the Pine Bush Newsletter ON THE INTERNET: Long time Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (APBPC) Conservation Director Neil Gifford began his April 17, 2021 SPB meeting comments saying, “Thirty years of managing the world’s best scrub oak pitch pine barrens has taught us a lot.” His topic was “The Pine Bush and the Pandemic: Update on the Preserve.” He offered an update on land protection, management and monitoring. His comments focused on paleoecology. He…

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Colonie Landfill Updates

April 29, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) illegally granted the town of Colonie permits on April 5 to vastly enlarge its landfill located near Route 9 on the bank of the Mohawk River. The Saratoga County towns of Waterford and Halfmoon have filed lawsuits challenging DEC’s ruling. With the new permits, the dump, which sits atop an unlined hazardous waste dump, parts of which are within 100 feet of the river, would be allowed to remain open…

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The Poor People’s Campaign

April 29, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Joe Paparone of the Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS and former Albany Common Council member Vivian Kornegay spoke about The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Renewal (PPC), at the April 18 SPB dinner. Joe described himself as a sax player but not a singer, and works on immigration issues.. He said people in forty states are participating in PPC. He frequently quoted Martin Luther King, Jr., and said Rev. King sought to make…

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Truck Traffic in Rensselaer: Update

April 24, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Christine Kielb Tom Ellis and Christine Kielb of Stop Trucks Assaulting Rensselaer (STAR), a group of Rensselaer residents and their allies, are continuing their work fighting the tractor trailer truck traffic passing through city neighborhoods to and from the Dunn Construction and Demolition (C&D) landfill. This landfill operation, larger than the Colonie and Albany landfills combined, is expected to continue for many years, possibly until 2036, unless successfully challenged. The problem began in 2012 when the NYS Department of…

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Peter Lavenia Explains Why Europe is Ahead of the US on Energy and Climate

April 24, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Albany resident and Secretary of the NYS Green Party Peter Lavenia was the featured speaker at the August 14 SPB dinner. He spoke about Renewable Energy: Why the Old Country is New Again and We’re Not. What Peter did was compare the political climates in Europe and the United States to explain why Europe is moving farther and faster ahead of the US in limiting greenhouse gas emissions and developing safe, renewable energy. Peter, who thinks of…

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PAUSE – Zero Waste

April 24, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (APBPC or Commission) Conservation Director Neil Gifford spoke at SPB’s June 19 dinner about the ongoing work of the the Com- mission and the proposed Pyramid Crossgates 222-unit apartment development on Rapp Road inGuilderland. He began saying that “in no small part do we [the Commission] owe our existence” to the work of Save the Pine Bush. At it’s best, he said the Pine Bush is a savanna with some…

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Neil Gifford – Good News about the Pine Bush

April 24, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: “I would not be standing here without the work Save the Pine Bush has done to hold people accountable,” said Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission (APBPC or commission) Director Neil Gifford, as he began his presentation at the May 18 SPB dinner. Neil spoke at length about the Karner Blue Butterfly (KBB). Lynne Jackson introduced him saying APBPC sustains the Pine Bush and Neil has been with the commission for 19 years. Neil said the…

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Proposed Lincoln Park Sewage Treatment Plant

April 23, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Dan Van Riper spoke about the proposed Lincoln Park sewage treatment facility at the May 16 SPB dinner. His wife, Lynne Jackson, introduced him saying Dan has studied the sewage issue for more than ten years and written about it extensively on his blog Dan began saying, “This is a really complex issue and if you don’t understand it, I don’ blame you.” He said the city wants the treatment plant in the ravine along…

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Community Compost Initiative A weekly compost pick-up service

April 22, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis Throwing food waste into landfills creates greenhouse gases, which significantly contribute to global warming and takes up space in Albany’s Rapp Road landfill. Since Albany’s landfill was built in protected Pine Bush habitat, this is an especial problem. If you live in the City of Albany, you can reduce greenhouse gases and divert waste from Albany’s overburdened landfill, while at the same time supporting a local non-profit and ecologically regenerative micro-industry, by joining the Radix Center’s Community…

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Ban Styrofoam in Albany County

April 11, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis Albany County legislator Doug “Bullhorn” Bullock has proposed legislation that would ban the use of take-out polystyrene (Styrofoam) food and beverage containers from chain restaurants and eateries in the county. The proposed bill, called the Food Service Waste Reduction Act, has numerous co-sponsors and may be voted on Tuesday, November 12. A poorly attended public hearing in late August was dominated by out-of-state plastics and chemical industries representatives. However, more than ten county residents spoke in favor of the ban at the September 9 monthly meeting and three…

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April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

Million Worker March Million Worker March by Lynne Jackson On Sunday, October 17, my friend Jennifer Lindop and I got on a bus to go to Washington, DC fro the Million Worker March. We left from Albany, NY at midnight, arrived in Washington at 7:30 am. We visited memorials on the mall before attending the march. It was a beautiful day – not just the weather, but especially since the Million Worker March was the coming together of the labor…

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Dan McCoy Speaks at Save the Pine Bush

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: At the March 16 SPB dinner, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy spoke about Environmental Accomplishments and the Agenda for the Future. Mr. McCoy began with, “There is so much we’ve done” and “You’re organization — Save the Pine Bush — has been the rock of our community.” Mr. McCoy grew up in Albany and still lives in the city. He said his love of nature and being out in it resulted in…

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Lou Ismay and the Environmental Forum

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis One of the things I teach my students is that each of us can learn a lot from our elders, especially those who lead rich lives filled with interesting activities. With that in mind, several months ago I asked Lou Ismay to speak at a SPB dinner which he did on November 14. Lou was introduced by Jackson Davis, who had taken the Environmental Forum course Lou taught at the University at Albany. Jackson said when he showed up…

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Meeting with DEC Officials

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis RENSSELAER, NY: Five residents of Rensselaer and one each from East Greenbush, Menands, and Albany (me) met on September 18 with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) about the Dunn dump in Rensselaer. The DEC official included an assistant commissioner, chief counsel, chief of staff, and regional director. The meeting, held at DEC state headquarters in Albany, was a follow up to a similar meeting in mid-January. We made it clear that we continue to favor…

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Clean Air Update

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

By Tom Ellis ALBANY COUNTY: The Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena-Coeyamns held a community forum on February 9 about its continuing efforts to block the Lafarge cement company from burning tires near the Hudson River in Ravena, and directly across Route 9W from the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (RCS) Middle and High Schools. Christine Primomo, a retired nurse and Coeymans resident, began the forum asking Why are large corporations so determined to burn hazardous wastes in our communities? and Where are our…

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Mayor Kathy Sheehan Speaks to Save the Pine Bush

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Albany Mayor-Elect Kathy Sheehan spoke at the November 20 SPB dinner. Kathy said she is from a big Irish Catholic family, Albany residents “are desperate for change,” and residents told her “Albany is like an incredible stallion that someone keeps pulling on the reins.” She said she plans considerable community involvement in the decision-making processes of Albany. When others make decisions for us, we get the Empire State Plaza that cuts Center Square off from downtown…

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Stop the Landfill Expansion — Get Involved!

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

VILLAGE OF COLONIE: On May 3, Save the Pine Bush members met to discuss the next steps in fighting against the proposed landfill expansion in the Pine Bush and for a rational solid waste police. Village of Colonie Mayor Frank Leak graciously opened the Village of Colonie Family Recreation Center for our meeting. Mayor Leak told us of a recent visit he made to the Rapp Road landfill at the invitation of Albany County Legislators William Clay and Frank Commisso….

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Shawn Morris Speaks to Save the Pine Bush

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

ALBANY: Shawn Morris, candidate for Common Council President spoke at the July Save the Pine Bush dinner at the First Presbyterian Church. Four candidates are running in the Democratic Primary for Common Council President; all were invited to speak, but only Shawn Morris attended the dinner. Shawn began by describing the Common Council President’s roll in city government. The President has three functions: 1) to preside at the Common Council meetings, 2) sit on various City Boards and 3) to…

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Albany Pine Bush Nature Cache: Participation Encourages Public Land Stewardship

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis For more than 10 years, the city of Albany has attempted to site a large regional solid waste landfill in the town of Coeymans. The dump would be located about a mile south of where the Berkshire Spur section of the New York State Thruway connects to I-87. Trash would come from Albany, Cohoes, Berne, Bethleham, Guilderland, Knox, New Scotland, Westerlo, Watervliet, Rensselaer, Altamont, Rensselaerville, Green Island and elsewhere. Among the reasons Coeymans residents oppose the project…

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Updates on the trash problems in Rensselaer

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Chris Kielb and Tom Ellis Rensselaer and East Greenbush residents and their allies (Rensselaer Environmental Coalition, REC) continue to organize to block the proposed Bio HiTech municipal solid waste processing facility on the former BASF industrial site, south of Columbia Turnpike. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) sent now-departed Rensselaer Mayor Moody a memo late last year detailing the faulty methods the city used in fast-tracking their approval of the proposed BioHiTech plant and urging them to consider…

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Dump expansion rapped

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

ALBANY — If the crowd at the Polish Community Center on Wednesday ran the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany would not get permission to expand its Rapp Road dump in the environmentally-sensitive Pine Bush Preserve. Several hundred people packed the DEC hearing on the city’s request, with loudest applause going to dump opponents, like Colonie Village Mayor Frank Leak. "Given the city’s history of operating problems, and the lack of motivation toward solving those problems, if this request is…

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Honoring Lou Ismay at the April SPB Dinner

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: “If we lose reverence for any part of life, we lose reverence for all of life,” said Save the Pine Bush member Lou Ismay at the April 17th SPB dinner at which Lou spoke about his launching the Protect Your Environment (PYE) Club at SUNY Albany fifty years ago. He said many future members of Save the Pine Bush met each other through PYE. Before Lou spoke, Lynne Jackson read proclamations honoring Lou and his…

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DEC is Derelict its Duty — Not Requiring Preparation of Environmental Impact Statements

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis A growing problem in the capital region and probably elsewhere in New York is that large or gigantic proposed projects, many with potentially enormous environmental impacts, are passing thorough the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) regulatory system without environmental impact statements (EIS) being produced, as required under the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) Act. DEC is playing a huge role in this problem. I first noticed it in 2005 when DEC issued a negative declaration allowing…

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The Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster: Public Betrayal, Justice Denied

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: “This book is about regulatory capture by a large corporate interest,” said Bruce Campbell. He discussed the 2013 runaway train explosion in the Quebec town of the Lac- Mégantic at the March 20 SPB dinner. Mr. Campbell is the author of The Lac-Mégantic Rail Disaster: Public Betrayal, Justice Denied, published last year. He was joined by former Albany Common Councilman Dominick Calsolaro, who led the struggle against the “bomb trains” in Albany earlier this decade….

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DEC Should Enforce the Rules

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos responded to a March 4 Albany Times Union editorial with a letter to the editor ten days later. The editorial titled, “Weak fines, weak message,” strongly criticized the DEC’s “spotty record on cracking down on local environmental violations.” Specifically discussed were the Colonie Landfill, the Port of Coeymans, and the Dunn construction and demolition (C&D) debris landfill in Rensselaer. The editorial stated: “To be a useful compliance…

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DEC’s Top Brass Must Suffer from Anosmia Update on the Dunn Landfill

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis RENSSELAER, NY: While participating in a ninety-minute January 16 meeting with four top NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials at their Albany office to discuss worsening problems with the Dunn Landfill at the east end of Partition Street in Rensselaer, I concluded some of DEC’s top brass must suffer from anosmia, an inability to smell. Residents from across Rensselaer and parts of East Greenbush described in excruciating detail the dump odors, that, over the past eighteen…

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Solid Waste Transfer Facility Proposed on the Banks of the Hudson

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis RENSSELAER: More than fifteen area residents met in early November to discuss the proposed Rensselaer Engineered Fuels (REF) facility that has been proposed for the old BASF industrial site just south of downtown Rensselaer. We exchanged information and developed a plan of action. One, who lives a few blocks from the proposed facility, said he had gone door to door and there is much opposition to the project. This gathering of activists occurred due to concerns about…

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Truck Traffic in Rensselaer: Update

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Christine Kielb Tom Ellis and Christine Kielb of Stop Trucks Assaulting Rensselaer (STAR), a group of Rensselaer residents and their allies, are continuing their work fighting the tractor trailer truck traffic passing through city neighborhoods to and from the Dunn Construction and Demolition (C&D) landfill. This landfill operation, larger than the Colonie and Albany landfills combined, is expected to continue for many years, possibly until 2036, unless successfully challenged. The problem began in 2012 when the NYS Department of…

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The Potential of Community Choice Aggregation

April 6, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Tina Lieberman and Susan Lawrence spoke at the June 20 SPB dinner about the power and potential of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). Tina is a member of the Energy Subcommittee of the Albany City Sustainability Advisory Committee. Susan is on the Executive Committees of both the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter and the local Hudson Mohawk Group. Tina said CCA is similar to Sam’s Club and other bulk purchasing discount clubs with electricity the product. She…

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Residents Object to Polluting Trucks

April 5, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis Rensselaer City residents began meeting last spring after enduring five years of up to 100 huge trucks per day five days a week traverse downtown streets en-route to a construction and demolition debris (C&D) dump at the east end of Partition Street. About 30 residents met September 28 at the Rensselaer public library to share information and intensify their campaign to have the trucks removed from downtown. Whether residents will demand a closure of the dump located…

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Solid Waste Issues in the City of Albany, the Town of Colonie and the Proposed Changes in the NYS Solid Waste Regulations

April 5, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY. NY: There is much to report on issues regarding solid wastes. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC or En Con)) DEC held a public hearing in Albany to receive comments on proposed revisions to its Part 360 regulations, DEC is assisting the Town of Colonie with its landfill expansion application,” and the City of Albany recently held a short public comment period on its proposals to (1) mechanize the collection of household wastes and recyclables,…

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Save the Pine Bush Volunteers Win Victory for Open Records

April 5, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: For many years I have watched state agencies abuse our rights as citizens, taxpayers, residents, and interested parties in regulatory proceedings. The NYS Energy Research and Development Authority (ERDA) and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are particularly guilty of limiting public access to public information. For example, ERDA held six public hearings in February and March 2014 on the proposed long range state energy plan. I attended the first hearing in Albany but none…

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Do We Really Need to “Streamline” the Environmental Protections of SEQRA?

April 5, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: “This is an incredible threat to the effectiveness of SEQRA,” said Roger Downs, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Conservation Director, at the May 17 SPB dinner. Roger lectured on the “streamlining” of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) proposed by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) which administers SEQRA. Roger began by congratulating Save the Pine Bush for having used SEQRA “probably better than most” people and groups and for “having breathed life into…

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Albany County Legislature Rejects Banning Polystyrene Foam

April 5, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

by Tom Ellis Albany, NY: On April 12, the Albany County Legislature voted 21-16-1 to reject expanding the polystyrene foam take-out food container law enacted three years ago to include all restaurants and eateries. Legislators offered many reasons for their “no” votes, some principled and others ridiculous. A few said this law would be better enacted at the state level, some said it would hurt — even fatally –some small (mom and pop) businesses; other insisted polystyrene is safe and…

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Climate Change and Hell and High Water

April 5, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: Hell and High Water: New York Responds to Climate Change was title of the talk given by Mark Lowery at the November 16 SPB dinner. Mr. Lowery is a climate policy analyst in the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Office of Climate Change (OCC). He said OCC helps NYS mitigate and adapt to climate change. Prior to his talk, he told me he could speak for many hours on this topic. Toward the end of…

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Landfill Expansion Proposal in the Town of Colonie

April 5, 2021 Tom Ellis Comments 0 Comment

Report from Tom Ellis The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) held public hearings that I attended on September 20 and October 25 on the application of the Town of Colonie to greatly enlarge its landfill located along the Mohawk River near Route 9. Dozens spoke against the proposal citing concerns about odors, aesthetics, noise, water and air pollution, regulatory compliance, truck traffic, need, alternatives, and economics, The proposed dump would overlap and expand upon the existing one and an…

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