Article X - Can We Really Trust the NY DEC????

The NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will be a major player in Cuomo’s new Article X siting process. The DEC commissioner is a member of the siting board.  In fact since last Aug. when the A-10 law was passed it became the responsibility of the DEC to fill in the details of the law as to the siting process.

NY Assemblywoman Addie Russell seems to feel an A-10 siting board will not allow wind turbines in the 1000’s Islands area.  With such large responsibilities to the NYS environment and to communities  like Cape Vincent and its significant natural and scenic resources, where the A-10 process will take place, one would hope that DEC would use good judgment. So do we have any indication whether he DEC will actually use good judgment in this A-10 streamlined process? How much confidence do we have in the DEC to protect CV and our area? Do we have anything to evaluate their performance of environmental protection in matters like ours?   Yes we do…and once again history dishes up a relevant example we might apply to today. 

First I have been told by knowledgeable former DEC players that when the State took on a pro wind agenda  that a couple previous governors had told then to be “hands off” on the wind issue and in fact they apparently were told not to take lead agency in wind related environmental studies.  I have also been told from very knowledgeable sources in SEQR  matters that the State Environmental Quality Review process has turned into a joke!

Then there is my letter to the DEC Commisioner and their answer on the completely screwed up  SEQR process of the  CV wind developers and our former badly wind conflicted planning board that was the lead agency to oversee those environmental studies.  My concern and the concern of many in CV was obvious.  The SEQR process was controlled by people who had wind contracts or family with wind contracts.  Kind of a no brainer how that would play out, as we have seen with Acciona’s and the former planning board’s SEQR circus performance.

In 2009 I wrote a letter to DEC Commissioner Grannis (no longer there) trying to get an answer as to why they were ignoring this conflicted mess since they are an involved agency that at least comments on the CV SEQR studies.  Since the wind development of BP,  and the Acciona BP power line spanned Lyme and CV both town were involved.  Edsall had engineered it so he and the the CV planning board  would take control as lead agency in the SEQR studies and  the process for both towns for obvious reasons for him. A dispute arose, between Lyme and CV and the DEC Commissioner is the final authority as to who would be lead agency. Grannis awarded lead agency to the Edsall conflicted CV planning board.

Now this would have been early in the wind issue.  I was astonished the DEC would give the lead agency to CV and Edsall.  But then I remembered that Grannis would have no “official” way of knowing that our PB was so conflicted since at that time none of our town officers had disclosed their conflicts officially until early summer of 2008.  That would be at least 3 years AFTER they had signed wind leases and they had done a lot of dirty work and damage to our town govt on behalf of the wind developers.     So when Grannis was making his critical decision the conflicts were essentially hidden.  One more way that the conflicts really screwed us on a critical matter…and one more reason Mrs. Bourcy who voted right through all this should not be on our planning board NOW!!!

So I wrote Grannis about all this and asked if he knew of the conflicts.  I think unless he was living in a cave with some Indiana bats I don’t see how he would not have known officially or not. The State in effect probably had the squeeze on him. The CV wind issue was becoming very visible across the State and his damn agency was directly involved in the CV SEQR process.  I also asked how the DEC as a participant in the CV SEQR process as a reviewer of the study they could continue to endorse and play a part in such an obviously badly distorted process. I though that they were endorsing a process that made the SEQR laws irrelevant and a bad a bad joke, as other DEC people had already confirmed for me

Below is the political BS letter back from the DEC. It's called turfing the problem you don't want to deal with.

So the DEC says “Not our problem man…we turf it to the courts”. They say they have certain “oversight responsibilities” .  Well when the process they are involved with right under their noses that is supposed to protect one of NY’s most environmentally sensitive and beautiful spots is a complete conflicted distorted sham, then what the hell does it actually take for them to exercise some damn oversight!!! 

They are effectively saying that they don’t control the people who control the studies, and they would go right ahead and put in their comments as if none of this badly distorted conflicted issue even existed that was making the entire process a scam.  That is like getting on an airplane controlled by terrorists with bombs and getting on the plane as if everything is just fine!!   I wonder how they would react if we got a bunch of kindergarten kids to write up the studies with crayons if they might have an objection to that????  That is precisely the quality of what the wind developer and the CV conflicted planning board turned out.  So what would the DEC say to that…”Oh what beautiful colors you created with your crayons…carry on!!!”   It is absurd.  Now they will in large part be in control of the A-10 process, and we already have a prime example of their screwed up thinking and entire lack of backbone. None of this makes me warm and fuzzy about A-10!!!.

And this is one entity we are running around trying to appease with our zoning???? You might as well prohibit wind turbines.  It sounds like it would be no less chancy based on this experience with as dysfunctional DEC who would turn their head on such a screwed up unethical process like it didn’t exist,  when our region’s  environmental treasure was hanging in the balance.   Better stop waiting around for compromise and appeasement and start taking on the responsibility ourselves to protect our region!!!

Yeah… we are really doing brilliantly in our A-10 zoning appeasement efforts so far.  We are appeasing a governor who wants to take away our local home rule rights to determine and protect our own community’s future.  We have a zoning attorney “expert” that says he won’t defend a zoning law that would protect our scenic views that are essential to CV and its economy.  We have a DEC that is controlling the A-10 process and has no backbone and can’t even figure out when a SEQR study is all F-----up with blatant conflicts of interest.   And this is what we call a rational approach?????

Hell… at this rate why don’t we just put up the damn turbines FOR  BP ourselves and be done with it!!!!

Lastly look at who the DEC letter was CC’d  to.   One cc was to the DEC region 6 division of environmental permits.  Guess who is the head of the DEC Region 6 in Watertown which includes CV????  None other than the very first WPEG attorney Judy Drabicki who argued  WPEG’s turbines are not utilities case before the CV ZBA, and started to prepare the same case for court.  She wouldn’t be able to do anything anyhow since she would have a direct conflict  And right in the middle of our of prepping for our court case she gets cold feet and starts to have doubts.  That seemed real odd to me, since she was fully behind it before.  She sent me and WPEG a lot of legal stuff to look at and numerous emails and phone conversations…so I got to know hera little bit. 

Hey wait….why should I have all the research fun. I bet my readers like a treasure hunt and mystery as much as I do…right?  Ok keeping in mind the name I just mentioned as the 1^st WPEG attorney and go right to the next post above and use the links to do a little research on your own.  See if this attorney won any big cases against any little  familiar companies.  See who else is she related to?  I have been sitting on this one for a couple years. If you were a big wind developer in CV…how would you feel  that this very competent attorney is suddenly the attorney for a very vocal  local wind opposition group???

Hey I just report the facts, or pass them along… you have to decide…and oh what a cozy world it is!!!  As I said the CV wind story is a very interesting puzzle…keep putting together the pieces my friends!!!

You really think wind turbine setbacks are going to solve our problems???…You might want to reconsider the puzle pieces!!!