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DRESDEN - Greenidge Generation is challenging the N.Y. State Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) decision to deny their air permit renewal, claiming the agency overstepped its authority.
In their Article 78 petition filed Aug. 15 in the State Supreme Court of Yates County, Greenidge alleges that the DEC used an improper and incomplete analysis, which they argue does not align with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or CLCPA. The company also contends that under the CLCPA and state law, the DEC does not have exclusive authority over electric-generating facilities. They argue that the DEC has overstepped its bounds, encroaching on the roles of the state Public Service Commission and the New York Independent System Operator.
"When we are in front of courts of law and out of politically biased and ad hoc DEC processes, the facts actually matter and the courts continue to recognize our facility meets the letter and intent of state and federal laws," said Dale Irwin, President of Greenidge Generation.
"This is an important case for Upstate New York: for working locals who've waited far too long for the type of high-tech, high-paying career opportunities we continue to create, for local businesses and unions we partner with, and for the local communities that benefit from the significant share of county tax revenue we are generating. We are proving this region can create future-focused jobs and economic activity while meeting the state's ambitious climate goals."
The legal action comes after DEC's regional director, Dereth Glance, upheld the agency's decision to deny the permit, citing the need to adhere to greenhouse gas emissions limits set by the CLCPA.
Earthjustice is a nonprofit environmental law organization. Mandy DeRoche, Deputy Managing Attorney of the Clean Energy Program at Earthjustice calls the lawsuit a "last ditch effort" by Greenidge to continue Bitcoin mining on Seneca Lake.
"Greenidge Generation is operating in violation of the CLCPA, as stated by the DEC three times now, and should not be permitted to increase climate and local air pollution, as we try so hard to decrease GHG emissions in New York State. We are advocating on behalf of our clients, and we strongly oppose Greenidge's continued attempts to pollute the Finger Lakes and the climate – and their broader attempts to gut the DEC's authority."
Greenidge provided the following information on its stance:
• DEC exceeded its jurisdiction while employing an improper and incomplete analysis that is inconsistent with the language and intent of the CLCPA.
• Under the CLCPA and relevant NY State law, DEC does not have sole authority over electric generating facilities, and DEC usurped the roles of the New York State Public Service Commission and the New York Independent System Operator.
1. DEC violated the supremacy clause, by ignoring the requirements of NYISO's federally approved deactivation process for existing generating facilities, which ensures reliability and resiliency studies are conducted before deactivation.
2. The CLCPA requires that the New York State Public Service Commission (not DEC) adopt regulations establishing a program to meet a target of seventy percent of statewide electrical generation from renewable sources by 2030, and a target of zero GHG emissions for statewide electrical demand by 2040.
3. The Climate Action Council, designed to guide agency implementation of CLCPA mandates, established "any retirement and/or repurposing of existing fossil fuel generation must be done in coordination with the [NYS]PSC, the NYISO planning process"
4. The Climate Action Council concluded that the application of CLCPA to electric generating facilities cannot occur in a vacuum, which is what DEC did here as the New York State Public Service Commission (NYSPSC) and the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) were not consulted in this process in any form.
5. In fact, when Greenidge requested to halt power generating operations for maintenance, the request was denied by NYISO due to risks to system reliability and NYISO has requested, on multiple occasions, that Greenidge increase power supply or deliver full load to the grid. Greenidge has complied with those requests.
• DEC asserts that CLCPA authorizes the Department, in its complete and sole discretion, to deny Greenidge's and any other party's permit application if the facility at issue will have any GHG emissions – which is true as to almost every single facility for which an air permit is requested – regardless of any justification or alternatives/mitigation considerations, and in spite of all other regulatory and statutory requirements having been met.
• The CLCPA does not invite the Department or any other state agency to make its own subjective ad hoc value judgements regarding the purported "purpose" of a project or facility or what economic activity in New York State is needed, desirable, or worthy.
• Contrary to DEC's attempt to anoint itself as New York State's arbiter of economy-wide climate issues, the CLCPA instead created the Climate Action Council, a 22-member appointed body, with the mission to prepare a Scoping Plan with extensive public involvement to serve as the roadmap to achieve the State's clean energy and climate goals.
• During the internal DEC appeals process, DEC's own Administrative Law Judge advanced three issues for adjudication in the appeals process, and the Administrative Law Judge sought to hold hearings on all three matters.o DEC then overruled its own Administrative Law Judge and summarily ended the appeals process, without affording Greenidge an adjudicatory hearing.
• The Denial rests upon the Department's determination that its issuance of the renewed permit would be inconsistent with the Statewide GHG limits in 2030 and 2050 – despite the fact that the permit would expire prior to 2030.
• DEC deprived Greenidge of the right to include in its application information the Department now says is required by applying the CLCPA using standards and criteria not identified to Greenidge until (or even after) the Denial, and then by denying Greenidge an adjudicatory hearing.

According to preliminary seasonally adjusted figures released today by the N.Y. State Department of Labor, the number of private sector jobs in New York State increased over the month by 10,800, or 0.1%, to 8,401,600 in July 2024. The number of private sector jobs in the U.S. also increased by 0.1% in July 2024.
N.Y. State's private sector jobs (not seasonally adjusted) increased by 159,900, or 1.9%, over the year in July 2024, which was greater than the 1.4% increase in the number of private sector jobs in the U.S.
N.Y. State's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 4.2% to 4.3% in July 2024. At the same time, N.Y. State's labor force (seasonally adjusted) increased by 700. As a result, the statewide labor force participation rate held constant at 61.3% in July 2024.
The number of private sector jobs in New York State is based on a payroll survey of New York businesses conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Monthly payroll employment estimates are preliminary and subject to revision as more complete data become available the following month. The BLS calculates New York State's unemployment rate based partly upon the results of the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) of approximately 3,100 households in the State.
Note: Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. Non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons of the same month – for example, July 2023 versus July 2024.
Statewide Industry Employment
July 2024 – Seasonally Adjusted

On a net basis, the total number of nonfarm jobs in the state increased by 41,400 over the month, while private sector jobs increased by 10,800 in July 2024.
At the same time, the total number of nonfarm jobs in the nation increased by 114,000, while private sector jobs increased by 97,000.

NYS Exceeded Nation in Nonfarm Job Growth
Over-the-Month % Change in Total Nonfarm & Private Sector Jobs, June 2024 – July 2024

[GRAPH]

The statewide unemployment rate increased from 4.2% to 4.3% in July 2024.
Yates County's unemployment was 3.1% in June, second only to Columbia County at 2.8%
New York City's unemployment rate increased from 4.8% to 5.0%.
In the rest of the state, the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% in July 2024.
The number of unemployed New Yorkers increased over the month by 9,100 from 408,700 in June to 417,800 in July 2024.

Unemployed and UI Beneficiaries - The estimate of the number of unemployed includes all persons who had no employment during the reference week (the week including the 12th of the month), were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference week. Unemployment insurance (UI) beneficiaries include those who apply for and qualify for UI benefits. Consequently, the estimate of the number of unemployed and the number of UI beneficiaries do not necessarily move in tandem.

STEUBEN COUNTY - Steuben County Sheriff Jim Allard reports the arrests of DALE M. SUTTON, 50, of Campbell, and JAMES R. LISEFSKI, 44, of Prattsburgh, on multiple charges resulting from an 8-month investigation spanning four counties and five law enforcement agencies stemming from multiple reported commercial burglaries in Steuben, Allegany, Schuyler, and Yates Counties.
The Steuben, Schuyler, and Yates County Sheriff's Offices, the Penn Yan Police Dept., and the N.Y. State Police worked cooperatively, sharing investigation information and evidence, which conclusively linked Sutton and Lisefski to multiple alleged commercial burglaries, stolen vehicles, arson, larcenies, evidence tampering, property damage, and narcotics sales.
"Hundreds of hours of collaborative investigation techniques and the cooperative efforts of the Steuben, Schuyler, and Yates County District Attorney Offices resulted in a Grand Jury presentation, which led to the indictment of Sutton and Lisefski on 38 individual charges," said Allard.
Sutton and Lisefski are both charged with:

Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony
Seven Counts of 3rd degree Burglary, class D felonies
10 Counts of Criminal Mischief, both felony and misdemeanor
10 Counts of Grand Larceny, class E and D felonies
Three Counts of Petit Larceny
Three Counts of Tampering with Physical Evidence, class E felonies
3rd degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, class B felony
3rd degree Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance, a class B felony.

Sutton was arraigned in Steuben County Court and remanded to jail in lieu of $20,000 cash bail. Lisefski was committed to jail due to an active NYS Parole Violation Warrant and is held without bail.

FINGER LAKES — Forward Leading IPA (FLIPA) has been selected by the N.Y. State Dept. of Health to be the lead entity for the Finger Lakes Social Care Network, covering a 14-county region including Alleghany, Cayuga, Chemung, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates.
August 7, Governor Kathy Hochul announced FLIPA as one of nine organizations statewide will receive a total of $500 million in awards over the next three years to create a new Social Care Network (SCN) program in N.Y. State.
The Social Care Network program is designed to advance health equity and reduce health disparities by leveraging federal funding to facilitate Medicaid members access to nutritional meals, housing supports, transportation and other social services that can have a significant impact on an individual's health.
"The Social Care Networks will help us transform how we support communities with the greatest unmet needs," Hochul said. "Through the SCN program, we are making a direct investment in the health and wellbeing of our local communities - and New Yorkers will be connected to a more equitable and integrated social and health care system."
As part of its Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver, N.Y. State is creating a new model of care that will integrate health care and social care via networks with associated funding. The $500 million program is one component of a $7.5 billion three-year waiver with nearly $6 billion of federal funding. The SCNs will be core to facilitating the delivery of health-related social needs, including nutrition, housing supports, transportation, and case management for eligible Medicaid members, which are essential to addressing health disparities and improving population health.
"I am so very excited for the Finger Lakes region as we engage in this very important initiative," says FLIPA Board President Mary Zelazny of Finger Lakes Community Health in Penn Yan. "It will require all 'hands on deck' across the 14 counties, but this region is blessed with so many excellent partner organizations who are ready, willing and committed to this work and to successfully improving the lives of many in our communities."
FLIPA Executive Director Patty McMahon adds, "FLIPA is honored to be able to elevate the essential role that community-based organizations play in healthy communities and to integrate their work within the existing primary care and behavioral health care system. It is well established that physical healthcare only accounts for about 20% of overall health and well-being. This is an opportunity to acknowledge that fact and change the lives of eligible Medicaid members by systematically addressing their health-related social care needs."
One example, the Medicaid Redesign Team Supportive Housing Initiative, provides services to homeless New Yorkers with medical conditions. An analysis of the program's housing supports led to better health outcomes such as:

40% reduction in inpatient days
26% reduction in emergency department visits
44% reduction in patients with inpatient substance use rehab admissions
27% reduction in patients with inpatient psychiatric admissions
15% reduction in overall Medicaid health expenditures
Through strategic prioritization, the top 10% of enrollees had average Medicaid savings of $45,600 per person per year

To learn more about Forward Leading IPA (FLIPA) visit www.forwardleadingipa.org

KEUKA PARK — Keuka College hosted a celebration of community on Tuesday, presenting the annual Donald & Corinne Stork Award for Community Service to lifelong Dundee residents Alan & Lew Ann Giles
The Giles were honored for their extensive commitment to public service and community involvement.
Speaking on behalf of the couple, Lew Ann said they were "amazed" at being selected to receive the award.
"Forty-seven years ago, we said our marriage vows," she told the audience of about 80 friends, family, and well-wishers in the college's Geiser Dining Commons. "And we promised, for better or worse, in sickness and health, for richer or poorer, in all seasons and all times, we would stay together and work together. And it's been a pretty good team."
The Giles have contributed significantly to various organizations in Dundee, including Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Council of Churches, the Starkey Town Board, Dundee Central School and Library, the Rotary Club, the food pantry, and the Dundee Baptist Church.
In announcing the award, Keuka College Community Associates Board Chair Steve Griffin highlighted two additional initiatives spearheaded by the couple

The "Bookcase for Every Child" campaign to make bookshelves and books available to local children every year
"Our Town Rocks" an ongoing community health improvement project.

"Childhood literacy, public health – those aren't generally the types of issues you often see tackled, especially successfully, at the local level," Griffin said. "But it speaks to just how engaged Alan and Lew Ann are in their community and why they're such worthy recipients of the Stork Award."
Lew Ann attributed their community spirit to values instilled by their parents – "love and respect and care and work and faith in God" – as well as support from their siblings and children. She said the couple has always strived to embody the hymn, "Lord Whose Love Through Humble Service."
"Everything we've done has been humble service because we were gifted by God to listen and love and learn with others," Lew Ann said. "And so, for the children and youth and adults in and around Dundee, it's been a humble privilege to offer hope and help, to give goodwill and comfort, to council when asked, and to give aid and offer peace in whatever situations we could."
College President Amy Storey praised the Giles for their exemplary civic engagement.
"In a world where it's often difficult to discern what's true, you don't have to look any further than Lew Ann and Alan to see what true community spirit and community-minded behavior look like," she said. "I want to thank our Stork Award recipients for being exemplars of that, not only for me but for our students as well."