Brian Nearing
Times Union
Albany, NY, United States
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Past articles by Brian:
Galway supervisor killed in tractor accident
Galway Town Supervisor Paul Lent was killed Friday at his farm when he was pinned underneath his tractor after it overturned, according to State Police. Lent and his wife, Sue, operate Misty Hill Farm, where they raise Percheron draft horses. He was elected town supervisor in 2013, after serving for two decades as the Saratoga County Emergency Services director. "Paul was a respected member of… → Read More
Top court declines Albany oil company appeal
Albany The state Department of Environmental Conservation won another round in its legal battle over a long-delayed plan at the Port of Albany that could make it easier to ship thick Canadian tar sands crude oil. The state Court of Appeals refused to to consider an appeal by Massachusetts-based Global Companies of a lower-court ruling that supported DEC finding that Global submitted an… → Read More
Opponents of Hudson Valley pipeline take to the trees
Wawayanda At least one person was atop a tree some 50 feet in the air Monday in a bid to thwart a Hudson Valley natural gas pipeline project that has become a legal test of wills between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the administration of President Donald J. Trump. At issue is the 7.8-mile proposed Valley Lateral Pipeline in Orange County, which would connect an existing gas pipeline carrying fracked… → Read More
Mohawk River testing to be done near Colonie town dump
Waterford - Two towns opposed to a proposed massive expansion of the Colonie landfill are teaming up with the environmental group Riverkeeper to begin water testing of the Mohawk River near the landfill. "We have felt that such testing should have been part of this review from the beginning," said Waterford Supervisor Jack Lawler on Tuesday."We are tired of waiting for the state to do it."… → Read More
Albany eyesore getting make-over
ALBANY - A longtime eyesore on the Albany skyline is being seen as a massive art project by its new owner, a New York City man who holds one of the nation's largest collections of that city's recovered architectural treasures. Evan Blum recently purchased the hulking, vacant Central Warehouse, off Montgomery Street, with plans to revive the building and use it as part of his eclectic business,… → Read More
EPA pushed on Hudson PCB cleanup report as deadline approaches
A week before a deadline for the federal environmental officials to grade the success of a years-long effort by General Electric to remove toxic PCBs from the Hudson River, local politicians and environmental activists continue to contend the job is far from done. On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. representatives Paul Tonko, an Amsterdam Democrat, and Nita Lowey, Sean Maloney and… → Read More
Blessing's owners get Colonie variance to restore tavern
Owners of Blessing's Tavern secured approval for minor zoning variances Thursday on the way toward rebuilding the nightspot, which ran for six decades before the October crash, which left a teenager badly burned and the building damaged beyond repair. Colonie Director of Planning and Economic Development Joe LaCivita said Altrock has an 18-month period to rebuild the tavern at its same size on… → Read More
Tentative deal reached to end Momentive chemical plant strike
The three-month-old strike at the Momentive chemical plant in Waterford could be over as early as Wednesday under a tentative contract agreement announced Thursday by union officials. While details on the pact were not made public until after strikers learned of them, Dennis Trainor, vice president for CWA District One, credited Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office with helping mediate the dispute between… → Read More
Looming tar sands shipping surge in U.S. eyes Albany
If a surge of Canadian tar sands oil heads south in coming years as the industry is planning, it could mean an oil-laden barge heads down the Hudson River from Albany every third day, according to a report issued Wednesday by the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council. While that oil would be a relative trickle in the surge of crude that the industry plans to export by water, rail… → Read More
Constitution natural gas pipeline owners challenge state rejection
Houston-based developers of the $750 million Constitution natural gas pipeline are headed to federal court to challenge a state denial of critical environmental permits for the project. According to its news release, the company is suing the state Department of Environmental Conservation in two federal courts over its April ruling on permits needed for the 120-mile pipeline to cross through 250… → Read More
State funds fixes to cut floods from Albany, Rensselaer, water and sewer systems
After a season in which aging area water and sewer systems sometimes failed in spectacular fashion, the cities of Albany and Rensselaer are getting about $2.5 million from the state to replace pipe networks expected to keep millions of gallons of untreated sewage out of the Hudson River and reduce flood risks. About $450,000 from the EFC will be used to expand the overtaxed Beaver Creek sewer… → Read More
Constitution natural gas pipeline pushes back completion date
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. Last month, Constitution sought permission from FERC to start cutting trees in New York before DEC action on the permits, but that effort was blocked by state… → Read More
Amusement park outside North Albany pollution cleanup plan
[...] this same DEC report also says that liquid coal tar, found up to 20 feet underground, has flowed as far as 400 feet to the east, and is beneath both Erie Boulevard and a Canadian Pacific Railway line used by crude oil trains to the Port of Albany. A DEC report on the Broadway site says there is no evidence of toxic vapors coming through soil being a threat to adjoining properties,… → Read More
Beech-Nut plant developer sued in Connecticut factory scrap dispute
An Ohio businessman linked to the partially demolished and stripped former Beech-Nut plant in Montgomery County is now embroiled in a federal lawsuit over valuable scrap metal from a former aerospace plant that he owns in Connecticut. Todd Clifford, owner of TD Development LLC, is being sued in U.S. District Court by Wisconsin-based Wood and Bricks LLC in a disagreement over demolition of the… → Read More
Renewed call to retrofit dam
An activist's claim that the century-old Lock 7 dam on the Mohawk River is worsening flooding may be buttressed by what was done for the Mohawk Harbor casino and hotel project, where acres of riverfront property had to be raised to 8 feet to protect it. Scotia resident James Duggan has warned state officials since 2007 that the Vischers Ferry dam, which cannot be lowered to release water before… → Read More
Eco groups in Albany to blast Feds over pipeline tree cutting
Opponents of the Constitution natural gas pipeline on Thursday urged Gov. Andrew Cuomo to block the project by denying necessary water pollution permits from the Department of Environmental Conservation. Constitution sought permission to start cutting trees along the New York route as well but that effort was blocked by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, as well as environmental groups… → Read More
Maple sap season starting earlier, but lasting longer despite climate change
Mortimer had already made 45 gallons of syrup at his farm in Averill Park by the time sap stopped running due to last week's frigid temperatures that marked the first burst of cold during an unusually warm, snowless winter. [...] it is closer to mid-February, said Mortimer, who started making syrup as a hobby about 20 years ago, gradually added to his equipment, and five years ago expanded into… → Read More
PCB limits sought on plant in wake of grocery site cleanup
After a PCB processing facility in Fort Edward just finished handling tons of PCB-tainted dirt for a new grocery store project, the state is seeking to change facility rules intended to keep dangerous emissions of cancer-causing dioxins within safe levels. [...] the state Department of Environmental Conservation wants to change the company's air pollution permit to "establish the conditions… → Read More
State funding pushes Lake George research project to finish
The state is kicking in a half-million dollars to complete the Jefferson Project, a multimillion dollar environmental research effort aimed at making Lake George the most measured and best understood body of water on the planet. On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the project, launched in 2013 by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, IBM and the conservation group Fund for Lake George, will… → Read More
Lawsuit seeks to shut down Albany port crude oil shipments
Owners of an oil terminal at the Port of Albany face a citizens' lawsuit that claims the company violated federal air pollution laws by failing to reveal to the state that increased shipments there would be potentially explosive and volatile Bakken crude. A coalition that includes Albany County, the Ezra Prentice Homes Tenants Association and environmental groups sued Massachusetts-based Global… → Read More