Letters To The Editor 05.05.22

Albany Airport improvements from Infrastructure Bill

I have flown through Albany Airport a few times in the last two months for work, fun, and because of a loss in the family. The line at the security check point each time I flew extended down the ramp into the parking garage and back into the terminal. However, in the relative future, Albany Airport will see improvements thank you to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. After many years of “infrastructure week” jokes and other false claims related to infrastructure in the last administration, it is great that the Biden Administration was able to get an infrastructure bill passed. Votes from NY Representatives and Senators were as follows:

– Sen. Schumer – yes

– Sen. Gillibrand – yes

– Rep. Tonko (NY-20) – yes

– Rep. Delgado (NY-19) – yes

– Rep. Stefanik (NY-21) – no

Albany Airport will receive $28.6 Million with improvements for modernizing the airport’s runways, reducing noise from the more than 50 arrivals and departures the airport has every day, additional dining, and finally a redeveloped pedestrian bridge and security checkpoint. I appreciate our when the NY Congressional Delegation works to improve our area.

Michael Myer, North Greenbush

Focus on School Work

A writer from Averill Park several weeks ago lamented the fact that Board of Education candidates in that school district improperly focused on mask mandates and vaccine requirements. Probably true. However, she then continued with the thought, appearing to support the notion that the key focus in schools should be on Social Emotional Learning, along with lessons on “slavery, segregation, discrimination, and racism”. She might consider refocusing once more: try “reading, math, science, and writing”. 

Frank Coppa, East Greenbush

What do these candidates believe?

There is a movement afoot to grasp control of our Averill Park school board by right-wing radicals seeking to install what they term as conservative, traditional values. These right wing radicals, Q-anon worshipers and Trump acolytes are a danger to our community, and especially our schools. They want right-parents to distort their children’s views about racial and LGBTQ issues, and put people of color and LGBTQ students back in their “traditional” place in society. What will then be taught by right-wing parents?

Since the “Meet the Candidates” night will not allow direct questions to the candidates, I would like to put a few direct questions to the candidates. I would like to challenge each and every school board candidate to answer these questions on the pages of next week’s Advertiser.

1)Do you think that Joe Biden’s campaign stole the 2020 Presidential election from Donald Trump?

2)Was the act of storming the Capitol on January 6th to stop the counting of electoral votes a patriotic or criminal act?

3)Should President Joe Biden’s election be rescinded?

4)Do you believe there was “massive election fraud” in the 2020 Presidential election that benefited the election of President Joe Biden?

5)Should LGBTQ persons be employed by Averill Park school district in any capacity?

I look forward to reading your responses.

Bill Baker, Burden Lake

Sham PFAS investigation continues unabated

And here I refer to the DEC document titled PFAS Assessment, Phase II Work Plan, Algonquin Middle School Assessment (Spill No. 2105197), Poestenkill, NY, April 2022, an interesting title given there is no evidence in the DEC records that Phase I was ever conducted, and if one simply scrolls to section 3.0, Report, one notices the language which gives the scam or sham away, as follows: Upon receipt of the DUSRs, a site assessment report will be generated, summarizing historical information, field activities, local geology, a groundwater flow evaluation, and PFAS results.

Pursuant to DER-10 section 1.1(a) “This program policy provides guidance for the NYSDEC Division of Environmental Remediation on how to conduct acceptable investigation and remediation,” and (b) “This document presents guidance relative to activities considered necessary to investigate and remediate contamination at any applicable site, as identified in section 1.2,” and pursuant to DER-10 section1.3(66), the “Site characterization” means the first phase in the process of identifying areas of concern at a site, which is conducted pursuant to Chapter 3 of this guidance. 

According to several FOIL requests that I have made of DEC looking for that information, that site characterization was never conducted.

So this claim that we are now in Phase II is false, as unsupported by evidence.

Another thing one notices from that document is that there is going to be no attempt made by DEC to ascertain the source of the PFAS in the residential wells, nor is there any effort going to be made to remediate those wells.

We know that from section 1.1 of that April 2022 DEC document, titled Area of Interest, defined in DER-10 section section1.3(1) as meaning any existing or former location at a site where contaminants are known or suspected to have been discharged, which in this case is the Poestenkill transfer station.

However, in this case, which is a whitewash, the transfer station is excluded.

Paul Plante, Poestenkill