BREAKING NEWS ON PCB CLEANUP
General Electric Co.'s constitutional challenge to the federal Superfund program has been dismissed. The company filed the suit two years ago in an effort to avoid paying pollution cleanup costs. Scenic Hudson joined Natural Resources Defense Council, Riverkeeper, Clearwater and New York Rivers United in filing an amicus curiae "friend of the court" brief opposing the suit. Thanks to Professor Lisa Heinzerling of the Georgetown University Law Center for representing the groups pro bono.
Meanwhile the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a one-year delay in starting the PCB cleanup. GE has yet to move forward on a cleanup plan or pay $32 million it owes the EPA for past costs, but it has agreed to a sediment sampling program.
Next in the design phase is siting the sediment-processing facility and then developing performance standards to monitor the cleanup. Scenic Hudson and others advocate strong standards but are concerned opponents are seeking unachievable benchmarks to derail the cleanup. |
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NEW PARKS, TOURISM GATEWAY
The Scenic Hudson Land Trust has purchased three significant properties. In the Town of Lloyd in Ulster County, the New York State Bridge Authority and Palisades Interstate Park Commission will help Scenic Hudson transform 250 acres, just south of the Mid-Hudson Bridge, into a public park. The seller, the Alfano family, is donating $150,000 of the purchase to Scenic Hudson.
In the Olana viewshed, 63-acre Brandow Point in Greene County also will become a riverfront park. Scenic Hudson is partnering with the Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District on improving and managing the land.
And in Orange County, we intend to turn a 1.5-acre property in the Town of Highlands into a tourism gateway for the national landmark Fort Montgomery Battle Site. This purchase builds on a $2 million commitment from Gov. George E. Pataki to make the battle site a major attraction. |
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OPPOSING LEHIGH CEMENT EXPANSION
Glens Falls Lehigh Cement Company wants to dramatically enlarge its cement processing and distribution facility in Cementon, Greene County, generating much concern from the cross-river Town of Germantown. This community would bear the brunt of increased emissions, noise and nighttime light pollution. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation tentatively ruled that the proposal would not have significant adverse environmental impacts and did not require an environmental impact statement. But an outpouring of citizen complaints, especially from the Germantown Neighbors Association and Scenic Hudson, prompted a DEC public hearing. Advocates are pressing for a full review and continued input. |
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GROUPS WANT INDIAN POINT CLOSED
In January a consultant hired by the state found Indian Point's emergency plans inadequate. Scenic Hudson and the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition advocate an immediate shutdown of the facility. While executives of the four affected counties declined to certify evacuation plans, key federal agencies and Gov. George E. Pataki remained undecided as of the time of this writing. |
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Compiled by Kerri Karvetski, Warren Reiss and Rich Schiafo.
Thanks to partner Woody Pirtle and designer Scott Buschkuhl of Pentagram, and Glenn Kaplan of Barnes & Noble for their
work on the poster and other advocacy materials.
Photo by Thomas Moore |
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