Karner Blue Conspiracy Recently some crank
(who deserves to remain nameless) wrote a letter to the independent
weekly newspaper The Altamont Enterprise claiming that the Karner
Blue Butterfly is not native to the Pine Bush, and was planted
there by environmentalists, government agents and other liberal
conspirators conspiring to "take" land away from the rightful
owners. In response, the Enterprise was flooded with letters
from all sorts of folks who wanted to set this dingaling straight
about the butterfly, and explain why the Pine Bush is important
to the community. Save the Pine Bush's Chuck Reilly weighed
in with a good one, as did the Westmere Elementary School Earthlets
environmental club, who demonstrated that they payed close attention
to SPB president Rezsin Adams' recent presentation to their
group. Apparently most folks are smarter than is generally believed.
Poor Farmer Angelo State Supreme Court
justice Joseph Harris tossed out the so-called Farmer's Lawsuit
brought by rapacious developer Angelo Serafini and some of his
business friends, filed against the Albany Pine Bush Commission.
These so-called "Farmers" were trying to have the Commission's
management plan thrown out on the grounds that the Commission
has no right to manage the Pine Bush. Even Judge Harris, who
is no friend of Pine Bush preservation, couldn't find a reason
to continue this frivolous suit. Farmer Angelo and his friends
engaged the services of the notorious lawyer Paul Wein, who,
through various maneuvers, managed to jack up the price the
Nature Conservancy paid for Michael Giavanone's property, the
proposed go-cart track. Last we heard, by the way, Paul Wein
was fending off a sexual harassment suit brought by one of his
former employees.
Lining The Dump The Pine Bush Dump is composed
of two mountains of garbage and toxic ash known as Mt. Trashmore
and Mt. Jorling (after the former DEC Commissioner who created
it), which are the highest points of elevation in the Pine Bush.
Since the City of Albany and State of New York have been ground
to a standstill in court by Save the Pine Bush, they can't use
any more Pine Bush Preserve for their dumping than they already
have. So until they find a way to force the folks down in Coeymans
to smile and accept a new dump on one their local farms, they
have to throw their garbage somewhere.
Their solution? Throw garbage in the trough between
the two mountains, which will raise the dump to record heights.
According to the Albany City Record sealed bids are being solicited
for laying a plastic liner over the old garbage so that the
new garbage will not leak onto the old garbage. This new liner,
which is called a "composite lined expansion cell," will cover
eight acres of elevated garbage. The project includes a collection
and detection system for dealing with "leachate" which is toxic
liquids that threaten to trickle down to the Pine Bush sand
and join the water table. What the engineers do with this poison
water is unclear, they probably just pump it into a nearby ditch.
The city hopes to have the work done by mid-August, and don't
ask how much it's going to cost, they don't want you to know.
No More Record? The City of Albany is starting
to shut down its very own little publication called The Albany
City Record (quoted in the item above) partly because the folks
who currently run the city have forgotten why it's published
in the first place. By law, many of the actions of city government
must be announced three times, and most municipalities take
out public notice ads in local papers to meet this requirement.
Here in Albany, we are stuck with a miserable rag owned by the
Hearst Corporation called the Times Union, which is unreliable
and charges outrageous rates for ads. So some time back the
city started self-publishing notices, but now too many neighborhood
groups and citizen activists have caught on to what a wealth
of vital information passes through this little sheet. Already
the City has stopped it from announcing decisions of the Zoning
Board of Appeals. Several Alderpersons who should know better
were quoted in the Times Union as saying it should cease publication,
naturally the Hearst Corporation would like to tighten its monopoly
on printed information in Albany. Once upon a time the City
Record could be purchased at Coulson's News and other places,
now it is subscription only. At SPB we feel the City Record
should expand to include all city decisions, especially those
of the Planning Board.
Award For Getting Old Save the Pine Bush
president Rezsin Adams was one of a dozen or so recipients of
the 1st annual "The Third Age Achievement Awards" this past
December for doing exactly what she has been doing all of her
life while getting older. At the awards ceremony, which was
attended by plenty of local movers and shakers, Rezsin stood
out in her red stretch slacks and "Serve Albany Day" sweatshirt.
In her short acceptance speech she told the crowd that she almost
wore her Save the Pine Bush sweatshirt, but thought "Serve Albany"
was more fitting to the occasion. She now has one more decoration
for her mantelpiece.
Printed Feb/Mar 97
