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For more information:
John F. Sheehan, Communications Director
518-432-1770 (w) 518-441-1340 (cell)
Jaime Ethier, Conservation Director
518-873-2240 (w)

Released, Tuesday, April 13, 2004

WANAKENA, N.Y. - The Adirondack Council today called on the state's Adirondack Park Agency to halt its review of a controversial construction project inside the Five Ponds Wilderness Area and hold a public hearing to help it determine whether the application should be rejected.

"We believe that the Wanakena Water Company illegally expanded its water system on protected public lands inside the state's largest Wilderness Area in 1992," said Adirondack Council Conservation Director Jaime Ethier. "The company admits expanding the current system 12 years ago. It admits that it obtained no permits from the Adirondack Park Agency, or from the Department of Environmental Conservation.

"Now, the same company wants a permit to legitimize its past actions, as well as a brand new permit to appropriate even more public land by expanding the current system more than a mile deeper into the Five Ponds Wilderness," Ethier explained. "We urge the APA to hold a public hearing before making a decision.

"Further, we urge Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to review the Constitutionality of the new expansion proposal, as well as the existing system," Ethier said. "So far, the only state agency to review whether this water system can be operated on the Forest Preserve is the Department of Environmental Conservation. DEC is a co-applicant for this permit. DEC also holds a seat on the Park Agency's board of commissioners."

The Wanakena Water Company is a not-for-profit corporation created in 1980 to provide water to homes and camps in this southern St. Lawrence County hamlet, which sits at the northern edge of the Five Ponds Wilderness Area. The company claimed it owns the rights to an underground water supply on the Wilderness lands in question. The lands were formerly owned by a timber company.

In the early 1900s, the timber company sold the land to a private party, who subsequently sold it to the state, but retained the rights to two springs. The lands were added to the Forest Preserve, and then incorporated into the Five Ponds Wilderness in the 1970s. The State Land Master Plan dictates that Wilderness Areas should be roadless and free of man-made structures.

"Even if the company had permission to use this section of the Forest Preserve - and that is by no means a settled question - it was required under state law to seek alternatives to the Forest Preserve if the system was ever expanded or upgraded. It did not seek alternatives," Ethier explained. "It was also required to seek a temporary permit from DEC to construct anything on Forest Preserve lands. It appears such a permit was never issued."

He said the Adirondack Council would recommend the following remedies to the APA and Attorney General Spitzer:

1. The APA should require a public hearing before the permit is voted upon. Under the APA Act and the State Land Master Plan, the applicants are required to show that alternatives to the proposed project were seriously considered. No alternatives were considered. Instead, the application contains alleged interview with a hydrogeologist whose report is unavailable.

2. The attorney general should make an independent determination on the legal issues. One of the three co-applicants on this project is the Department of Environmental Conservation, whose attorneys conducted the only available legal analysis that concluded that the actions of the other co-applicant, the Wanakena Water Co., were legal. The APA Board of Commissioners needs an independent review of the legal issues, including whether the constitution has been violated.

3. The DEC's representative on the APA Board of Commissioners should recuse himself/herself from this case. DEC holds a seat on the APA board. Voting on any project while acting as a co-applicant is a conflict of interest.

4. The reclassification of state lands should be considered first, prior to the issuance of any construction permit. The APA is set to issue a permit for construction of the new water system before it decides whether the lands on which it would be located should be downgraded from "Wilderness" where construction is never allowed, to "primitive" where some construction can exist. If the construction permit has already been issued, the pressure to approve the reclassification would be overwhelming. Decisions on land classifications are supposed to be made based on the ability of the land to withstand the allowed uses, not on a private party's desire for development.

"The ancient forests and abundant clean waters of the Adirondack Forest Preserve are a natural treasure owned by all New Yorkers, not just those who happen to live next to them," Ethier said. "They cannot simply be appropriated without permission from the voters. No one - least of all the APA -- should be rushed into a decision on this project until all of the facts are clear and all of the legal protections for the Forest Preserve have been observed."

The Adirondack Council's mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character of New York's six-million-acre Adirondack Park. Founded in 1975, the Council is an 18,000-member privately funded, not-for-profit organization.