Times Union

ALBANY — The state needs to do more to combat outbreaks of harmful aquatic algae that can pose a threat to drinking water supplies, according to an Ithaca-based environmental advocate.

It’s not the first time that Basic Creek Reservoir has experienced an algae bloom, marked by a gooey green-blue tint to the water in the City of Albany’s backup water source.

WESTERLO — It's not the first time that Basic Creek Reservoir has experienced an algae bloom, marked by a gooey green-blue tint to the water in the city of Albany's backup water source.

State insists that it aggressively pursues clean-up, sanctions

An environmental advocacy and consulting group is calling on the state Department of Environmental Conservation and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to deny Dominion Transmission's request for a water quality certification permit that is necessary to upgrade the company's pipeline.

ALBANY

Stymied from cutting trees along the path of the proposed Constitution natural gas pipeline, its owners Thursday pushed back the start of the line's expected operation at least six months, from the end of 2016 to the second half of 2017.

Pete Bianco may an extreme example, but many of the fractivists here at Binghamton University are unhappy with President Barack Obama’s support of natural gas development, which would include hydrofracking.

ALBANY -- Former state Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo was sentenced Monday to more than 2 years in federal prison for trying to shake down attorneys and solicit a $10,000 bribe. U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe labeled Spargo's actions "reprehensible."

Opponents of hydrofracking said Monday that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has put the regulatory cart before the horse, with the state Department of Environmental Conservation offering rules to control hydrofracking while a newly launched review of its health impacts remains incomplete.

Opponents at the Capitol called for a public hearing on the potential health risks associated with fracking, something that currently would not be required under the DEC roadmap which will oversee the ultimate decision on whether the natural gas drilling technique should be allowed.
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Walter Hang, an environmental consultant with Toxics Targeting, located in Ithaca, said there are "hundreds" of cases of drinking water contamination and improper disposal of drilling wastes in New York for oil and gas drilling that is already allowed.

He said hundreds of abandoned oil and gas wells could be a pathway for methane and natural gas from new hydrofracked wells to escape into the environment and present a health risk.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Landowners along New York's southern border who support natural gas drilling are cheered by reports that the Cuomo administration is considering allowing hydraulic fracturing on a limited basis in towns that want it, though opponents call the idea "shameful."