Who is Basil Seggos you may ask. He was one of the top advisors that lead to a ban on fracking in New York. Nice pedigree, but he sounds like he’s morphed into one of Cuomo’s Capos in the Albany Thugocracy :
“During the first half of 2014, the Williams Companies spent $110,500 lobbying the Cuomo administration, state legislators and local officials in Southern Tier on natural gas pipelines and “hydraulic fracturing issues,” lobbying records show. Kinder Morgan spent $34,000 during the same period lobbying the Cuomo administration, state legislators and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the records show.
In May 2014, Kinder Morgan representatives met at the Capitol with Tom Congdon and Basil Seggos, Cuomo’s top aides for energy and the environment, public schedules show. They were joined by John Williams from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. In March, Williams executives met with Congdon and state energy czar Richard Kauffman at Cuomo’s New York City office, according to the schedules. In July, the executives traveled to Albany to meet with state regulators at P.S.C. headquarters.”
Ask Dave Wick what he thinks about Seggos’s high handed management style:
Dave Wick Controversy: Basil Goes Fishing
By disposition, if not by design, Dave Wick is the local official least likely to become the center of a controversy. He directed Warren County’s Soil and Water Conservation program for almost twenty years and in 2012, he was recruited to succeed Mike White as the executive director of the Lake George Park Commission. Wick’s talent, a rare one, lies is combining practice with politics; engineering storm water controls, demonstrating the finer points of boat decontamination, while, at the same time, attracting and retaining the good will of elected officials and influential environmentalists. If he suffers from existential anxiety or self-doubt, cynicism or an ironic sense of humor, it’s not evident. The earnest, self-confident demeanor that he wears at public meetings, in conferences with officials and in interviews with the local press, never falters.
So it must have come as a surprise to Wick when, on November 14, he was summoned to the State Capitol and told that he was to submit his resignation, immediately. His inquisitor, Basil Seggos, must have been equally surprised when Wick replied, in so many words, that he’d rather not.
Basil Seggos is Deputy Secretary to the Governor for the Environment, a position that, in the current administration, empowers him to issue orders to DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and everyone else in that department.
Evidently, Seggos also felt empowered to issue commandments to the Lake George Park Commission, nominally, at least, an independent agency.
When Seggos told the Lake George Park Commissioners to fire Wick after he refused to resign, they demurred setting the stage for a drama that ended with the administration retreating and assenting to the re-instatement of Wick after a two-week, unpaid leave of absence.
Seggos is an officer in the US Army Reserve and he likes to fish. He not only likes fishing, he’s passionate about it. More so than he is about addressing the greatest threat to New York’s environment, invasive species, if his tweets are any indication.
Last summer, for instance, he published six tweets about fishing tournaments and the Governor’s programs to promote fishing and only two about invasive species. Neither of those two tweets were about the first mandatory inspection program east of the Mississippi, the one on Lake George. Rather, both concerned Governor Cuomo’s toothless legislation regarding the transport of aquatic invasive species.
That’s more relevant than it might appear. Much of the opposition to Lake George’s mandatory inspection program came, not so much from the anglers themselves (who have expressed support for an Adirondack Park program modeled on Lake George’s), but from those within the DEC and the Governor’s office, who presumed to speak for them.
The interests ascribed to the fishermen, who, we were told, were entitled to unlimited access to the lake, delayed the implementation of the program by a year and were accommodated with gaps in the plan that would have allowed fishermen to launch at state sites when no inspectors were on duty.
Lake George Village Mayor Bob Blais robbed New York of its excuses for inaction when, at a press conference held in June, 2013 in Bolton Landing, he announced that his group of elected officials and environmentalists would fund half the costs of the program and “invited New York State to join us, appropriating the other half from the general fund so as to avoid raising fees.”
The same group hired night watchmen to monitor the state launches, thereby sealing a gap in the lake’s new defenses which any number of invasives could have breached.
It’s been said, on good authority, that both these initiatives infuriated the Governor’s people, who felt they had been maneuvered into agreeing to a program which they had not initiated, and which they disliked, largely because it undermined a narrative that had been constructed for the Governor: that of a muscular Democrat, a friend to blue collar sportsmen and the savior of a recreation-based upstate economy.
Perhaps because of the SAFE Act, Cuomo’s operatives had to work even harder to prove that the Governor was, as Seggos has been quoted as stating, “committed to maximizing opportunities for sportsmen and sportswomen.”
So while Wick was accused of many things – failing to communicate with the administration and communicating too frequently with the press, speaking at a conference without authorization, failing to report a gas leak from one of DEC’s boats, failing in his duty as the Commission’s ethics officer – the proximate or true cause of his attempted ouster was the administration’s irritation with Lake George’s mandatory inspection program.
Adding insult to injury, the program has been a success, demonstrating that a state-wide inspection and decontamination program could be equally successful.
Not only were Seggos and DEC executive deputy commissioner Marc Gerstman angered with Wick, so, too, was the Governor’s top hatchet & bag man, Larry “Show Me the Money !” Schwartz, who gave his blessings to the ouster.
Lake George Park Commissioners, local government officials and environmentalists certainly appear to believe that it was Wick’s success in executing the inspection program that landed him in hot water.
Now, it should be noted that there are people close to the Governor’s aides who believe that Wick’s failure to report the gas spill to the proper authorities was sufficient grounds to dismiss him – “the Governor has a policy of Zero Tolerance,” the Commissioners were reportedly told – and that the aides’ personal and professional dissatisfaction with Wick had little to do with the Inspection Program.
That sounds plausible, until one recalls that in the statement issued by the Commission announcing that Wick would return to his job after a two-week suspension, no reference was made to the gas spill.
Instead, the Commission alluded only to the Inspector General’s investigation of the retirement party for Commissioner Tom Conerty aboard the Lac du St. Sacrement on September 11, an investigation that was, clearly, nothing but a different and equally specious reason for removing Wick.
Dave Wick is back at work. But even he must worry that his tenure is a fragile one; if so, he no doubt hopes that his efforts to protect Lake George from invasive species will be more durable.
http://blog.timesunion.com/
Cuomo Names Basil Seggos DEC Chief
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is nominating his chief environmental advisor, Basil Seggos, to be the new head of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Seggos would replace Acting Commisioner Marc Gerstman, who will continue in his role as executive deputy commissioner.
Per a press release, Cuomo said: “Basil is an exceptional public servant, a strong advocate for the environment, and is dedicated to serving the public both as a member of my administration and as a member of the U.S. military. I am proud to nominate him as Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner, where he will continue to advance the agency’s critically important mission of protecting New York’s natural beauty and resources.”
The appointment requires confirmation by the state Senate. Seggos joined the administration in 2012 and has served as Cuomo’s deputy secretary for the environment since 2013, when he replaced Robert Hallman. He is also a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and currently serves at a JAG unit in Schenectady.
Per the governor’s press releaase: “It is a great honor to continue to serve Governor Cuomo and the people of New York State in this new and exciting capacity,” Seggos said. “Governor Cuomo has established one of the strongest environmental records in the nation, doing so while returning the state to a prosperous economic path. As we continue to confront significant environmental challenges, I look forward to building on this record, hand-in-hand with the Department’s dedicated and talented staff.”
Previously, Seggos served as Vice President of Business Development at the Hugo Neu Corporation, a private equity company with a focus on recycling and sustainable industry. Prior to that, he served as Riverkeeper’s Chief Investigator, attorney, and Hudson River Program Director. Seggos also previously held positions at the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Council on Environmental Quality in the White House.
In 2014, Seggos was part of a political firestorm in the Adirondacks when he spearheaded an ultimately unsuccessful effort to oust Dave Wick, executive director of the Lake George Park Commission.
Seggos holds a law degree and environmental law certificate from Pace University and a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College. He lives in Voorheesville with his wife and three daughters.
UPDATE: Stuart F. Gruskin, chief conservation and external affairs officer for The Nature Conservancy in New York praises Seggos nomination. Per press release, Gruskin said: “The Nature Conservancy congratulates Governor Andrew Cuomo for making an excellent choice by nominating Basil Seggos to become the next Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation. We are excited to have such a knowledgeable and thoughtful nominee poised to lead the agency as they work to implement many programs critical to the environmental and economic well-being of New York. The Nature Conservancy has a long track record of partnering with DEC to preserve the land and waters on which New Yorkers depend, and looks forward to working with Mr. Seggos is his new capacity to tackle pressing issues facing our state, including natural resources management, water quality, climate change and community resilience.”
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
19 OCTOBER 2015
Dear Senator Marchione:
A copy of the sworn affidavit which follows was filed with the Office of New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman at about 9:55 A.M on Friday, 16 October, 2015, and this morning, it was filed with the Clerk of Rensselaer County Supreme Court.
What I would like to know is what Basil Seggos intends to do about this endemic public corruption in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in the event he becomes Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, given that the policies complained of by myself in that sworn instrument are said to be policies of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo imposed on the DEC by the New York State Attorney General and DEC, which would seem to make them the policies of Mr. Seggos himself as a member of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inner circle as his chief environmental adviser:
STATE OF NEW YORK
SUPREME COURT: RENSSELAER COUNTY
______________________________________________
In the Matter of the Application of Paul R. Plante
Petitioner,
For Judgment Pursuant to Article 78 of the CPLR
-against-
PLANNING BOARD OF THE TOWN OF POESTENKILL,
NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, SHOWERS ENTERPRISES, INC., and
R.J. VALENTE GRAVEL, INC.,
Respondents,
____________________________________________
Petitioner Paul R. Plante, N.Y.S.P.E., acting pro se, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
1. I am the pro se petitioner in this above matter, and as such, I am fully familiar with the facts in the matter and the prior proceedings had herein.
2. I reside in the Town of Poestenkill, County of Rensselaer, State of New York.
3. I have a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute received in 1975 on a United States Environmental Protection Agency Fellowship sponsored by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
4. I am licensed in the State of New York pursuant to New York State Education Law § 7202 to practice in the state of New York as a licensed professional engineer to safeguard life, health and property pursuant to New York State Education Law § 7201.
5. I am further qualified by examination to practice as an associate level public health engineer in the state of New York.
6. I make this affidavit in reply to false, misleading and/or inaccurate statements in paragraphs 4,7,8 & 9 in the 28 August 2015 Affidavit of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker in Opposition to the Motion to Recommence (“Baker Affidavit”) submitted to this Court in this above matter.
7. Specifically, in paragraph 4 at page 2 of her 28 August 2015 Affidavit, DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker states:
“4. After the permit modification was issued, in mid-January 2015, Petitioner requested – during a telephone conversation with the Regional Director – that DEC reconsider its decision and revoke the permit.”
“The Regional Director told him that DEC would not revoke the permit.”
8. That is a false and misleading statement as can clearly be seen from a review of the 24 December 2014 letter from this petitioner pro se to Keith Goertz, Regional Director, NYSDEC Region IV, 1130 North Westcott Rd., Schenectady, NY 12306-2014, RE: December 16, 2014 NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION REGION IV RESPONSE TO COMMENTS, DEC #4-3838-00066/00003, FACILITY: Polaro Sand and Gravel, Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County annexed hereto as Exhibit A and made a part hereof.
9. That 24 December 2014 letter from this petitioner pro se to DEC Regional Director Goertz annexed hereto as Exhibit A and made a part hereof began by stating as follows:
“On or about 18 December 2014, I received by mail a very condescending and insulting letter from your Deputy Regional Permit Administrator Nancy M. Baker wherein Ms. Baker treats me as if I am mentally retarded and not worth her bother in connection with this above matter as a way of showing her contempt for myself and the Mission Statement of the NYSDEC, that being ‘to conserve, improve and protect New York’s natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being,’ and DEC’s purported goal of achieving this mission through the simultaneous pursuit of environmental quality, public health, economic prosperity and social well-being, including environmental justice and the empowerment of individuals to participate in environmental decisions that affect their lives.”
10. So far from merely “requesting” DEC Region IV Director Goertz – during a telephone conversation with the Regional Director – that DEC reconsider its decision and revoke the permit, what this petitioner pro se was doing, at the request of the Office of the Commissioner of the DEC, was putting in a written complaint concerning alleged official misconduct on the part of DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker in connection with the issuance of the December 2014 Polaro permit at issue in the instant proceeding.
11. In paragraph 1 at page 1 of her 28 August 2015 Affidavit, DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Baker states as follows:
“1. I am a Deputy Regional Permit Administrator with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) Region 4 office in Schenectady, New York, and am personally familiar with the facts herein set forth.”
12. As such, DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker would then have been familiar with the 24 December 2014 letter from this petitioner pro se to DEC Regional Director Goertz, and thus, it can clearly be seen that in paragraph 4 at page 2 of her 28 August 2015 Affidavit, DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker is intentionally attempting to mislead this Court.
13. With respect to Deputy Permit Administrator Baker’s efforts to intentionally mislead this Court, the 24 December 2014 letter from this petitioner pro se to DEC Regional Director Goertz continued as follows with respect to the false statements of DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker in connection with the December 2014 Polaro permit:
“Far from being mentally retarded, and ignorant of the law, I am a New York State licensed professional engineer further qualified by examination to practice as an associate level public health engineer in New York state who received his Master’s of Engineering in Environmental Engineering on an EPA fellowship sponsored by the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation.”
“Besides being highly insulting, her 16 December 2014 NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION REGION IV RESPONSE TO COMMENTS, DEC #4-3838-0066/00003, Polaro Sand and Gravel, Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County is riddled with willful false statements, with one of the most egregious being the following:”
“The project received a coordinated review with the Town of Poestenkill as a Type 1 project, and all regulatory standards have been met.”
end quote
“That is patently false, and in fact, several weeks ago, I put in a freedom of information request with the Town of Poestenkill for any evidence that there was any kind of coordinated review between the Town of Poestenkill and the DEC concerning this project, which entails conducting mineral extraction operations on land zoned residential in the Town of Poestenkill.”
“The result of the FOIL request to the Town of Poestenkill was that no such evidence exists, because there never was any attempt by the NYSDEC or the Town of Poestenkill to conduct such a review.”
“To the contrary, the DEC and the Town of Poestenkill simply rubber-stamped this application, and your Ms. Baker then made the wilfull false statement on the record that there had been a coordinated review, which I intend to challenge in a court of law if that false statement by Nancy M. Baker is not retracted from the record in this matter.”
14. Thus, the falseness of the assertions of DEC Deputy Permit Administrator in paragraph 4 at page 2 of her 28 August 2015 Affidavit, DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker can clearly be seen, along with her intentional effort to mislead this Court in order to defeat this petitioner pro se’s efforts to seek redress of grievance in this above matter.
15. With respect to the alleged official misconduct of DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker at issue in this instant matter in connection with the DEC permitting practices which resulted in the December 2014 Polaro permit, and exhausting administrative remedy prior to seeking judicial intervention as this petitioner pro se is doing herein, that 24 December 2014 letter from this petitioner pro se to DEC Regional Director Goertz concluded as follows:
“I reported those false statements by Nancy M. Baker to the Office of Commissioner Martens this morning, and that office advised me to bring this matter to your attention before bringing an action against the Commissioner, with whose authority Ms. Baker acts, and in whose name she acts, and the Department of Environmental Conservation, hence this letter to give you an opportunity to review and rectify this matter.”
16. From that concluding paragraph, it is once again patently obvious that in her 28 August 2015 affidavit, DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker is being intentionally misleading when she informs this Court while under oath that “(A)fter the permit modification was issued, in mid-January 2015, Petitioner requested – during a telephone conversation with the Regional Director – that DEC reconsider its decision and revoke the permit.”
17. In response to the false assertions in paragraph 8 at page 2 of her 28 August 2015 Affidavit as to when the decision to issue the December 2014 Polaro became final and binding on this petitioner pro se with respect to seeking redress of grievance by first exhausting administrative remedy, the first thing this petitioner pro se did when confronted with the willful false statements of DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker in connection with the December 2014 Polaro permit was to call the Office of the DEC Commissioner to report those willful falsehoods, and to put in a formal complaint to the Office of the Commissioner concerning the conduct of DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker in the light of the long judicial history in this matter of the lands of Showers in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County.
18. Based on that telephone call, this petitioner pro se was directed by the Office of the DEC Commissioner to bring this matter of the conduct of DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker to the attention of DEC Region IV Director Goertz in writing, so that he would be afforded an opportunity to rectify the matter.
19. With respect to the telephone conversation alluded to by Ms. Baker in paragraph 4 at page 2 of her 28 August 2015 Affidavit, that conversation is discussed more fully in the 30 December 2014 letter from this petitioner pro se to Hon. Joseph Martens, Commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-1010, RE: DEC #4-3838-00066/00003, FACILITY: Polaro Sand and Gravel, Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, annexed hereto as Exhibit B and made a part hereof, wherein this petitioner pro se informs Commissioner Martens as follows with respect to that phone conversation between this petitioner pro se and DEC Region IV Director Goertz in late-December 2014, to wit:
“This morning, pursuant to instructions from your Office last week with regard to this above matter, I spoke to your Region IV Director Keith Goertz concerning a very condescending and insulting letter I received by mail from your Deputy Regional Permit Administrator Nancy M. Baker on or about 18 December 2014 wherein Ms. Baker attempts to justify issuing a Mined Land Reclamation Permit to Polaro Sand and Gravel so that it can conduct mineral extraction operations on land zoned residential in the Town of Poestenkill where such mineral extraction operations are prohibited by local law.”
“In response to my concerns, your Region IV Director Keith Goertz told me that he had no problems with the conduct of Nancy Baker in issuing the permit, and that her deceitful actions in the matter were entirely consistent with agency processes streamlined by yourself as DEC Commissioner to further Governor Cuomo’s efforts to grow jobs and support sustainable economic growth in the state, and while the permit will indeed result in the permanent loss of sand and gravel on this residential land in the Town of Poestenkill, thus destroying its usefulness for residential use, mining of these natural resources is necessary in order to sustain the construction industry in the state.”
“He concluded by telling me to take yourself and the DEC to court if I was unhappy with Ms. Baker’s actions in this matter, which I would be quite happy to do, if Mr. Goertz is indeed speaking with your voice, which he implied he was doing.”
20. With respect to exhausting administrative remedy in this above matter prior to seeking judicial intervention, which was timely done on April 19, 2015 with this Petitioner pro se‘s prayer to Judge McGrath to re-commence this above matter, this petitioner pro se continued as follows in that 30 December 2014 letter to DEC Commissioner Martens with respect to the 30 December 2014 telephone conversation this petitioner pro se had with DEC Regional Director Goertz concerning the alleged official misconduct of DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker in connection with the December 2014 Polaro permit:
“On the off-chance that Mr. Goertz is not speaking with your voice and your authority in this matter, then it behooves me to afford you an opportunity to rectify matters prior to commencing a legal action against you and the Department.”
21. With respect to what alleged official misconduct on the part of DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker this petitioner pro se was complaining about or challenging in that 30 December 2014 letter to DEC Commissioner Martens, this petitioner pro se informed the DEC Commissioner as follows:
“With respect to her deceitful actions in the matter being allegedly entirely consistent with agency processes streamlined by yourself as DEC Commissioner to gut SEQRA so as to further Governor Cuomo’s efforts to grow jobs and support sustainable economic growth in New York state, at page 7 of the 17 December 2014 Mined Land Reclamation Permit issued to Polaro Sand and Gravel by Nancy Baker, in Item E, Ms. Baker pulls a fast one on the public in the Town of Poestenkill, including myself, and at the same time, unlawfully confers a benefit on Polaro Sand and Gravel, by declaring this mining operation to be a SEQR UNLISTED ACTION with no significant impact.”
“That, Mr. Commissioner, is a blatant falsehood, as well as a perversion of SEQRA willfully intended by Ms. Baker to strip me of the protection of Art. 14, section 4 of the Constitution of the State of New York, as well as ECL Article 8.”
“That the statement on the permit is patently false can be readily determined by referring to the bottom of Part 3 of the Full Environmental Assessment Form completed by Ms. Baker on 5/22/14 wherein she has the project properly denoted as a Type I SEQR action.”
“Further, in the condescending and insulting letter I received by mail from your Deputy Regional Permit Administrator Nancy M. Baker on or about 18 December 2014, she stated ‘(T)he project received a coordinated review with the Town of Poestenkill as a Type 1 project, and all regulatory standards have been met,’ which statement is false on its face as there was no coordinated review with the Town of Poestenkill.”
“In the 09/05/2014 NYSDEC Notice of Complete Application for this project, under ‘State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) Determination,’ it is also stated that ‘(P)roject is a Type I action.’”
“Thus, when she deceitfully stated on the permit itself that the project is unlisted, she allegedly acted on your behalf and with your authority to willfully strip me of the protection of ECL Article 8 and to deny me due process and equal protection of law in violation of the New York State Constitution to further Governor Cuomo’s efforts to grow jobs and support sustainable economic growth in the state, which is in excess of her authority and jurisdiction as a Deputy Permit Administrator for the NYSDEC.”
“She has further unlawfully segmented the review of this project, and I fully intend to seek redress in a court of law should your office put its seal of approval on her deceitful actions in this matter.”
22. In her efforts in her 28 August 2015 Affidavit to mislead this Court, DEC Deputy Permit Administrator Baker completely ignores the existence of that 30 December 2014 letter to DEC Commissioner Martens from this petitioner pro se, just as she does with the 10 January 2015 letter annexed hereto as Exhibit C and made a part hereof from this petitioner pro se to Hon. Joseph Martens, Commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-1010, RE: DEC #4-3838-00066/00003, FACILITY: Polaro Sand and Gravel, Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, entitled “Keith Goertz Cover-Up Attempt; Regulatory Insufficiency; Duplicitous Conduct by Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker” wherein this petitioner pro se continued with his effort to exhaust administrative remedy in this above matter as follows:
“Returning to the matter of the sophomoric attempt by your Region IV Director Keith Goertz on 30 December 2014 to cover up alleged misconduct in the DEC Region IV Office in connection with this above matter on the specious grounds that such alleged misconduct was entirely consistent with agency processes streamlined by yourself as DEC Commissioner to further Governor Cuomo’s efforts to grow jobs and support sustainable economic growth in the state, it is incandescently clear from a review of the official record in this above matter that in issuing a Mined Land Reclamation Permit to Polaro Sand & Gravel, Inc., 8 Clement Dr., Poestenkill, New York 12140 on 12/17/2014 for a mine on Rt. 351 in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker colluded with Poestenkill Town Supervisor Dominic Jacangelo with an intent to obtain a benefit for Edward Showers of Poestenkill and thereby committed an act relating to
her office but constituting an unauthorized exercise of her official functions, knowing that such act is unauthorized.”
“Further, in issuing a Mined Land Reclamation Permit to Polaro Sand & Gravel, Inc., 8 Clement Dr., Poestenkill, New York 12140 on 12/17/2014 for a mine on Rt. 351 in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker knowingly refrained from performing a duty which is imposed upon her by law or is clearly inherent in the nature of her office. “
“In issuing a Mined Land Reclamation Permit to Polaro Sand & Gravel, Inc., 8 Clement Dr., Poestenkill, New York 12140 on 12/17/2014 for a mine on Rt. 351 in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, and by colluding with Poestenkill Town Supervisor Dominic Jacangelo with an intent to obtain a benefit for Edward Showers of Poestenkill, DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker intentionally committed an act both legally or morally wrong which she had no right to do as an employee of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, an act which involves dishonesty, illegality, or knowingly exceeding authority for improper reasons. “
“In issuing a Mined Land Reclamation Permit to Polaro Sand & Gravel, Inc., 8 Clement Dr., Poestenkill, New York 12140 on 12/17/2014 for a mine on Rt. 351 in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, and by colluding with Poestenkill Town Supervisor Dominic Jacangelo with an intent to obtain a benefit for Edward Showers of Poestenkill, DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation failed to perform a duty enjoined upon them by law; proceeded without or in excess of jurisdiction; made a determination in violation of lawful procedure, and made a determination which was affected by an error of law or was arbitrary and capricious or an abuse of discretion.”
“That DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker intended to obtain a benefit for Edward Showers of Poestenkill by issuing a Mined Land Reclamation Permit to Polaro Sand & Gravel, Inc., 8 Clement Dr., Poestenkill, New York 12140 on 12/17/2014 for a mine on Rt. 351 in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County is made patently clear from a review of the EAF signed by Scott Polaro on 2-25-13, under ‘Description of action’ on page 2, to wit:
“Polaro Construction Co., Inc is proposing to amend their current Mined Land-Use Plan to expand the Route 351 Bank’s permitted Life of Mine (LOM).”
“The current Life of Mine is 9.56 acres and 11.23 acres are proposed to be included.”
“The total new Life of Mine area will be 20.79 acres.”
“Polaro Construction Co., Inc. currently owns 19.18 acres (lands of Polaro), leases the mineral rights from an adjacent 4.35 acres (lands of Heckleman), and has plans to lease the mineral rights from an additional 11.23 acres (lands of Showers).”
“This makes for a total of 34.76 acres controlled by the project sponsor.”
“A 3.0 acre portion of the 11.23 acre area was previously excavated and not reclaimed.”
“This proposal would allow Polaro Construction Co., Inc. to acquire the mineral rights to portions of the Lands of Showers in order to supplement the available reserves, and to mine to proposed final grades and reclaim the 3.0 acre previously affected area along with the general progression of mining and reclamation.”
end quote
“Clearly then, under the flimsy guise of ‘reclamation,’ the Mined Land Reclamation Permit issued to Polaro Sand & Gravel, Inc., 8 Clement Dr., Poestenkill, New York 12140 on 12/17/2014 for a mine on Rt. 351 in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County by DEC Region IV Deputy Regional Permit Administrator Nancy Baker unlawfully confers a benefit on Edward Showers of Poestenkill by allowing him to strip the mineral resources off of residentially-zoned land in the Town of Poestenkill where Showers himself is prohibited by prior judicial decisions binding on him, the DEC and the Town of Poestenkill from conducting mineral extraction operations in his own name. “
“That Showers was not lawfully entitled to the benefit conferred upon him by DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker on 12/17/2014 is made incandescently clear by Rensselaer County Supreme Court Justice Hon, James B. Canfield, J.S.C. in an October 3, 2002 decision of Rensselaer County Supreme Court in Matter of Plante v. Planning Board of the Town of Poestenkill et al., Rensselaer County Index No. 204938, to wit:”
23. In seeking to exhaust administrative remedy prior to seeking judicial intervention, as this petitioner pro se did on April 19, 2015, this petitioner pro se continued as follows in that 10 January 2015 letter to DEC Commissioner Martens:
“As can clearly be seen from that judicial decision, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which would include its Commissioner, its Region IV Director Keith Goertz, and Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker, was a party to that action and so, is bound by those judicial findings, which state clearly and unequivocally that Showers had not complied with the requirements of prior mining permits on the property, but instead had over-mined the land making it unusable for residential purposes and had not restored the land as he had promised.”
“Undaunted by the law, however, Nancy Baker of the DEC Region IV Office walked right around those judicial findings by colluding with Showers, Polaro and Poestenkill Town Supervisor Dominic Jacangelo to benefit Showers by awarding a DEC Mined Land Reclamation Permit to Polaro to mine some 34.76 acres of residentiaIly zoned land in the Town of Poestenkill, including the lands of Showers, where mining is prohibited by town law.”
24. To make sure that DEC Commissioner Martens clearly knew what issues this petitioner pro se was bringing before him to rectify before this petitioner pro se instituted this above matter by re-commencing Matter of Plante v. Planning Board of the Town of Poestenkill et al., Rensselaer County Index No. 204938, that 10 January 2015 letter to the DEC Commissioner concluded as follows:
“Accordingly, where it is patently clear from a review of the record in this matter that in issuing a Mined Land Reclamation Permit to Polaro Sand & Gravel, Inc., 8 Clement Dr., Poestenkill, New York 12140 on 12/17/2014 for a mine on Rt. 351 in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker colluded with Poestenkill Town Supervisor Dominic Jacangelo with an intent to obtain a benefit for Edward Showers of Poestenkill and thereby committed an act relating to her office but constituting an unauthorized exercise of her official functions, knowing that such act is unauthorized, it is your responsibility as DEC Commissioner pursuant to the provisions of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law to annul that permit, as it is based on falsehood and fraud.”
“Should you not do so, then I have no other recourse than to commence a legal action against you and the Department of Environmental Conservation for redress of grievance.”
25. To afford the DEC Commissioner as full and fair an opportunity as possible out of respect for his due process rights to redress this petitioner pro se’s grievance against the DEC, on 23 January 2015, this petitioner pro se sent one final letter, a copy of which is annexed hereto as Exhibit D and made a part hereof, to Hon. Joseph Martens, Commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway. Albany, NY 12233-1010, RE: DEC #4-3838-00066/00003, FACILITY: Polaro Sand and Gravel, Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County entitled “Keith Goertz Cover-Up Attempt; Regulatory Insufficiency; Duplicitous Conduct by Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker” wherein, in seeking to fully exhaust administrative remedy, this petitioner pro se concluded as follows:
“And that brings us to the heart of this present matter, where to issue the instant Mined Land Reclamation Permit to Polaro on 12/17/2014 for a mine on Rt. 351 in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker in fact did do just that, disregard not only my unrefuted sworn testimony as a New York State licensed professional engineer, but all of the evidence and the sworn statements put into the record by the DEC itself in the first Lascari proceeding, sworn statements by its own personnel familiar with this matter from its inception.”
“In other words, to support issuance of this permit, DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker resorted to outright lies and falsehoods to deny me equal protection of law and due process of law, as well.”
“For those reasons, this Mined Land Reclamation permit issued to Polaro Sand and Gravel for the Rt. 351 mine in the Town of Poestenkill by DEC Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker on 12/17/2014 must be annulled in the interests of justice.”
“Should you not do this in a timely fashion, I should be forced to seek redress of grievance in a court of law.”
26. For the record, there was neither response to nor even acknowledgement of the those letters seeking to exhaust administrative remedy by this petitioner pro se, at which time this petitioner pro se timely initiated this above action.
WHEREFORE, petitioner pro se prays this Court deny the relief requested in the 28 August 2015 Affidavit of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Region IV Deputy Permit Administrator Nancy Baker in Opposition to the Motion to Recommence, and further, grant an order and/or judgment granting petitioner pro se leave to re-commence Plante v. Planning Board et al., Rensselaer County Index No. 204938, and granting such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.
DATED: 15 October 2015
22 October 2015
Dear Senator Marchione:
Returning to this matter of the culture of corruption at the NYSDEC growing like barnacles on a boat bottom, which, incidentally, is protected, rather than prosecuted, by the Office of the New York State Attorney General, and what Basil Seggos intends to do about this endemic public corruption in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in the event he becomes Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, the first time we come across the term “regulatory insufficiency” as applied to duplicitous conduct of the DEC is in a DEC Hearing Officer’s Report dated February 9, 1976, just six years after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation came into being as a result of the People of the State of New York amending the Constitution to make protection of the waters of the State a matter of statewide priority.
That Hearing Officer’s Report states as follows with respect to DEC regulatory insufficiency:
In this interim opinion, the hearing officer holds that General Electric Company’s (GE) discharges of PCB’s (polychlorinated biphenyls) into the upper Hudson River violate the New York Environmental Conservation Law (ECL):
GE’s PCB discharges are toxic substances capable of causing skin lesions, destroying body cells, adversely affecting reproduction and inducing cancer and death.
As an affirmative defense, GE asserts that its conduct is immunized from state law penalties by virtue of its being specifically authorized in a series of permits granted under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
This defense must fail, for all GE permits have contained language specifically prohibiting violation of state water quality standards.
The system seems clearly to place on the would-be discharger, whose influence with the agency might itself cause or contribute to regulatory insufficiency, the burden of insuring that the discharge violates no other federal, state or local prohibitions.
end quote
As a direct result of that regulatory insufficiency by the DEC in the early-1970s, as you well know, the upper Hudson River is now the nation’s largest Superfund site.
So much for the mission of the NYSDEC “to conserve, improve and protect New York’s natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being.”
Moving forward in time with respect to documented DEC regulatory insufficiency, we come to a May 18, 1993 decision of New York State Supreme Court Justice Robert C. Williams in Lascari et al v. NYSDEC et al, wherein Judge Williams stated as follows with respect to NYSDEC regulatory insufficiency in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County:
In this Article 78 proceeding, the Petitioners ask the Court to annul the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (“DEC”) issuance of a mining permit to R.J. Valente, Inc. and to grant them the costs and disbursements of this action.
The Court grants the relief sought.
This case concerns the issue of whether a mining operation conducted by R.J. Valente, Inc. (“Valente”) may have a significant effect on the environment (6 NYCRR 617.6(g)(1)(i)).
The DEC concluded it would not; thus, it issued a mining permit to Valente without preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”).
The Petitioners ask the Court to determine that the DEC’s decision to proceed without an EIS was unlawful.
They argue that when the DEC issued the permit, it did not take a “hard look” at the criteria in its own regulations for determining whether the mine may significantly affect the environment.
Having reviewed the record, the Court agrees with the Petitioners.
Thus, the Court annuls the permit.
end quote
The Petitioners, including myself as a New York State licensed professional engineer, asked the Court to determine that the DEC’s decision to proceed without an EIS was unlawful.
Having reviewed the record, the Court agreed with the Petitioners, which is to say, myself.
That, it is respectfully submitted, is unequivocal proof of DEC duplicity and lawlessness in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, especially as it was upheld in 1995 at the Appellate level of New York State Supreme Court in Albany.
With respect to this culture of corruption at the NYSDEC growing like barnacles on a boat bottom, note that the Court in that matter, in which I was a petitioner, granted costs and disbursements, which is only done when the duplicitous and lawless conduct of the party against whom costs are awarded is quite egregious, as it was in that case, where the Office of NYSDEC Commissioner was a party along with the department itself.
Moving right along from there with respect to lawlessness and duplicity and regulatory insufficiency at the DEC, we come to a sworn affidavit of an Assistant New York State Attorney General named Kathleen Liston Morrison dated October 14, 1993, in the Matter of Paul Plante v. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany County Index No. 4840-93, which really serves to showcase DEC duplicity and lawlessness in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County.
The incident which occasioned the submission of this sworn affidavit to Judge Robert Williams of Albany County Supreme Court on October 14, 1993, was the “appearance” in the Town of Poestenkill of a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Solid Waste Management Permit at a Poestenkill Planning Board meeting, and Poestenkill Town Board meeting, which was being used by a local garbage firm as alleged “proof” that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation had found no adverse impacts with its plans to bring a huge garbage transfer station into the town, and to site it right in the residentially-zoned part of town where I reside.
In her October 14, 1993 sworn affidavit, Assistant New York State Attorney General Morrison stated under oath to Judge Williams of Albany County Supreme Court, in the State of New York as follows with respect to DEC lawlessness and regulatory insufficiency:
“I have read the Verified Petition, the Department permit file, and the relevant statutes and regulations.”
“The state respondents admit that the Department (NYSDEC) erred in issuing the permit when it had an incomplete application under Environmental Conservation Law (“ECL”) Article 70, the Uniform Procedures Act, and the regulations promulgated thereunder in 6 NYCRR Part 621, the Solid Waste Management Act, ECL Article 27, and the regulations promulgated thereunder in 6 NYCRR Part 360, and failed to comply with the requirements of Article 8, the State Environmental Quality Act, and the regulations promulgated thereunder in 6 NYCRR Part 617.”
end quote
Speaking of regulatory insufficiency, lawlessness and duplicity by the NYSDEC, that, of course, happens to be every law and regulation which should have been applied to a proper review of this facility.
In that matter, where I was the petitioner, Judge Williams in open court placed Morrison under oath, and proceeded to ask her a series of questions concerning DEC’s egregious conduct in the matter.
He premised that by stating to all present that in all of his years on the bench as a judge, he had never had any attorney, especially the New York State Attorney General, come before him to plead their client guilty, as Morrison had done in that case.
He had Morrison admit on the record, while under oath, that yes, in that matter, which followed shortly on the heels of the Lascari matter, that DEC had engaged in conduct that was criminal in nature in issuing that permit without having complied with any law or regulation, whatsoever.
For the record, no one at DEC was ever held to account for any of that lawless conduct.
And again moving right along, in the official files and records of the DEC, there is a two-volume document of 877 pages in length entitled Record on Appeal in Matter of Lascari et al v. DEC et al which was filed with the State of New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department on December 15, 1995 by DEC’s counsel of record in that matter, New York State Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco, Esq.
In paragraph 5 at page one of that 877-page document, New York State Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco, Esq., stated to the Appellate Court as follows:
In this proceeding pursuant to CPLR Article 78, respondent-appellant (NYSDEC) seeks reversal of the order and judgment of Special Term which annulled a permit (MLRP) issued by respondent-appellant (NYSDEC), and a declaration that such permit was validly issued.
end quote
In a decision rendered by the Appellate Court in 1995, the Appellate Court sided with myself in determining that the permit was not validly issued, which was a further confirmation of regulatory insufficiency and duplicity on the part of the DEC, as well as lawlessness.
Then we come to the matter of Lane Construction and Snake Mountain in East Nassau in Rensselaer County, where I submitted a lengthy report as a New York State licensed professional engineer qualified to practice in New York State as an associate level public health engineer on behalf of the citizens who would have been affected by the project.
That report, which was never challenged or refuted by the DEC, detailed regulatory insufficiency on the part of the NYSDEC in issuing mined land reclamation permits in Rensselaer County, which regulatory insufficiency derives from a DEC policy memorandum known as MLR 92-2, which policy memorandum is a license for lawless conduct at the DEC when issuing mining permits, as has been proven in the above-mentioned lawsuits.
In the end, that Lane permit was pulled back by the DEC, because it had never been properly issued in the first place, which is further evidence of duplicity and regulatory insufficiency on the part of the DEC with respect to the issuance of mining permits by the DEC in Rensselaer County, especially as the pulling back of the permit issued to Lane was affirmed by the Appellate Court in Albany.
Then we have the Tayer Road debacle in the Town of Stephentown, Rensselaer County, which I investigated as a New York State licensed professional engineer, where negligence, duplicity and regulatory insufficiency on the part of DEC resulted in a huge scalping operation which caused a groundwater loss to the surrounding environment of 1.3 million gallons of water per day, again thanks to MLR 92-2.
Again, so much for the mission of the NYSDEC “to conserve, improve and protect New York’s natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being.”
As this duplicitous conduct by DEC has gone on up to the present time, at no time did the DEC make any attempt to fulfill the alleged Mission Statement of the NYSDEC, that being “to conserve, improve and protect New York’s natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being,” or DEC’s purported goal of achieving this mission through the simultaneous pursuit of environmental quality, public health, economic prosperity and social well-being, including environmental justice and the empowerment of individuals to participate in environmental decisions that affect their lives.
To the contrary, in early 1998, because I had chosen to stand up to DEC lawlessness, I found myself confronted in my driveway by Lt. Paul Bernstein and ECO Karen Staniewski of the DEC police force.
I distinctly remember to this day ECO Karen Staniewski, a large, burly, muscular woman, getting out of the DEC police car in my driveway and dropping into what is known as a “shooter’s stance” as she faced me, with her hand near her pistol, all the time glowering and scowling at me as if I were some kind of piece of crap or scum she would like to pump a couple of rounds into, while the grey-haired Lt. Paul Bernstein gave me a fatherly talking-to about all the trouble I was getting myself into by challenging the DEC and thereby stepping on the toes of important and powerful people in the Town of Poestenkill, the County of Rensselaer, and the State of New York.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul R. Plante