Welcome to Schoharie Valley Watch


Thanks for making the 2010 Blenhiem ArtWalk a success!

Schoharie Valley Watch would like to thank all those who worked so hard to make the 2010 Blenheim Bridge ArtWalk a success. Blessed with a cloudless sky and a cool breeze from Schoharie Creek, the ArtWalk attracted an estimated 2,000 visitors who came to view and buy the work of area artists and to hear musical performances by Tom Wadsworth, the Lou Smaldone Trio and the Upper Catskill String Quartet.

Schoharie Valley Watch is a 501(C)(3) non-profit citizen's advocacy group dedicated to working for open local government that is responsive to the residents of the Valley.

Please donate and help support the education and outreach efforts of Schoharie Valley Watch. Donations to this fund are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.

Donate Now!


SVW has joined a growing list of environmental and citizen groups calling for an immediate state-wide ban on gas drilling that uses hydrofracking technology. SVW considers hydrofracking to be a serious threat to the region’s drinking water supplies as well as to rivers and streams. Please view the videos below to learn more about the chemicals that are injected into the ground during hydrofracking.


Intense noise, heat, light and air pollution from a hydrofracking site's flaring tower. This is what hydrofracking looks like:







Legal Defense Fund Established


SVW has established a Legal Defense Fund in preparation for a potential legal challenges of local laws passed to accommodate industrial wind developers as well as actions that may become necessary to protect our local environment and drinking water supplies from the threat of toxic chemicals associated with horizontal gas drilling.

The fund will be used exclusively for legal actions and will be maintained seperatley from SVW general operating funds. Contributions are absolutely vital but because of applicable regulations, are not tax deductible. The fund will be carefully managed, issue periodic statements and be subject to annual audits by an independent accounting firm.

Please mail your contributions to:

Schoharie Valley Watch Legal Defense Fund
PO Box 193
Richmondville, NY 12149
or call 518-294-6066


You can now contribute to the SVW Legal Defense
Fund electronically and securely using PayPal.



Our Email: SchoharieValleyWatch@gmail.com

SVW appreciates the very generous donations it has received to date.

Call for Volunteers, Interns and Grant Writers



SVW is increasingly being approached by individuals seeking guidance on issues such as a failure to enforce local laws and regulations, secretive local government process that exclude residents and conflicts of interest that impair the ability of elected officials to govern fairly and effectively. SVW has been providing that assistance and making referrals where appropriate, within the limitations of our resources.

We desperately need volunteers and interns with legal, environmental, zoning and planning expertise willing to help their neighbors. If you can donate a few hours a month or more to being part of community outreach and assistance initiatives please contact us as soon as possible.

Thank you!

SVW receives grant
from the Tri-County Arts Council to sponsor the 2010 Blenheim Art Walk



Following the success of the 2009 Art Walk, which drew more than 1,400 visitors, SVW has begun developing plans for the 2010 event which is scheduled for July 18th. This years event will include work by the region's best artists and performances by musicians such as Tom Wadsworth (Folk/Traditional), the Upper Catskill String Quartet (Classical), the Lou Smaldon Trio (Jazz) and others.


Important Updates



7/15/10

PRESS RELEASE- SVW engages Attorney General's Office over Richmondville Planning Board actions and $2M in public funds.

Schoharie Valley Watch (SVW) has begun discussions with the NY State Attorney General’s Public Integrity Office in Syracuse concerning allegations that in 2009, the Town of Richmondville Planning Board Chairman signed off on an environmental review for a multi-million dollar project knowing that the submitted plans did not reflect the final scope, scale, size and footprint of the project and that potential environmental impacts would not be carefully considered. The AG’s office is interested in determining if the Planning Board Chairman, who is also employed by the real estate company that brokered the sale of land for the project, engaged in an illegal “quid pro quo” to help the developer gain access to over $2 million in public funds.

SVW Co-Director Don Airey stated: “While we certainly do not want to see the taxpayers abused by the allocation of public funds under questionable circumstances, there are other victims here as well, including the developer who, instead of being served by this kind of activity, actually gets placed at risk by a less than ethical process that will not pass the test of public review or audit.”

SVW Co-Director Bob Nied added: “our concern has never been this project or its developer, it has been the same concern we have raised for more than three years- that the Town of Richmondville Planning Board is hobbled by conflicts of interest and a consistent failure to follow proper procedure.” Nied added: “As a watchdog organization, SVW is determined to do everything it can to correct that unfortunate reality.”

SVW believes that considerable political pressure has also been applied to the Richmondville Town Board and Planning Board to rush approval of a project hampered by vague and changing site plans, its proximity to Federal wetlands and difficulty in addressing storm water mitigation. Co-Director Nied stated that “the last thing this troubled project needed was to be rubber stamped by a Planning Board already tainted by ethics concerns and an almost continual appearance of impropriety.” Ultimately, a potentially worthwhile project may be derailed because of the procedural failures of the Planning Board and the conflicts of its Chairman.


7/9/10
PRESS REEASE -SVW calls for resignation of Richmondville Planning Board Chair

Schoharie Valley Watch has called for the immediate resignation of the Town of Richmondville Planning Board Chairperson following a review of documents obtained under the NY Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) that indicate the Chairperson signed a State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) Assessment Form for a proposed multi-million dollar project in order to allow the developers to pursue over $2 million in public funds. The Chairperson attested to the project having no significant environmental impacts despite the fact that he had only casually reviewed preliminary plans for the project that did not reflect the actual footprint, size or scope of that project and ignored what has since been documented to be twelve acres of Federal wetlands and an archaeological site that has been shown in a report by a consulting firm to be at risk for “significant adverse impact” by the project.

SVW called for the individual’s resignation after learning that the land for the project was sold by a real estate firm owned by the Chairperson’s son and for which the Chairperson himself works as a paid salesperson. SVW Co-Director Bob Nied stated “there is an undeniable appearance of impropriety here. It is not hard to imagine a quid pro quo arrangement where if you buy real estate from an agency linked to the Planning Board Chair you are the assured of approval for your project by that same Planning Board.” Mr. Nied added “this kind of wink and a nod approach to planning and zoning approval has to stop. No matter how important a project is it does not justify making a mockery of the planning and zoning process or denying the tax payers of NY reasonable controls on how public money is allocated.” SVW has provided various agencies with copies of the information it has obtained including the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Unit and the Schoharie County Prosecutor’s Office. Mr. Nied added “we have been providing the Town of Richmondville with evidence of the Planning Board’s failure to act in accordance with the law and the Chairpersons conflicts of interest for years. They have steadfastly refused to act. Hopefully, the act of filling a bogus environmental review to help a developer get $2 million in public funds is finally enough to make the Town wake up and act responsibly.”


5/10/10

SVW to present on subject of hydrofracking to Town Board of Wright, tonight, May 10, 2010 at 7 PM- Town of Wright Board meeting.

5/10/10

SVW receives support from Schoharie County Planning and Development Director in call for blue-ribbon County Commission on Hydrofracking

Schoharie Valley Watch Co-Directors Bob Nied and Don Airey met during the week of April 19 with Schoharie County Planning and Development Agency Director Alicia Terry and discussed a wide ranging list of issues of interest to area residents. The goal of the meeting was to foster a more cooperative and productive relationship between the County agency and the non-profit organization. SVW Co-Director Nied stated that “the meeting was positive, productive and focused on areas of mutual concern” At the conclusion of the meeting Ms. Terry supported the call by SVW for a blue-ribbon County commission to examine the impacts of hydrofracking (gas drilling) and the options for protecting the County’s public and private water supplies.

Following a recent presentation to the County Board of Supervisors on the subject of hydrofracking, SVW has been receiving positive feedback from local elected officials as well as requests for additional presentations and information. SVW Co-Director Airey stated that “SVW is absolutely committed to working for the protection of the sensitive regional environment and the health and safety of area residents. We will continue to do so actively through local government, the EPA’s Stakeholder Panel, the NY Gas Coordination Group and in support of other State and national citizen’s initiatives.”

4/9/10

The following press release issued today...

SVW to speak on hydrofracking before the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors

On April 16, 2010 Schoharie Valley Watch (SVW) will provide a comprehensive presentation to the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors on the potential impacts of hydrofracking on the County's private and public water supplies.

SVW, recently added to the Federal EPA's stakeholder panel on gas drilling and a member of the NY Gas Coordination Group, will focus on the health and safety concerns associated with chemicals used in the process of hydrofracking and their compatibility with the hydrological and geological characteristics of Schoharie County.

SVW has also made a formal request to the Town of Summit to present an information session to Town officials and residents following what SVW Co-Chair Don Airey termed a "misleading and shockingly ill-informed" County-sponsored presentation by David Huse, a representative of a land owner's coalition who is seeking payments from the drilling industry.

4/9/10

The following press release issued today...

SVW retains law firm and discusses additional legal actional against the Village of Richmondville

In November of 2009, Schoharie Valley Watch (SVW) filed a petition in the NY Supreme Court of Schoharie County enjoining the Village of Richmondville from moving forward with a project by developers Makley-Loder. The petition was filed “pro se” meaning it was submitted by the officers of SVW without the use of an attorney. That project would build a housing development an 83 acre parcel of farmland within the Village limits. SVW filed the petition after identifying serious errors and omissions by the Village on the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) Assessment Form. Among the most serious of those omissions was a failure to disclose that the Village was preparing to expand the municipal water and sewer infrastructure and build a pumping station and emergency power plant to accommodate the developers. The Village failed to review the potential environmental impacts of that expansion as well as the potential long-term costs to taxpayers.

Lawyers for the Village and the developers made no attempt to defend the omissions or the failure to accurately review the impacts of the project but instead moved to have the SVW lawsuit dismissed on technicalities. Their strategy included trying to bar SVW from suing because the organization was not represented by an attorney. SVW Co-Director Don Airey stated: “the irony of a non-profit citizen’s group being barred from fighting city hall because it was speaking for those citizen’s without the benefit, or cost of a lawyer, was not lost on us.” The Village and the developers also attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed for timeliness. SVW Co-Director Bob Nied, who also serves as a special advisor to the American Bar Association Section of Science and Technology Law, stated: “We are not lawyers, but we sense when the law is being ignored. In the case of this development the Village’s disregard for the SEQRA requirements was obvious.” Mr. Airey and Mr. Nied filed a response to the Village’s move to dismiss on timeliness, producing documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Law that proved that the Village withheld the final plans for the infrastructure expansion for almost three years before registering them with the County in late 2009. The judge agreed with SVW and upheld the timeliness of the lawsuit.

However, on March 4, 2010 Judge Eugene Divine issued a dismissal of the SVW suit on technical grounds without addressing whether the Village failed to follow the requirements of SEQRA. Mr. Nied stated: “We are disappointed but not deterred. We fully expected that when you take on the area’s largest developer, a municipal government and two separate law firms, you are going to have a tough fight. We have learned a great deal that will help us be even more effective in voicing the concerns of residents going forward.” Mr. Nied added: “the Village filed a form stating that the subdivision was going to use private wells and septic tanks and is now insisting they knew all along they intended to build a municipal sewer and water system. That amounts to an admission that they knowingly filed a false document. That is a very serious breach of the public trust as well as an ethical and legal failure that should not be tolerated.”

SVW has now retained legal council and is discussing the options for appealing Judge Divine’s decision as well as other legal remedies.

4/2/10

SVW added to panel of "Stakeholders" on hydrofracking by EPA

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), in response to a directive from the US House of Representatives, is preparing to weigh in on the debate over hydrofracking and will conduct a comprehensive study of the effects of this type of gas drilling on air and water quality. To that end the EPA is assembling a panel of “stakeholders” to provide feedback to the agency and to assist with the Hydraulic Fracturing Research Plan.

Schoharie Valley Watch (SVW) has been added to the stakeholder panel by the EPA along with 17 other subject matter experts and national groups including the Sierra Club and the Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment. SVW will be participating in a teleconference of April 7th facilitate by Edward Hanlon of the EPA’s Science Advisory Board and will formally request to address the Board in Washington.

SVW considers this a “seat at the table” on a national scale to be a significant opportunity to articulate the concerns of Upstate NY residents and to support regulatory initiatives that will protect rural communities from the kind of environmental degradation that has followed in the wake of hydrofracking in the states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Texas.


3/26/10

Town of Summit reschedules gas drilling and industrial wind meeting but moves to restrict public comment

The Town of Summit has rescheduled a meeting for April 6, 2010 at 7 PM (612 Baldwin Road, Summit, NY) to discuss industrial wind development and gas drilling. SVW is concerned that Town officials are attempting to discourage or prevent public input on the two important subjects by canceling the first scheduled meeting when surprised by a turn out of area residents, and now placing limits on the meeting that may effectively shut out comment from citizen’s groups. The Town has announced that the newly scheduled meeting will have a two hour limit and Summit town residents will be allowed to speak before non-residents (Towns are prohibited from outright banning non-resident comment by the NY State Open Meetings Law).


The Town will reportedly have Don Zaengle, a retired geologist, speaking as a subject matter expert on gas drilling. Mr. Zaengle serves as a consultant to landowner coalitions in Upstate NY who are attempting to secure favorable gas leases with drilling companies. He is a former employee of the gas and oil industry and has partnered with Elmira lawyer Christopher Denton, who represents the Central NY (gas) Landowners Coalition. Mr. Zaengle’s talks have been known to run nearly two hours in length which, along with the scheduled comment by residents first, would almost assuredly preclude meaningful participation in the meeting by other concerned individuals and groups.


SVW has requested documents under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) to determine if Mr. Zaengle’s appearance has been sponsored and/or paid for by the Schoharie County Planning and Development Agency, which has previously facilitated the appearance of industry-centric “experts” at Town Board meetings including: George Hessler, a consultant to wind developers (who admitted that his speaking expenses were paid for by Reunion Power) and Antoinette Alberti of TetraTech, another wind industry consultant sponsored by Planning Director Alicia Terry. SVW also learned through FOIL documents that Ms. Terry, who is also scheduled to speak at the Summit meeting, sought the advice of Attorney Todd Mathis when developing a County sponsored model wind law. Attorney Mathis is best known for representing the Town of Prattsburg, NY in their attempt to seize private property using eminent domain on behalf of foreign-owned wind developer UPC. Ms. Terry has also arranged for presentations by Southern Tier West, a Regional Planning and Development Board that receives direct corporate sponsorship from companies like LaBella Associates, an engineering firm that provides promotional and logistical support for gas drilling companies.

The above information is presented to illustrate a glaringly one-sided perspective on public information held by some local officials and their resistance to allowing the input of opposing viewpoints.

SVW encourages all Schoharie County residents interested in the impacts industrial wind development and gas drilling, two highly contentious issues of regional importance, to attend this meeting. Please note that SVW also encourages all attendees to respect the rules of order and the authority of Summit Town officials and to be aware that those officials have reportedly commented that they are prepared to have citizens removed from the meeting by Sheriff’s deputies. Conversely, SVW strongly encourages all interested parties to understand their rights under NY State’s Open Meetings Law and other applicable statutes. If you would like to learn more about those rights feel free to contact SVW.




3/7/10

Town of Summit unexpectedly cancels wind/gas meeting

SVW would like to express our thanks to all those who attended the Town of Summit special meeting called to discuss industrial wind and gas drilling. Several of you traveled a fair distance to attend, recognizing that both wind development and hydrofracking are not just local concerns but regional issues that deserve the attention and scrutiny of all NY residents.

We have, like many of you, heard the rumors that the meeting and presentation by Schoharie County Planning and Development was cancelled precisely BECAUSE we attended and that local officials feared that the information they intended to disseminate may have been challenged. The reasons why the meeting was cancelled are not important. What is important is that everyone who may potentially be impacted by industrial wind development and gas drilling continue to gather information, make an effort to understand the underlying science and insist that local, County and State officials act decisively to protect the health, safety, quality of life and property values of all Upstate NY residents.

If and when a new date for the Summit wind/gas meeting is announced SVW will distribute that information via this email list, through Twitter and on our web site.

3/4/10

Onondaga County calls on Governor Paterson to ban hydrofracking

Onondaga County's legislature passed a resolution this week calling on the Governor of NY to "ban hydrofracking operations pending further independent scientific assessments." SVW supports Onondaga's ban and encourages other county governments to follow with similar bans, placing the health and safety of its residents before the financial gain of a few large landowners.

2/23/10

PA gas driller fined for dumping hydrofracking fluid

The owner of a company that has been conducting gas drilling in the Allegheny State Forest in Pennsylvania, has pleaded guilty to felony dumping charges after his company was caught dumping 200,000 gallons of polluted hydrofracking waste water. The company apparently tried to dispose of the waste by pumping it down an abandoned oil well. It is unclear at this time if any private water wells or aquifers were contaminated by the dumping. This latest incident follows on the heels of several other recent convictions and fines in the State of Pennsylvania, including a fine issued to a drilling company for dumping 295 gallons of hydrochloric acid near a protected waterway and another for the dumping of 5,000 gallons of waste drilling water containing benzine and diesel fuel. The state of Pennsylvania has seen a growing number of environmental disasters related to gas drilling with only a handful of convictions because of the scale of drilling operations and the lack of inspectors.

As drillers are poised to push strongly into NY State the lessons learned in Pennsylvania should be driving an aggressive enforcement effort. But instead, NY State remains ill equipped to deal with the potential impacts of gas drilling. NY State DEP lists over 50,000 regulated gas and oil wells in the state but REDUCED its number of inspectors from 19 to 16 in 2009. Governor Patterson has proposed increasing that number as hydrofracking in Marcellus Shale is inspected to result in thousands of new wells, but budget constraints may prevent the expansion of DEP enforcement efforts.

SVW is renewing its call for a State-wide ban on permits for hydrfracking operations in New York until such time as adequate regulatory, inspection and enforcement mechanisms can be established and the the industry's exemption from the Clean Water Act is repealed. SVW also calls on county health departments to move quickly to establish and enforce increased protections of private and public drinking water supplies threatened by gas drilling activities.

12/26/09

Town of Richmondville issues eight-point program to increase ethics compliance in wake of SVW complaint.

Nearly four months after Schoharie Valley Watch (SVW) filed a formal ethics complaint with the Town of Richmondville the Town has responded with an eight-step plan to increase ethics compliance, eliminate situations that create an “appearance of impropriety” and ensure actions taken by the Town’s governing bodies are consistent with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).

SVW Co-Director Don Airey stated that he was “encouraged by the Town’s response and considers it a positive step.” Mr. Airey also views the Town’s eight-step mitigation plan as “an acknowledgement that conflicts of interest have not previously been addressed, nor has a level of professional behavior been maintained, consistent with the Town’s fiduciary responsibility.”

A copy of the Town’s response and action plan for compliance is available upon request from SVW. As a public record, a copy may also be requested from the Town of Richmondville under the provisions of the NY Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

Specifically, the SVW complaint cited the present Chair of the Planning Board as having a serious and on-going conflict of interest as an employee of one, and possibly several, real estate development companies. SVW also contends that the Chair has demonstrated “a history of disregard for the provisions of local zoning and site plan review as well as the requirements of SEQRA.” SVW documented cases in which the Chair had a direct or familial interest in matters brought before his board yet failed to disclose those interests and/or properly recuse himself.

Recently, SVW confirmed with the NY State Department of State (DoS) that a planning board chair employed as a real estate sales person represents a “Prohibited Action” under NY State Municipal Law and officials who knowingly allow or conceal that Prohibited Action are guilty of a criminal misdemeanor.

SVW Co-Director Bob Nied stated that “while SVW welcomes the steps taken by the Town of Richmonville in response to this complaint, we view the complete elimination of this specific Prohibited Action and other conflicts of interests that may exist as the only responsible resolution to this matter and the only one that fully restores compliance with State Law.”

Mr. Nied also stated that “SVW looks forward to future action(s) by the Richmondville Town Board which are necessary to restore integrity to, and public confidence in, the Town’s Planning Board process and other areas of local governance. SVW is committed to pursuing this matter to ensure that it is completely resolved.”

ARCHIVE...

December 8, 2009

Town of Seward withdraws proposed wind moratorium.

At last evening's meeting the Town Board of Seward presented and then withdrew a proposed Town Law calling for a moratorium on the construction of wind turbines. SVW attended that meeting and provided comment suggesting that a moratorium was ill-timed and unnecessary. SVW's position, and that of several Seward residents, was that the use of a moratorium when there was no active application or pressure from a developer would exhaust a valuable tool that the Town may need at a later date in the event that a large-scale industrial wind project materialized.

SVW further stated that current Seward zoning already provides a layer of protection as it prohibits structures such as wind turbines in the majority of Town zoning districts. Town officials were cordial and receptive to the input from SVW and Town residents and facilitated a productive discussion. SVW appreciates the opportunity to provide input on the issue of wind turbines in the Town of Seward and applauds the decision by Seward officials to reserve a moratorium for future strategic use.

December 3, 2009

SVW interviewed on Northeast Public Radio concerning gas drilling.

The growing concern over the potential environmental consequences of horizontal (hydrofracking) gas drilling is increasingly gaining coverage in the local and national media. WAMC, the Albany public radio station ran a lengthy story today, filed by their Hudson Bureau Chief, Susan Barnett. As part of their coverage WAMC contacted SVW for background information and commentary. Below is a link to the audio feed of that story:

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1584798

November 11, 2009

NY Department of State issues letter critical of Town of Richmondville for secret meeting.

The NY State Department of State (DoS), Committee on Open Government has issued an opinion critical of the Richmondville Town Board, indicating that the Board violated several statutes, including NY Town Law, §§30 and 62 as well as the NY Open Meetings Law, §104 when it held a special meeting without providing public notice of that meeting. The DoS goes on to state that, if the Town Board intentionally violated the Open Meetings Law, action could be taken in court to invalidate any decisions made during that illegal meeting, as per §107 of the statute.

Schoharie Valley Watch (SVW) presented this issue to the DoS for opinion and considers their response a validation of the importance of open local government while highlighting a continuing problem with governance in the Town of Richmondville.

SVW Secretary Renee Grabowski stated that “SVW is preparing a new submission to the DoS requesting an opinion on the potentially abusive use of Executive Session by the Richmondville Town Board.”

SVW Co-Director Bob Nied stated that “SVW is optimistic that newly elected members of the Town Board will restore integrity and openness to the local government process but we will remain vigilant in our oversight of that process, reserving the right to seek judicial remedy to ensure compliance with the Open Meetings Law.”

September 8, 2009

SVW Challenges the Village of Richmondville on Housing Subdivision.

Schoharie Valley Watch (SVW) is a 501(C)(3) non-profit citizen advocacy organization working for open and responsive government and sustainable rural communities. Attorneys for the organization have issued a letter to Village of Richmondville notifying the municipality of a failure to conduct the required review under the NY State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) for an extension of the Village water and sewer district to accommodate a housing development being built by Cobleskill developers Makley-Loder on Brooker Hollow Road. SVW has also informed the Village that the developers have so far failed to file a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) necessitated by the fact that the project has significantly changed since it was originally proposed more than six years ago. SVW previously notified the Village that Makley-Loder failed to provide a Notice of Intent (NOI) and to demonstrate proof of a viable Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) as required by the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

SVW has identified substantive errors and misstatements in the original environmental review conducted for this subdivision including a failure by the developers and the Village to disclose that the land being converted to a housing development has been in continual agricultural use for more than twenty-five years.

SVW has also identified a failure by the Village of Richmondville and the developers to disclose a site of historical significance directly adjacent to the subdivision. SVW has notified the NY State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation as well as the DEC of the site and requested that the Village suspend the issuance of any building permits until such time as a full review of the project can be conducted.

While the Schoharie County Department of Public Works recommended that the water and sewer infrastructure necessary to accommodate this development be bored under County Route 22 to avoid the disturbance of the roadway, the developers declined to do so and the Village approved multiple cuts of the road surface. SVW has requested documents under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) that would detail bonds (if any) issued to cover the cost of repair of County Route 22 to ensure that costs resulting from the construction of a private development are not passed on to County tax payers.

SVW’s goal in taking this action is to ensure that large scale residential and commercial developments, particularly those that displace farmland, are subject to full and careful reviews as prescribed by law and that the Costs of Community Services (CoCS) are fully disclosed to the residents and taxpayers of the community.

July 30, 2009

Attorney General issues subpeona to wind firm that had been targeting our region- SVW supports investigation.

On Wednesday, July 29, 2009 the office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued a subpoena to wind developer Reunion Power as part of the AG’s ongoing investigation of improper influence on local officials and conflicts of interest by those officials related to industrial wind development. Schoharie Valley Watch (SVW) has been actively cooperating with the Attorney General’s office and has provided extensive information concerning the activities of Reunion Power within Schoharie, Greene, Schenectady and Albany counties as well as possible conflicts of interest by public officials related to Reunion Power project proposals.

Late yesterday afternoon Reunion Power agreed to sign the Attorney General’s Code of Ethics for the wind industry after previously refusing, apparently in response to the subpoena and the continuing pressure of the investigation. Reunion Power joins sixteen other wind companies who have now signed onto the Code. SVW urges local governments to include the Attorney General’s Code of Ethics in all adopted wind ordinances and to require wind companies to sign the Code before being granted permits for industrial wind projects or installation of meteorological test towers.

SVW is committed to identifying and aggressively pursuing conflicts of interest at the local and County levels, not only as it relates to industrial wind but also in connection to gas drilling and other high-impact proposals as well as the relationship of developers and speculators in general to County, Town and Village Boards, Planning Boards, Boards of Appeal and Code Enforcement offices.

SVW applauds the Attorney General for his responsiveness to citizen groups and looks forward to additional progress in the fight to make local government more open, honest and responsive to concerns of the residents of NY State.