Home »
Peter Mantius
Peter is a three-time Pulitzer nominated reporter covering environmental issues through his first-of-its-kind digital publication The Water Front. He's won an array of Associated Press, UPI, and Society of Professional Journalist awards. His reporting on environmental issues continues to be featured in prominent New York publications and is available on FingerLakes1.com through an exclusive content partnership. Have a question or lead? Send it to peter@fingerlakes1.com.
Which fish are safe to eat? State’s latest advisories skim over evidence many are highly contaminated with PFOS
The state’s latest health advisories on eating freshwater fish downplay the dangers of PFAS “forever chemicals” and gloss over troubling evidence from the Finger Lakes. “Popular fish such as trout, yellow perch, sunfish, crappie, and ... more
Greenidge Generation shares tumble after release of annual report; Bitcoin ‘halving’ could make matters worse
Shares of Greenidge Generation Holdings LLC common stock have lost 30 percent of their value since the April 9 release of the company’s annual report, which warned investors about its precarious finances and costly environmental ... more
Plan to expand gravel mine leaves Watkins Glen State Park vulnerable, regional parks manager tells DEC
The latest plan to quintuple the size of the Padua Ridge gravel mine is inadequate to protect its neighbor, the Watkins Glen State Park, from a host of potentially severe environmental risks, the state Office ... more
O’Mara, Palmesano declare opposition to plan to expand Padua Ridge Gravel Mine in letter to DEC’s Basil Seggos
Long non-committal on a proposal to quintuple the size of the Padua Ridge gravel mine, the state legislators who represent Schuyler County in Albany expressed their opposition to the project Thursday. State Sen. Tom O’Mara ... more
DEC considering permit loophole for Watkins Glen mine: What would that mean?
For 14 years, the state Department of Environmental Conservation stood firmly on the need to enforce a rule requiring reclamation of mined-out land under any permit to allow the Padua Ridge gravel mine to expand ... more
Photos show gravel mine sediment washes into drainage ditch designed to protect Watkins Glen from flooding
The drainage ditch that serves as the Village of Watkins Glen’s first line of defense against flooding is filling up with sediment, raising doubts about whether it remains a reliable guard against extreme rain events ... more
After fining Watkins Glen gravel pit owner for mining outside law; DEC weighs plan to quintuple site
Three state inspectors dropped by the Padua Ridge gravel mine on cold, cloudy December day in 2010 to order the owner, Martin Wojcik, to halt operations because his permit had expired 13 months earlier. They ... more
Thurston faces uphill battle defending its sewage sludge ban: Will state heed town’s warning of PFAS risk?
Legal precedent is not on the side of the Town of Thurston as it prepares to defend its law banning the spread of sewage sludge on fields in a bid to protect public health. In ... more
Lawsuit against Seneca Meadows, DEC seeks to block landfill’s expansion over violation of Green Amendment
A lawsuit filed today against Seneca Meadows Inc. and the state Department of Environmental Conservation seeks a court order to block the landfill’s proposed expansion on the grounds that unabated landfill odors violate its neighbors’ ... more
KEEPING SECRETS: DEC stalls FOIL requests for gravel mine docs hidden from Watkins Glen, other officials
When a state agency is determined to keep secrets, it takes more than a village to pry them loose. Even the state Freedom of Information Law may not be enough. Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association ... more
Ontario Landfill systems damaged by November landslide won’t be fixed for two more months, Casella confirms
Damages to gas extraction and leachate control systems caused by a landslide four months ago at the Ontario County Landfill won’t be fixed before the middle of May, Casella Waste Systems Inc. recently told state ... more
Firm planning drilling spree in Southern Tier goes silent as lawmakers seek to ban use of CO2 in quest for gas
The scientists and activists that pushed New York State to ban high-volume hydrofracking are working overtime against a speculative plan to inject CO2 rather than water into Southern Tier shale formations to extract natural gas ... more
Neighbors of High Acres Landfill renew odor complaints in Green Amendment case rebutting DEC
Do courts have authority to rule on whether the state’s failure to abate air pollution around the High Acres Landfill violates the constitutional rights of the facility’s neighbors? High Acres is located 14 miles southeast ... more
Seggos quitting as DEC commissioner after 8-year tenure, leaving mixed environmental legacy in Finger Lakes
Basil Seggos confirmed late yesterday that he’s stepping down as Commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation after an eight-year term. He plans to continue working in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration through state budget ... more
DEC doesn’t require truck traffic analysis for gravel mine expansion despite dangerous curve
What does a 1948 Bugatti 35A race car have in common with a dump truck loaded with sand and gravel? Both have wrecked at Milliken’s Corner in Watkins Glen. The near-90-degree turn at the bottom ... more
DEC’s Feb. 28 cutoff for comments on gravel mine seen as part of 16-year pattern of obstruction
(UPDATED at 12:45 p.m. Feb. 19 with letter from Schuyler County’s state Legislators demanding a 90-day extension of the DEC’s Feb. 28 deadline for public comment on the proposed Padua Ridge gravel mine expansion.) The state’s tight ... more
Casella sues Town of Thurston to kill local law banning the spread of sewage sludge on fields
A unit of Casella Waste Systems Inc. filed suit late yesterday against the Town of Thurston to try to block enforcement of a new local law that bans the spread of municipal sewage sludge on ... more
DEC kept local officials in the dark for 16 years as it weighed plans to expand Watkins Glen gravel mine
On the eve of two state-sponsored public hearings on a plan to quintuple the size of the Padua Ridge sand and gravel mine, the Schuyler County Legislature is set to vote today on a resolution ... more
DEC to Cargill: Give us withheld reports dangers of storage site for water leaking into Cayuga salt mine
State regulators late yesterday renewed their bid to obtain consultant reports from Cargill Inc. that analyze the effects of storing brine in the deepest section of its rock salt mine under Cayuga Lake. When Cargill’s ... more
