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Peter Mantius
SIGNING OFF: Veteran journalist Peter Mantius shuts down WaterFront blog
Peter Mantius, a seasoned journalist, local environmental reporter, and FingerLakes1.com contributor announced the closure of his influential WaterFront blog, marking the end of a seven-year effort to spotlight environmental challenges in the Finger Lakes region ... more
DEBRIEF: Cargill could sell Cayuga salt mine, Thurston moves toward banning sewage sludge, and more (podcast)
In this edition of The Debrief Podcast we're joined by Peter Mantius from The Water Front Online. The longtime environmental reporter has been busy publishing a number of high-profile pieces on the Finger Lakes over ... more
EXCLUSIVE: Breaking down the SMI court ruling & how Long Island sludge is being imported to Upstate NY (video)
This week there were a pair of major environmental headlines that involved a longstanding issue for the Finger Lakes. To get an update on those, we caught up with environmental reporter and Water Front Online ... more
SENECA LAKE: How safe is it to eat fish caught in Seneca Lake? Chemicals found in high-volume after fish from last year’s derby tested (podcast)
State health officials could be forced to make ruling on freshwater fish How safe is it to eat fish caught in Seneca Lake? On its face that might seem like the simplest question one could ... more
As cyanotoxins soar in Owasco Lake threatening tap water, Cayuga County ends support for monitoring
Even after cyanotoxins surged again last year in Owasco Lake, the Cayuga County Legislature voted this week to cut off funding for a longstanding program that monitors water quality in the lake that supplies drinking ... more
Greenidge on brink of bankruptcy: Company pursues deal to sell most of its bitcoin mining machines
Greenidge Generation Holding Inc. warned this week that it may seek bankruptcy protection because it expects to run out of cash within two months, according to a Dec. 20 filing with the Securities and Exchange ... more
EXCLUSIVE: What’s the risk to Cayuga Lake? What happens if Cargill Salt Mine floods or suffers collapse?
Environmental Reporter Peter Mantius has been covering the Finger Lakes region for years. He's seen the ups-and-downs of environmental issues ranging from a proposed incinerator in Romulus, to landfilling at two major operations located in ... more
Greenidge receives delisting notice from NASDAQ as stock continues to fall
Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc. received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market for its Class A common stock due to failure to maintain a bid price of $1 per share for 30 consecutive trading ... more
New York’s cryptomining law spotlights industry’s massive energy use, greenhouse gas emissions
The state’s new cryptocurrency law won’t impede either of New York’s two fossil fuel-powered Bitcoin mining operations, but it is expected to shine a light on how severely the industry’s power usage undercuts the state’s ... more
INSIDE THE FLX: Was the 2022 HABs season bad? Where does Finger Lakes region stand in fight against blooms?
What's up with the fight against HABs in the Finger Lakes? Last month, an announcement about a Nine Element Plan in the Seneca-Keuka Watershed to address phosphorus runoff made headlines. But it isn't the kind ... more
Farmland runoff, intense storms responsible for raising phosphorus loads that drive HABs in Seneca-Keuka watershed, report finds
A comprehensive plan to cut phosphorus pollution in the Seneca-Keuka Watershed won final state approval this week, providing a roadmap for protecting the two lakes from toxic algal blooms and flooding driven by climate change ... more
Will Greenidge face any consequences for missing October 1 deadline to install screens on water intake pipe?
For more than five years, Greenidge Generation has skirted a federal law that requires power plants to install screens on their cooling water intake pipes to protect aquatic life. Now the company has fallen far ... more
DEC says its ‘investigating’ as Greenidge appears to create staging area for major, new construction project after permit denial
A day after the state Department of Environmental Conservation denied Greenidge Generation an air permit for its power plant in Dresden, contractors for the company appear to be using a DEC boat launch as a ... more
MANTIUS: Challenging times for Hochul, but DEC’s Greenidge decision could be significant moment
It would be easy for a distracted governor to underestimate the importance of the environmental ruling her Department of Environmental Conservation will make later this week. So easy to issue marching orders to the agency ... more
Crypto moratorium approved after surprising early-morning NYS Senate vote; industry lobbying falls short
The New York State Legislature early today passed a two-year moratorium on certain cryptocurrency mining that would halt permits to convert old fossil-fuel power plants into crypto operations. The bill (A7389/S6486) had been considered “dead” as recently ... more
DEC needed months to review public comments that ran 100-to-1 against Greenidge’s bitcoin operation
Nearly 4,000 public comments on Greenidge Generation’s bid to renew a state air emissions permit for its Bitcoin mining operation ran nearly 100-to-1 negative last Fall, according to a recent analysis by researchers from Cornell ... more
Seneca Meadows official tells Ulster County that landfill won’t close in 2025 despite local law
The top official at Seneca Meadows Inc. assured public officials in Ulster County last week that SMI would not be shutting down by Dec. 31, 2025 despite a local law that requires that closing date ... more
Hochul could follow fracking precedent in setting crypto mining moratorium in New York
Gov. Kathy Hochul has a clear legal path to establish a moratorium on permits for cryptocurrency mining operations like Greenidge Generation’s plant in Dresden, according to a report issued today by Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for ... more
Leachate from landfills is contaminated with PFAS chemicals at hundreds of times the state’s drinking water limit
Runoff from the state’s active and inactive landfills contains PFAS ‘non-stick’ chemicals at hundreds of times the levels deemed a health risk in drinking water. While state officials are cracking down on two PFAS compounds ... more
