Environment

A central New York planning agency is moving into the public comment period as it works to create its contribution to a state-wide sustainability plan.

At a packed public meeting November 7 in Watertown, state environmental and health officials began a dialogue with members of the public concerned about pollution on the city's north side, with the New York Air Brake plant at the center of concern. Now, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials talk about what they'll do with the new information from the meeting, and what might come next.

The death and devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy and the Nor’easter that followed it, has brought the issue of climate change to the forefront. According to a new study published in the journal Science, we can expect global warming to be on the high side of current projections.

While environmental issues did not play a prominent role in this year's presidential election, some activists were cheered when the president mentioned global warming in his election night speech. And one area group says this is a crucial time in determining how the federal government will focus on issues of climate, pollution, water levels and invasive species.

Nationwide Insurance announced earlier this year that damage from hydraulic fracturing won't be covered under its homeowner policies.

It's nearly impossible not to leave a carbon footprint on the planet... Even in death. But Buffalo's largest cemetery is trying to make dying more environmentally friendly.

The New York Air Brake industrial site in Watertown has been the subject of resurgent concerns among residents of the city's north side neighborhood. Some have come forward about illnesses they say are linked to pollution at the site. The state departments of Health and Environmental Conservation are holding a community meeting Wednesday, November 7 in Watertown to hear those concerns.

Construction of the giant hydropower dam near Massena in the 1950s forever tamed the once wild St. Lawrence River. It allowed engineers to harness the river’s natural ebb and flow for energy production and to protect homes and ports at the same time. But in the process, it hurt the indigenous plants and animals that depend on those highs and lows to survive. The environmental group Save The River has been leading a charge to persuade the agency that controls water levels to return more natural ebbs and flows to the St. Lawrence. One way is by giving the younger generation of River residents a hands-on lesson.

New York state recently decided to conduct a health review of the controversial natural gas extraction method, hydrofracking. This will likely cause a November deadline to be missed and the public comment period to be re-opened. However, during a visit to Syracuse on Tuesday Governor Cuomo denied that he is stalling the process, saying a delay in the state’s decision on allowing hydrofracking is not a “step back.”

Two Syracuse University geology professors - along with a graduate assistant or two - are hurrying to collect water samples from drinking wells in the Southern Tier before - and if - the natural gas extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing is approved in New York.