It's a Small World _ Save the River Picks Lee Willbanks As Director

A few weeks back I posted that I had heard a tip as to who the new head of Save the River (STR would be, and that I would comment on it if it was true.  Well, the information was accurate.  The new  head of STR is Mr. D. Lee Willbanks.  See the WDT article linked below.

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20120609/NEWS03/706099921

As you can see in the article when Mr. Willbanks was asked about local wind energy proposals and he commented “He does not have a dog in the hunt”.  Really?   That’s a rather interesting reaction from the lead environmental group protecting the St. Lawrence River area under siege by industrial wind developers, especially after he worked for someone of State importance who was the direct recipient of industrial wind money .

Does that imply he is “hands off” on the wind issue that is a major threat to the St Lawrence Valley????  Wonder who gave him those marching orders???

Seems to me the invasion of invasive industrial wind proposals in Cape Vincent and the region that are a direct threat to an important bird migration flyway, and the scenic beauty of the !000 Islands might make him reconsider whether he actually has a “dog in the hunt”  After all, did he forget that STR proposed a three year moratorium on wind local wind development to fully study the cumulative impacts on birds and bats, after the Wolfe Island Wind Farm bird mortality numbers shook their tree a bit.  Based on that alone I would say his “dog is already hunting”

And for what it’s worth,  there are other interesting connections to Mr. Willbanks and local wind energy scene, especially in Cape Vincent.

First, his wife Judy Drabicki (referenced in the article) was the Wind Power Ethics Group’s (WPEG) first attorney as the CV wind battle heated up. They are / were the central wind “opposition” group in Cape Vincent.

She was recommended to us by two respected ornithologists since she had won a case or settlement in Ogdensburg against a little outfit named EXXON!!!    Ms. Drabicki was theWPEG attorney that handled the issue with the CV Planning Board , and Zoning Board of Appeals over whether wind turbines were utilities or not under the old CV zoning laws.  The CV ZBA appeal was lost before the ZBA and WPEG with Drabicki took it to an Article 78 court challenge.

In the middle of that preparation for the court challenge in 2007 Ms. Drabicki suddenly got cold feet on our case and the next thing we knew was being appointed as the Region 6  Director of the NY DEC.  She handed off our case to another lawyer to finish. 

Later her husband Lee Willbanks was hired  by former NY Sen. Aubertine as his legislative director in 2008.  That would be the same NY Sen. Darrel Aubertine who had wind leases on his farm in Cape Vincent with Acciona’s St Lawrence Wind Farm. and previously wrote a letter to the wind conflicted CV town officials to basically ignore their wind conflicts of interest.  That would also be the same Sen. Aubertine that when I mentioned his CV wind conflict problems and relationship to the CV Town Board and their conflict issues to the AG’s lawyers they all looked at the floor like I had asked them to drink poison.

Apparently Mr. Willbanks was an environmental counsel to Sithe Energy, an independent power producer.  That’s an interesting company as well.

Now these are just facts as they are, and just thought my readers should know especially in light of the fact that Mr. Willbanks is dismissing the very important local wind issue so easily and quickly and speaking for STR now.

So when Mr. Willbanks says he “doesn’t have a dog in the (wind) hunt.”  That is not exactly accurate.  I guess it depends what you are “hunting” and he is an interesting pick for an environmental group  that is surrounded by very controversial industrial wind proposals that could heavily impact the River and our region..