Cuomo’s Williams ties under scrutiny

CUOMO’S WILLIAMS TIES UNDER SCRUTINY: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ties to the Williams’ Companies has come under greater scrutiny after WNYC reported that the pipeline company donated $100,000 to a Democratic Party governors’ organization that supports Cuomo. The donations were made a few months before the Department of Environmental Conservation denied “without prejudice” a water quality permit for the pipeline, allowing Williams to submit a new application. In its permit denial, the DEC said “the construction of the Project could have significant water quality impacts in New York State” but that the “precise nature and magnitude of such impacts is uncertain at this time and depends on additional details regarding the construction of the Project.” The WNYC report comes a few weeks after the The Times Union reported that Cuomo’s re-election campaign manager worked at a firm that included Williams Companies. The campaign manager, Maggie Moran, has been on leave from the firm while managing Cuomo’s re-election bid. But opponents, including Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, have said the ties between Cuomo and the major pipeline company is suspect. The Williams Companies is currently seeking approval to build the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, a 37-mile pipeline in the New York Bay that would also cross parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The pipeline project has faced fierce opposition from environmental advocates in New York and New Jersey.

TONAWANDA COKE TROUBLES — Buffalo News’ Aaron Besecker: “If federal prosecutors convince a judge to temporarily shut down Tonawanda Coke in advance of a formal hearing scheduled for next month, the plant would not be able to reopen, attorneys for the company said in court documents filed this week. Shutting down the plant would cause oven walls at the coke producer to 'deteriorate rapidly' and make it 'economically infeasible' to undertake a rebuild that would be needed to re-open. ‘If the plant shuts down, the company will no longer exist,’ attorneys wrote. Federal prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny for an immediate hearing on alleged probation violations by Tonawanda Coke, which was convicted of environmental crimes in 2013 and which state environmental regulators have said has repeatedly violated its permit this year. The state Department of Environmental Conservation charged the company with violating emissions standards nearly 120 times between May 18 and July 6.” Read more here.


NEW JERSEY’S PIPELINE DILEMMA — POLITICO’s Danielle Muoio: The expansion of natural gas infrastructure, including pipelines, will likely be necessary for at least the next several years, says Joseph Fiordaliso, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, even as Gov. Phil Murphy has promised to transition New Jersey to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. Fiordaliso’s comments during wide-ranging interview with POLITICO will no doubt rankle environmental advocates who have been pushing the Murphy administration to block all new fossil fuel infrastructure. Every three years, the BPU — the state agency that regulates utilities, telecoms and water companies — releases an Energy Master Plan that establishes a road map for New Jersey’s energy landscape. Under an executive order Murphy signed in May, the BPU must release a new plan by June 1, 2019, that provides specific proposals for the next decade to achieve the governor’s clean energy goal. The agency is holding meetings throughout September to collect public testimony on the best way to update the plan. Although pressure is mounting to use the plan to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels, Fiordaliso said he thinks the expansion of natural gas infrastructure will be necessary in the short-term. “Do I see a need for natural gas in the foreseeable future? Yes. And do we have to constantly examine our infrastructure? Absolutely,” Fiordaliso told POLITICO. “We never want gas pipelines or any transmission of energy to be in such a bad state that it can cause problems for our citizens.” Read more here.

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AROUND NEW YORK:

— The final version of a ratepayer-funded audit of PSEG Long Island and LIPA includes alterations that weren’t included in the original draft, including removing information on how the number of customers per outage jumped 42 percent between 2014 and 2016.

— Amityville plans to approve a drainage project that would prevent flooding in the wake of future storms. The town would use roughly $1.7 million of the funding it received from the federal government after Hurricane Sandy.

— State lawmakers called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee to take a closer look at safety concerns over the Algonquin gas pipeline expansion.

— Local residents are worried about the amount of algae in Lake George that could be contaminating drinking water. Meanwhile, state officials are working to vacuum an invasive aquatic plant from the lake.

— More than 80 lakes have harmful algae blooms, the highest number this year.

— Sen. Michael Gianaris is proposing a new rule that would require schools and public parks to test for lead in drinking water every three years. Currently, schools only have to test for lead every five years and there’s no requirement for parks.

— Essex, Clinton and Franklin counties are currently in a “severe drought” stage, a criteria that warns of water shortages and crop loss.

— Watertown is applying for a grant to replace or repair equipment at the water treatment plant. While those repairs are pending, the city’s hydroelectric plant is back in full operation after a summer of maintenance.

— Preliminary indicators show that Lyme disease is abating in New York and that public officials are finding fewer ticks that are carriers of the disease.

— The town of Ellisburg has begun excavation for 28 acres of new wetland.

— Potsdam will vote this month on whether to add fluoride to the town’s drinking water, a topic that has been hotly contested among town residents.

— A rabid bat has been found in Niagara County, the second one to be identified in the last three months.

ACROSS THE RIVER:

— The head of the state Department of Environmental Protection has left the state for the month of September as New Jersey is still re-negotiating its re-entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

— The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded New Jersey $84 million to address issues with drinking water and sewage treatment.

— Lawmakers are urging the EPA to set limits for the presence of PFAS in drinking water. The push came a few days after New Jersey became the first state to set limits for the amount of PFNA in drinking water.

— An invasive tick has spread to seven counties in New Jersey after first being discovered a year ago.

— There has been a spike in the number of mosquitoes testing positive for West Nile, and nine people have tested positive for the virus.

EPA LOOKS TO SOFTEN ‘MERCURY RULE’ — The New York Times’ Coral Davenport and Lisa Friedman: “When writing environmental rules, one of the most important calculations involves weighing the financial costs against any gains in human life and health. The formulas are complex, but the bottom line is that reducing the emphasis on health makes it tougher to justify a rule. Last week the Trump administration took a crucial step toward de-emphasizing the life and health benefits in this calculus when the Environmental Protection Agency said it would rethink a major regulation that restricts mercury emissions by coal-burning power plants.” Read more here.

TRUMP’S EPA SHRINKS — The Washington Post’s Brady Dennis, Juliet Eilperin and Andrew Ba Tran: “During the first 18 months of the Trump administration, records show, nearly 1,600 workers left the EPA, while fewer than 400 were hired. The exodus has shrunk the agency’s workforce by 8 percent, to levels not seen since the Reagan administration.” Read more here.

HURRICANE FLORENCE STRENGTHENS — The New York Times’ Sandra E. Garcia: “Forecasters on Sunday upgraded Tropical Storm Florence to a hurricane, saying it was strengthening and taking aim at North and South Carolina, where it could make landfall by the end of the week.” Read more here.

JET FUEL DUMPED IN INDIANA RIVER — The Associated Press: “A Texas company says one of its pipelines has spilled more than 8,000 gallons of jet fuel into a river in the northeastern Indiana city of Decatur.” Read more here.

MUSK TAKES HIT AMID TESLA TURMOIL — Bloomberg’s Dana Hull: “The turmoil at Tesla Inc. reached a fever pitch, as the news that two senior executives are leaving Elon Musk’s electric-car maker emerged just hours after he smoked marijuana during an hours-long interview streamed live online.” Read more here.

ELEPHANT POACHING FRENZY — The New York Times’ Kimon De Greef: “Some of the elephant corpses had begun to decay, their skins dried stiff over bony carcasses. Others appeared to have been freshly killed, partly covered by bushes in an attempt to hide them from view. The tusks of 87 animals, which were counted during aerial surveys over the past few months in Botswana, had been chopped off — evidence of what conservationists are calling one of the biggest slaughters in recent years.” Read more here.

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