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Ithaca Journal

Articles published by the Ithaca Journal that reference Toxics Targeting.

Pro-drilling demonstrators tired of demonstrating

As the second 12-hour EPA meeting session began on Wednesday, some pro-drilling demonstrators said they are starting become somewhat tired of making their case.

“People are getting burnt out on it,” said Marchie Diffendorf of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York. “It just keeps going on and on, and nobody trusts what the state’s going to do next — let alone the EPA.”

Diffendorf said the meeting was just one more event amid the three-year process of lobbing to bring natural gas drilling to New York State, and defend the use of high-volume hydraulic fracturing nationwide.

Cuomo campaign drives into Ithaca

Ithacans learned a lot about their attorney general and potential future governor, Andrew Cuomo, on Thursday. He loves to drive. He's a loser when it comes to pingpong. And he also wants to reform Albany.

Many of the fun facts came from Michaela, one of Cuomo's three daughters and the first of the family to address the capacity crowd of around 300 who gathered at the Women's Community Building.

"I've lived with this man for my whole life," the 12-year-old quipped. "In those years, I've come to this conclusion: he loves New York and he'll fight for it."

The Democrat and former federal secretary for Housing and Urban Development pulled into the parking lot behind the wheel of an RV. It was the first stop of the day and one of many in Cuomo's "Drive for a New NY" tour, which he explained is part vacation, part campaign tour.

Cuomo said he spent the trip down from Geneva trying to explain to his daughters the history and ethics of Ithaca, where "people like to question authority."

"And then we pulled into town and it was all said for me," Cuomo said, referring to the mass of hydraulic fracturing protesters who lined the streets and surrounded the building.

Anti-fracking activists in Ithaca get a word in but no promises from Cuomo





ITHACA -- They stood on different sides of the podium on Thursday, but their message was the same: if the people lead, politicians will follow.

Fracking foes target Cuomo visit





Gubernatorial candidate to campaign in Ithaca, Montour Falls Thursday

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to visit Tompkins County on Thursday as part of a statewide tour to support his campaign for governor.

Landowners and environmentalists agree: Broome County should not sign gas deal

BINGHAMTON -- In the highly polarizing debate about the natural gas rush in the Southern Tier, environmentalists and landowners don't agree on much.

On Monday, they were nearly unanimous in their opposition to a proposed lease deal between Broome County and a Denver energy company. Of 22 people who spoke at a public hearing on a $16 million land deal before the county legislature, 18 were against it.

Sewer committee delays decision on Cornell vet waste

The decision about whether the Ithaca wastewater treatment plant should accept digested animal carcass waste from Cornell University has been put off for another month.

At a Wednesday afternoon meeting, the multi-municipality committee that oversees the publicly owned plant agreed to delay a vote until its next session, July 14, because two of its members -- Ithaca mayor Carolyn Peterson and Ithaca Town Board member Pat Leary -- were unable to attend.

DEC addresses South Hill toxins



The difficult geology on Ithaca's South Hill makes it virtually impossible to actually remove toxic contamination from beneath neighborhoods, according to staff from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Clinton West cleanup debated

The message was loud and clear, state officials said: neighbors of Clinton West Plaza want the site cleaned to the highest residential standard -- not the restricted commercial standard currently proposed.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation hosted a meeting Wednesday night to explain and answer questions about its draft cleanup plan for Clinton West. Historic leaks of dry-cleaning fluid left a pool of contaminated groundwater at the southwest corner of the property, between Clinton West Laundry and homes along North Titus Avenue.

CU sends animal waste to city sewers

ITHACA -- An accidental release at Cornell University on Friday morning sent 4,300 gallons of digested animal carcass waste into the city's sewer system.

Cornell asserts that the treated waste was neither infectious nor hazardous, and the city's Superintendent of Public Works said he didn't expect the waste to cause problems at the municipally owned Ithaca Wastewater Treatment plant -- though Cornell does not have a permit to discharge to Ithaca's plant.

Cayuga Heights fixes sewage-discharge issues found in EPA investigation

An unannounced spot check by the federal Environmental Protection Agency found that the Village of Cayuga Heights' wastewater treatment plant was out of compliance with some regulations tied to its discharge permit -- though within acceptable limits on what the plant discharged to Cayuga Lake.

The EPA conducted the check last October, but sent the results of its inspection to the village just last week. The village provided the documents to this newspaper Wednesday in response to a Freedom Of Information Law request.

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