McGuinness named new park superintendent

UPPER DELAWARE RIVER VALLEY — Sean J. McGuinness has been named as the new superintendent of Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. McGuinness, currently deputy superintendent at Fire Island National Seashore on Long Island, will assume his new post in February, 2010. He succeeds former superintendent Vidal Martinez, who was selected as Prince William Forest Park’s superintendent in October 2009.

McGuinness began his NPS career in 1977 as a seasonal river patrol park ranger at Grand Teton National Park, and during his career has worked at many parks including Natchez Trace Parkway, MS, Crater Lake National Park, OR and Mojave National Preserve, CA, where he was the Chief Ranger until 2003.

A native New Yorker, McGuinness was born in Buffalo and grew up in Lake View, a small town on the shore of Lake Erie. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from New York State College at Fredonia in 1977. McGuinness’ interests include paragliding, backcountry travel, sailing, family and friends.

DEC workers union calls for drilling hold

ALBANY, NY — The union that represents nearly 2,000 workers at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) called for the agency not to allow any drilling in the Marcellus Shale for at least another year, and said that information regarding many aspects of the drilling had not been adequately addressed.

The NYS Public Employees Federation made the call in a December 28 comment letter regarding the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS). The union said that while the state has done a much better job of setting up a plan to cover the drilling than other states, there remained many uncertainties.

The letter, for instance, said that the SGEIS did not identify where funds would come from to hire additional staff that would be needed to provide oversight of the drilling. The letter also faulted the SGEIS for not requiring any assessment of the cumulative impacts of multiple wells in the state. It also criticized the SGEIS because it “avoids an analysis of gathering lines, pipelines and compression stations.”

Finally, the letter said, “There has not been any cost analysis performed, nor any planned, to develop a full accounting of actual costs and opportunity costs, such as the cost of municipal treatment plant upgrades, new road construction, or community emergency response costs.”

dNYC DEP calls for prohibition of drilling in watershed

NEW YORK, NY — The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), on the basis of the Final Impact Assessment Report prepared for it, has called for a prohibition on any drilling in the New York City watershed.

Acting DEP Commissioner Steven W. Lawitts said that “high-volume hydrofracking and horizontal drilling pose unacceptable threats to the unfiltered fresh water supply of nine million New Yorkers.”

The DEP is concerned that inherent environmental impacts and risks of gas drilling could result in the need to construct a filtration plant at a minimum cost of $10 billion, which would translate into a 30 percent increase in water rates.

The city has called on DEC to rescind the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS) that was released on September 30 because it does not adequately address the risks of drilling in the watershed, giving insufficient consideration to factors including the cumulative impacts of the industrialization necessary for drilling, waste disposal, air quality, pipeline construction and ancillary infrastructure.

Constables cleared in shooting death

LUMBERLAND, NY — A federal jury has exonerated two local ex-Lumberland constables, officers John Cuomo and Vincent Czubak, in a civil suit regarding the shooting death of Lester Devens Jr. in December of 2006.

The constables had received a 911 call to Van Tuyl Road. They said that when they arrived, Devens came toward them with a 10-inch carving knife and appeared to be highly intoxicated. This was later verified by a toxicology report, which showed high levels of blood alcohol as well as traces of cocaine. The officers said they had no choice but to shoot Devens under the circumstances.

A grand jury cleared the constables of wrongdoing, so they were never tried in a criminal court. Deven’s widow filed the civil suit in February of 2008, charging the officers with gross negligence.

Bonacic: lower reservoir levels

ALBANY, NY — State Senator John J. Bonacic (R/I/C – Mt. Hope) has written to officials at the Delaware River Basin Commission, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to urge that steps be taken to lower reservoir levels, which are unseasonably high.

“Today, reservoir levels are substantially higher than normal. That means there is less capacity, and less ability to absorb inflow either from rain or seasonal melting snow. That means the risk of flooding is growing,” Senator Bonacic said.

Reservoirs are not the only cause of flooding, but studies have shown that by leaving voids in them, damage can be reduced when flooding does occur. The city reservoirs are normally at 76 percent of capacity at this time of year, but currently are at 93 percent of capacity.