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The IBEW’s now outspoken support of Greenidge indicates that opponents may face a broader front in their efforts to pass legislation implementing a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining.
“It’s like a race against Mother Nature.”
“What’s happening in the watershed in terms of land use and these precipitation patterns means that these boundaries shift.”
“They lost it once and they knew what it was like and they didn’t want to lose it again.”
“I’ve toured the plant, there’s a huge wall there and they say it’s ready for a thousand year flood. So I’m pretty confident. There’s redundant systems, things are behind concrete walls. So there may be minor destruction but nothing like happened on September 2011.”
“We had a lot of big storms, a lot of rain during July and so that could have caused nutrients to essentially enter the lake and help facilitate these blooms.”
Both proposals would encompass more than 1,700 square miles and cover dozens of known shipwrecks.
“I mean, they’re adorable, but unfortunately… these two tiny birds [could] cause the livelihoods and the property values of a lot of people.”
“Our team of wildland firefighting experts are some of the best in the country. I commend them for their bravery and willingness to support ongoing efforts to contain these devastating wildfires.”
“We’re starting to see it more and more. The weather patterns, I think are changing.”
Sturgeon are native to Lake Ontario and the Genesee River, but habitat loss and overfishing decimated the population, causing it to dwindle to almost nothing by the early 1900s.
With more ticks carrying disease than ever, here’s what you need to know about which ticks to watch out for and what to do if you get bitten.
Wildlife officials are asking people not to feed birds or provide bird baths amid dozens of reports of mysterious songbird deaths.
The comments, drafted by the Tompkins County Office of Planning and Sustainability staff, ask the DEC to provide more specifics about implementation.
“We have built everything up that we could possible do to be resilient against high water and now we are finding ourselves on the extreme opposite.”
“Voters are going to be asked a simple question. Should we add to New York state’s bill of rights, the right to clean air, clean water and a healthful environment?”
The last 12 months over Lake Ontario have been the driest since 1966, according to the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board.
“We all take water for granted. We bathe in it. We cook with it. We drink it. It’s not until something goes wrong with the water that we realize how dependent we are on it.”
Pennsylvania hopes to bring down a boom in the gypsy moth population, spraying for the invasive species of caterpillar in 19 counties, including northwest Pennsylvania.
Among those in opposition are union groups.
Any bills passed would require Cuomo’s signature.
A separate piece of legislation by Kelles could possibly come up for a final vote as soon as Monday
From state parks to independently owned, campgrounds across New York State are seeing record numbers of advance reservations.
The “Love Our NY Lands” campaign will include in-person education at trailheads in the Adirondacks and Catskills during the hiking season.
Binghamton is “still moving forward” with the audit.
“I think it’s going to be excellent trout fishing, especially for beginners because the stocked trout are hungry and not too bright.”
“It’s like a program or code based on historical water supply records that can simulate what could happen from different decisions.”
The vote comes hours after Mayor Rich David announced an agreement to “formally end” privatization plans
When the ice melts each spring, the ship visits each of the five lakes to measure basic water quality and sample the “lower food web” — the tiny animals, plants, and algae that support fish and other aquatic life.
Salty wastewater produced by fracking for oil and gas has to go somewhere. Often, it’s injected into disposal wells deep underground. But sometimes that wastewater can find its way back to the surface and cause environmental problems.
“A lot of these storm pipes are undersized. So they become overwhelmed with stormwater particularly after significant rain events and flooding.”
Critics push PA to set enforceable drinking water levels to protect public health
If the hemlocks are killed off, or even severely damaged, they could tumble into gorges, bringing severe erosion into many of the watersheds feeding the lakes, and in turn the lakes themselves.
“As we have gone through the last year of understanding about systematic racism and historic trauma, it’s time for us to address these historic harms within New York State and within Haudenosaunee territory.”
“The risk of flooding on Lake Ontario and the upper St. Lawrence River has declined from moderate in December 2020 to low.”
“We have already seen the terrible consequences of poor water quality on communities across New York and we can’t afford to repeat our mistakes.”
Of the 149 projects granted money from the Growing Greener program, 43 in south central Pennsylvania will get $12 million.
“I mean it’s huge for us. We have been trying to recover from the damage from 2017 and 2019 so to know that this will help alleviate the chances of flooding for 2021 means a great deal.”
“In January when the shipping season is over, do exactly what you did last winter – physically let out as much water as you can because you don’t know what’s going to happen next spring.”
The vote was 7-1.
“And the really cool thing is when you fill out a survey on your smartphone, it geolocates you. We’re able to go back to that exact same spot and we’ll do the water quality testing.”
“They’re not being transparent enough, they’re not engaging the stakeholders and the shoreline communities and they’re not getting the data they need from the appropriate sources like the shoreline communities.”
State legislators, local elected officials, and environmental advocates called for stringent standards on three toxic chemicals that have polluted drinking water across the state: PFOA, PFOS and 1,4-dioxane.
The Walden Project is an example of an outdoor independent learning program that is a possible alternative for immunocompromised students or others who can’t or don’t want to return to a traditional classroom setting during the coronavirus pandemic.
“They’re tipping the balance towards a more diverse ecosystem. The result will be beauty and color in the landscape, new homes for butterflies improved water quality and a stronger web of life.”
Jason Ward, host of the video series “Birds of North America,” explains that being a black birder means having to take precautions to stay safe while pursuing a passion for nature.
By lowering the outflows from Lake Ontario, the Board hopes to make navigation in the St. Lawrence River safer and raise the water levels in Lake St. Louis.
“The whole spring season is basically lost.”
Water levels throughout the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River System are expected to peak below the record-high levels seen in 2019.
Repairing the locks, which allow boats to travel from one neck of the waterway to another, was deemed nonessential work.
“As we begin to rethink and restart the economy, projects like this can really help transform communities in a very positive way.”
“Think about the backyard, think about the neighborhood, think about the local park, think about a local trail, think about the closest state park or forest area and how to recreate safely there.”
Sugar Maple is New York’s state tree and has one well-known, particularly sweet feature: syrup.
The Army Corps of Engineers reports that four of the five Great Lakes were at record-high water levels this week.
“What the dredging does is it increases the access and capacity of creeks, inlets, et cetera. And it uses the dredging material, in this situation, to increase a barrier to keep the high water from affecting the shoreline.”
In annual budget address, Wolf talked about need for pipeline reform
The lower layer of the bark contains a compound that tastes and smells like wintergreen or rootbeer. Twigs from smaller trees can be snapped off and chewed up for a tasty treat on the hiking trail.
“We’re definitely helping to prevent some rehoming events, for sure. We often get calls from people who are at the end of their rope; they don’t know where to turn next with their pet.”
In Philadelphia, the survey found two of the most commonly researched PFAS chemicals at levels far below the EPA’s recommended limit.
DEP quietly withdrew the fine for faulty drilling after the company promised to fix the problems.
The Christmas fern gets that name because the leaflets’ shape is similar to a Christmas stocking hung over the fireplace.
One of Seneca County’s better known attractions, the white deer at the former Army Depot, will lose one of the tourism efforts that has sprung up in recent years.
Amid federal inaction, there’s no consensus on how much of the PFAS class of chemicals is too much.
Witch Hazel is a small tree with multiple smooth trunks and flowers that look otherworldly, burgundy with yellow petals bursting out that look like crinkled yellow ribbons.
The Maidenhair fern is not as common as some other ferns, but it can still be found in damp, shady woods, especially down by ravines.
Plastic doesn’t go away, but it breaks down in the environment. One bottle can degrade into hundreds, even thousands, of tiny pieces of plastic the size of a grain of sand, which can be eaten by birds or fish.
A new report by the National Audubon Society says Pennsylvania’s state bird the ruffed grouse and New Jersey’s American goldfinch could disappear from the state.
The flower blooms for about a month between September and October.
“The result has been a decrease in the ability of staff to adequately maintain physical infrastructure…manage natural and cultural resources and address numerous environmental challenges.”
“This is not 1970, where we can have the concept that because of economic reasons, we can have acceptable levels of materials like this in our drinking water.”
Congressman Antonio Delgado (NY-19) sponsored the bill, which requires some companies to report their usage of PFAS to the EPA.
Rates will differ across Broome County and still could go after 2020.
A stowaway from China, the spotted lanternfly, is eating its way across Pennsylvania, killing trees and grapevines. Scientists are considering importing the bug’s natural enemies from back home.
Meanwhile, environmental groups like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation say the move is an “assault” on clean water.
Army Corps of Engineers surveys the lake, looking for noxious weed.
State says Trump Administration is overstepping.
“While there are shipping interests and energy interests and environmental interests, the human interest, specifically, the residents and business owners along the shore are first and foremost in my mind.”
It was seen on 2nd and Cascadilla Streets before it was captured by Tompkins County Animal Control.
The county wants anyone who might drink untreated water or who swims in the lake to be aware of the discharge.
Activists plan to take to Cayuga Lake early this morning to protest seismic tests by Cargill. The company has salt mines below the lake.
Bait laced with the vaccine will be dropped in areas where wild animals known to carry rabies may be lurking.
A new report titled “Great Lakes Revival” tells the story of how Buffalo and other rust-belt cities reclaimed their waters.
“This is a species that was incredibly abundant and then were overfished for many years, then impacts of dams and pollution. Now they still persist, but they’re about 1% of their historic numbers.”
“Maybe if they have the right conditions, they can do a nature-based shoreline approach, where they work in shoreline plants and rock rubble.”
The federal government’s congressional watchdog agency is taking a look at a controversial plan that helps adjust water levels on Lake Ontario.
The Environmental Working Group wants a standardized monitoring system across the U.S. to better inform the public about harmful algal blooms.
“At this time, when our bees are dying off, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has done a very quiet but very dumb thing. They’ve stopped collecting critical scientific data on honeybees.”
Lyme disease has been spiking in the Finger Lakes over the last few years, but the latest data show it might finally be stabilizing.
“Sometimes while you’re doing this job, you do think, ‘Wow, I am the luckiest guy to be paid to go out on the lake.’ Even though there are some problems on the lake, it’s still wonderful to be out there.”
“We recognize that the storms will happen more and more often, become more and more severe – so this is going to be the new normal. What’s not clear yet is how intense it will be.”
Quagga mussels have few natural predators, and have been successful in the Great Lakes and other lakes across North America since being carried here by ships from Europe in the 1980s.
It wants a shipping suspended several days a week this summer to allow more water to go through the Moses Saunders dam near Massena.
The training center welcomes hundreds of people each summer who want to see the “regals.”
“The idea here is to make sure that people who live along the shorelines of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, make sure that they have a voice.”
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding joined Gov. Tom Wolf Tuesday for a tour of an area in Harrisburg infested with spotted lanternflies’
Several bodies of water in central New York have reported harmful algal blooms in recent weeks. With temperatures heating up after a wet spring, conditions are ripe for the blooms.
In Tompkins County, educational activities and games were organized by FORCES, Friends of Recreation, Conservation and Environmental Stewardship.
The Department of Environmental Conservation reports “record-breaking” fishing continues on those bodies of water, with the potential to catch huge fish from a wide variety of species.
Earlier this week, the state said it will set the nation’s lowest allowable level for industrial chemicals that have contaminated some communities’ drinking water.
All week long, New Yorkers have been weighing in on a proposed project that would help preserve some of the oldest shipwrecks in the Great Lakes.
NOAA wants to protect, research, and improve public access to shipwrecks and other maritime heritage resources. The designation doesn’t mean that NOAA would regulate fishing, water quality or other natural resources of the area.
The parasite carries potentially lethal pathogens in Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. Now it’s in North America. We ask tick specialists to weigh in.
Since June 1, a half-dozen goats have been used to target and eat unwanted plants or brush that have overrun a waterway.
“Is this the new normal? Or is this just an extended flooding event, like we had in 1993 or in the 1970s?”
“If a beekeeper is able to take a honeybee swarm, they can care for them and manage them if they need it, instead of having these colonies kind of inhabit people’s homes.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is also represented on the Delaware River Basin Commission, was invited to the event but was unable to attend
“You can certainly try to remove the tick yourself. The problem that you can run into is if you leave parts of the tick embedded.”
“When a water system is contaminated with PFAS, treatment will lower the concentration but not completely remove it. So the contamination is still there.”
“It seems natural for us to do that, with the hydroelectric power generation that goes on here.”
The spotted lanternfly eats away at the bark of trees. It’s a threat to some commercial crops that are big in New York like grapes and apples.
“It’ll change the fortunes of this lake forever. What doomed it, was cutting it off and industrializing it and not having that connection with communities.”
To save the American chestnut tree, New York researchers want to release genetically engineered trees into the wild to reproduce. It would be a first.
With concerns about rising levels on Lake Ontario, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that he has directed state agencies to begin deploying resources to protect communities along the lakeshore.
It may not be pretty, but supporters of the Eastern hellbender say it’s a vital reminder to keep streams and waterways healthy.
The Eastern hellbender salamander may not be a looker. But its sensitivity to pollution and changing water conditions makes the creature a useful indicator for water quality in rivers and streams.
This effort was spearheaded by the counties along the shore of Lake Ontario, which pushed for recognition and protection of the lake’s shipwrecks.
The lanternfly lays its eggs in masses that look like smears of mud on trees, vehicles, and outdoor furniture.
When birds migrate, they can become attracted to and disoriented by artificial lights. The result: they end up colliding with New York’s skyscrapers.
“We’re working with willing landowners who are interested in selling their property to acquire these and dedicate them to conservation rather than development.”
Experts say there are at least 17 different tick species found in New York state. Some people and animals that are bitten by an infected tick can get any of a number of illnesses, including Lyme disease.
Right now the IJC has only two members – two short of the quorum needed to make decisions.
Typically the IJC is responsible for overseeing lakes and rivers bordered by the U.S. and Canada.
More than 300,000 watched live as April gave birth to a healthy male calf at around 12:45 p.m., the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York said.
“We are really, really thrilled,” said Mary Anne Kowalski, Seneca Lake resident. “I think the fact that is impressing me most is that we’ve got bipartisan support on this bill.”
Small farmers and rural homeowners argue they set aside too much land for preservation.
Pennsylvania is looking for new ways to fight the invasive spotted lanternfly, nearly five years after it was first discovered in Berks County.
A number of federal lawmakers are concerned that high water levels on Lake Ontario will result in a repeat of the flooding seen along the lake shore in 2017.
A new report finds coal ash pollution is leaking into groundwater at nine power plants around Pennsylvania and over 200 nationwide. West Pa. site has arsenic 372 times the ‘safe’ level
The state Department of Health wants to hire 10 scientists to learn more about the health risks of the PFAS group of chemicals that have been linked to cancer and other illnesses.
Renovations on the Erie Canal have been causing a rift between some canal side residents and the state’s Canal Corporation for about a yearnow.A final set of public meetings will be held Monday & Tuesday ahead of the last phase of the project.
Senator Chuck Schumer was in the Finger Lakes region Monday, urging members of the House to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Schumer says it provides critical funding that protects water resources and historical sites in every county across the U.S.
Pennsylvania will begin the process of setting its own health limits for two toxic PFAS chemicals because it’s unclear when the federal government will set national standards, the Department of Environmental Protection said late Thursday.
Canadian researchers are studying how to help prevent the spread of this fish
Sound travels differently through open fields than the woods. When deer eat up bushes, small trees and other forest plants, it affects the transmission of bird calls and other natural sounds.
It’s been over three years since water fountains in some Ithaca area schools could offer students a drink. In 2015, water systems in all 12 Ithaca City Schools were shut off after tests showed elevated lead levels. However, within two weeks, the water will be turned on again at some elementary schools.
A legislative fight may be looming on an issue near and dear to many rural Pennsylvanians’ hearts: hunting on Sundays.
Onondaga County continues taking the steps it needs to build a swimmable beach along the northern shore of Onondaga Lake. That includes a series of public meetings showcasing what it would take to create a beach along what was once called the most polluted lake in the country.
Freshwater mussels once thrived in rivers, streams and lakes across Pennsylvania. They provided a natural filter, cleaning up muddy water and allowing more sunlight into the waterways, which in turn provided a healthier ecosystem for aquatic life.
Scientists at SUNY ESF have been trying to bring back the American chestnut tree for decades. Three to four billion of the trees were destroyed by blight in the first half of the 20th century, but researchers are now getting close to bringing back an American chestnut resistant to blight.
The New York legislature returns to work this morning and Finger Lakes Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R-C-I) sees it as another chance to kill a proposed trash incinerator in the town of Romulus.
It was literally their 30 seconds or so of fame, several of the white deer that make their home at the former Seneca Army Depot, were the focus of the nature segment that usually ends each episode of the program CBS Sunday Morning.
Scientists from Cornell have a few tips for those of you who cut down Christmas trees, now that the holiday is behind us. Brian Eshenaur is the lead arborist for Cornell Botanic Gardens and says there are plenty of ways to recycle those trees.
The state’s Drinking Water Quality Council has issued what it considers to be safe levels for exposure to toxic chemicals, including PFOAs and PFOS that have been found in high quantities in some of New York’s drinking water supplies.
Significantly more harmful algal blooms were reported on Cayuga Lake this year than in 2017. A local non-profit reports the 2018 blooms were more likely to contain toxins harmful humans and small mammals, like cats and dogs.
Frank Femia runs Klubfunstore Guns and Ammo in Henrietta, where the popular ammunition this season is copper bullets. “It’s been hard finding them because everyone’s been sold out of them and it’s been hard to keep in stock,” Femia said.
State Police say a trooper who stopped to help a driver with a flat tire near Elmira over the weekend found out the call was anything but routine.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is calling for the implementation of a law that would allow airports to stop using toxic chemicals that are said to poison local waterways.
Cornell University says it will cut down more than 2,000 ash trees in the next few years because of an invasive beetle.
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – AAA has researched crash data, and they’ve found that by far, November is the worst month for deer crashes in New York. In November 2016, for example, there were nearly 45-hundred deer crashes – that’s one every ten minutes.
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA — State environmental officials have fined natural gas operator EQT for drilling into an old mine in 2017 and releasing 4 million gallons of abandoned mine drainage into the Monongahela River and surrounding wetlands in Allegheny County.
HARRISBURG, PA (WSKG) — A state audit of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission has uncovered more than $20,000 in food expenses and employee perks it labeled “extravagant,” and “questionable” from summer 2016 to this year.
By the time dawn’s first vermilion fingers tickle the east’s black sky, hunters in a dozen-plus marshes have slogged, sometimes chest-deep, through marshes to arrive at blinds – often constructed, sometimes mostly natural – to await the arrival of ducks, large and small, drab and bright, slow and fast.
“There’s been a long time passing without much information about what the remediation was,” said Alan Karasin, treasurer of the PTA. “We would get periodic reports that things were being replaced but we didn’t exactly know what or when.”
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA — Remember the $12.6 million penalty on Sunoco for dozens of permit violations during construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline? The Department of Environmental Protection said at the time it would turn that penalty into grants for projects related to water quality, watershed restoration and stormwater management. The DEP just put out a list of where that money is going.
A group of resort owners had challenged DEP’s new classification of headwater streams in Monroe County.
More than 70 New York City restaurants are pouring their discarded shells into the Billion Oyster Project, through which students recycle and transform them into healthy reefs in once-toxic waters.
Around New York and Pennsylvania, communities are learning their drinking water is polluted with a potentially harmful group of chemicals. The Trump Administration is working on a plan to manage them.
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – Students and staff at the campus of Finger Lakes Community College are welcoming the addition of 33 acres of land to the East Hill Campus for outdoor recreation and education.
Advocates: Move is a positive step but won’t protect public unless health limits are set
SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) – A hot and humid end of summer could result in dampened fall colors in parts of New York this fall.
At Congressional hearing, advocates say federal government needs to address contamination concerns
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – According to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, nine people drowned in the Great Lakes over Labor Day weekend, including one unidentified man found in Lake Ontario near Wilson, NY.
There may soon be some new faces at the helm of the International Joint Commission, which helps protect and regulate the Great Lakes. The White House has announced the names of the three new commissioners for the IJC.
Legislation aims to improve detection, spur cooperation between federal and state governments
Hundreds of thousands of preserved plants will be made available online
Environmentalists call for new agreement to manage flows; NYC says accord was agreed between itself and four states
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Nearly two years ago, the EPA told Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection that its water program was so under-staffed and under-funded, it was failing to enforce federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards.
Marcellus region shows smallest increase in water use but quadruples frack waste from 2011-16
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Increased water quality problems tied to global climate change are affecting the way people fish, boat, and swim on Lake Erie, according to a paper published last month in the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration.
Lyme disease is continuing its westward march across New York state.
SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) – According to data from the Onondaga County Health Department, no toxins have been detected at the water intake pipes in Skaneateles Lake for the last three days.
SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) – A low level detection of algae toxins, 0.3 parts per billion of toxins known as microcystins, have been found in Skaneateles Lake, according to local and state health officials. The toxins were detected in untreated water during weekly testing. None were found after the water was treated.
Organophosphates drain off farms and make their way to the ocean, where they could be harming sea creatures like whales, dolphins and manatees
The most cases were in Pennsylvania, but the disease is also becoming more common in places like Florida and California.
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – A battle is brewing over how to protect streams in the Poconos.
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – The build out of natural gas infrastructure in Pennsylvania’s state forest system has slowed dramatically in recent years, according to a new report from the Department of Conservation and Natural resources.
HARRISBURG, PA (WITF) — The state Department of Environmental Protection is warning against a possible outbreak of West Nile Virus. Secretary Patrick McDonnell said 2018 has been a perfect year for mosquitoes that carry the disease, with a wet spring and mostly-dry summer.
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – Whether you call it a lightening bug or a firefly or perhaps by its scientific name, Lampyridae, chances are you’ve had some experience with the tiny flying insect that flashes and blinks its way through summer evenings.
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – Researchers predict less algae on Lake Erie this year compared to last, but that doesn’t mean no algae.
SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released action plans for 12 waterbodies affected by harmful algal blooms. The state is partnering with local communities to reduce and eliminate the blooms.
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – A group of researchers at Cornell University has developed a new, faster test to determine whether bacteria are present in beach water.
The pest has spread to 13 southeastern counties. The rush is on to kill it
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – A new report attempts to explain the causes of last year’s flooding along the south shore of Lake Ontario.
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – A federal agency released recommendations on Wednesday on how to protect the public from a class of chemicals that are linked to a range of illnesses including some cancers, immune system problems, decreased fertility, and thyroid disease.
Delaware Riverkeeper Network says Sunoco has violated conditions on drilling and water pollution
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Pennsylvania conservation officials have released a plan to confront climate change on public land as flooding, wildfires and warmer bodies of water pose threats to wildlife, landscapes and recreation.
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – Groundwater quality in rural Bradford County has slightly improved since the 1980s despite the introduction of Marcellus Shale gas development, according to a newly released study out of Penn State.
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – It looks like Lake Ontario may have already reached its peak high for the season, which is good news for lakefront home owners and business owners.
