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Ulster County executive bans spread of frac fluid on county roads

By Lissa Harris
4/12/12 - 2:21 pm

Mike Hein announces an executive order banning the use of frac fluid by any county department. Photo courtesy of the Office of the Ulster County Executive.

Ulster County executive Mike Hein issued an executive order today to prevent the spreading of brine from hydraulic fracturing on any county-maintained roads.

The executive order bans "the purchase of any liquid waste product from hydraulic fracturing operations (fracking waste brine) or the use of such fracking brine by any part of Ulster County government." The ban does not apply to town or state roads in the county.

The frac fluid spreading ban is Hein's second executive order since taking office in 2009. Hein's first executive order, in 2010, was an official ban on nepotism in hiring for county jobs. Read more

New York State to cover local share of Irene and Lee recovery costs

By Lissa Harris
4/11/12 - 5:11 pm

Gov. Andrew Cuomo at the Middleburgh Fire Department today, announcing that New York State will cover the local share of flood recovery costs in 25 counties. Photo by David Avitabile of the Schoharie County Times Journal; reproduced by permission.

Local officials in flood-ravaged towns across New York State are breathing a sigh of relief today, after an announcement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that the state will be picking up the tab for the local share of flood recovery funding. Cuomo visited the Middleburgh Fire Department today, in hard-hit Schoharie County, to make the announcement before an audience of about 150 local officials and residents.

Disaster recovery projects are usually funded by FEMA at 75 percent, with the remaining 25 percent split equally between the state and local towns, counties or villages. The local share of costs -- 12.5 percent -- doesn't sound like a lot compared to the entire cost of the projects. But for last year's flooding, all those local costs add up up to a whopping $61 million in New York State alone. Read more

Sneak peek at a feature documentary about the Catskills: "To Be Forever Wild"

By Julia Reischel
4/9/12 - 12:41 pm

The Catskills are catnip for artists, and have been ever since Thomas Cole painted his first majestic waterfall. Filmmaker David Becker is the latest aesthete to respond to the lure of the mountains, and he's making a whole film about the subject. In his documentary, "To Be Forever Wild," he talks to fly-tiers and astronomers, geologists and railfans, historians and Tibetan Buddhists about the siren song of the Catskills and the great outdoors.

Becker is sharing two exclusive sneak peeks of the film with the Watershed Post. You can watch them above and below on this story page. [Update 6/11/12: Becker has made one of the videos, of a cliff jumper, private, so we have removed it from this post. -- Ed.] Read more

New York Times weighs in on upstate reservoir battles -- but it's not the whole story

By Lissa Harris
3/30/12 - 10:21 am

Still waters run deep. Photo of New York City's Ashokan Reservoir by Flickr user Doug Kerr. Published under Creative Commons license.

Ulster County's battle with NYC over the muddy Esopus has made the pages of the New York Times at last. Reporter Mireya Navarro tells it like it is:

For years, the resentment simmered as residents of Ulster County endured development bans, flooded basements and ruined crops, all for the sake of protecting New York City’s water supply.

But the last straw in a string of grievances was the browning of a cherished tributary that is vital to recreation and agriculture in this corner of the Catskills. Discontent has given way to full-throttle fury against the city, which has always called the shots on reservoir management in the region. Read more

Northeast to freeze tonight

By Lissa Harris
3/26/12 - 11:36 am

Above: Pea seedlings at WP HQ under a blanket of straw. Temperatures in New Kingston, on the eastern edge of Delaware County, are predicted to drop into the teens tonight. Photo by Lissa Harris.

March came in like a lamb, and it's going out like a lion. Tonight, temperatures will plunge over a wide swath of the Northeast, threatening all the new buds and shoots that have taken advantage of this spring's freakishly warm weather to pop out early.

Now is the time to cover tender plants with protective mulch, and protect any fruit trees and vines that have already begun to bud. GardeningKnowHow.com has some tips on protecting plants in a cold snap. Neat trick: Wrap a tree or shrub with a string of incandescent (not LED) Christmas tree lights, and plug it in overnight. Read more

Catskills municipal officials gather to discuss emergency response today

By Julia Reischel
3/22/12 - 9:45 am

Above: Carl Chipman, supervisor of the town of Rochester, and Art Snyder, the director of Ulster County Emergency Management, displaying a map of Rochester Chipman used during Irene to coordinate emergency response at the disaster officials workship this morning. Photo by Julia Reischel.

This morning, 70 municipal officials from towns and villages across the Catskills are meeting at the Fire Hall in Margaretville to discuss how to respond to devastating disasters like Tropical Storms Irene and Lee. (The meeting is being sponsored by the Catskill Watershed Corporation.) I'm here at the meeting today, so if you have any questions you'd like me to ask, comment on this post and I'll do my best to raise them.

Some of the speakers talking at the meeting today:

Art Snyder, the director of Ulster County Emergency Managment

Carol Chipman, Supervisor of the town of Rochester, which impleented a comprehensive action pmlan during the storm

Michael Sterthous, a partner at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, an Albany law firm that specializes in municipal law

Rich Bell, the coordinator of Delaware County Emergency Services Read more