News Briefs 4/24/2008

Highway Blues
Olive Highway Superintendant Jim Fugel reports that, “We had a terribly hard winter, worse than ever before including 1995 because the storms turned to ice. Usually we will sand twice per storm but this winter we had to sand 5, 6, even 7 times per storm.”
“It doesn’t look like much compared to snow but it costs us many times more in resources used. We emptied our salt shed twice rather than the normal two thirds of the shed used,” he added: “The expensive part of plowing snow is the sand and salt and this year we were hammered. Diesel fuel also killed us.”
Continuing, Fugel spoke about how, “The latter part of the winter during sap season the freeze and thaw creates breakage in the pavement. We’ve patched all the holes to date but there are new ones all the time. We’ve started our spring cleanup and 80% of the roads have been swept as of today. We are cleaning out the drainage ditches and repairing the plow damage. We’re putting in culverts in Moonhaw and we have opened all the parks.”
Fugel described some of the means used to save money in the highway dept.
“We are able to do everything in house because all of our guys are highly skilled and they all have a specialty of some nature,” he said. “Some are carpenters, most are excellent equipment operators, we have some of the best. They are all good truck drivers, mechanics, welders, fabricators, most everything we do in house. We have cultivated relationships with other towns around us and together we can do just about anything by sharing our resources. We will be roto-paving soon and Superintendent Carl Hornbeck of the Rosendale Highway Dept. will send us a couple of trucks to help. When they need a grader operator we send Brian Burns over to help them out.”

Ah, Ski Resorts…
Commissioners at the Adirondack Park Agency this month approved a three-phase, big ski resort development project in the town of Johnsburg, Warren County that is being described as a public/private partnership between developers and the State of New York, which owns and operates Gore.
The public portion of the project includes reopening the town’s defunct Ski Bowl Park at Gore Mountain and installing a 3,500-foot quad chairlift, which will be built and operated by the Olympic Regional Development Authority.
Commissioners also approved new construction of a private resort complex on 432 acres of land beside the ski area owned by FrontStreet Mountain Development LLC, a company run by the Crikelair family based in Darien, Conn. The resort, to be called the Ski Bowl Village at Gore Mountain, will have five hotels and inns, 131 townhouses, 18 single-family dwellings, a private ski lodge, an equestrian center, a nine-hole golf course, restaurants and retail space.
According to published reports, FrontStreet project manager Mac Crikelair, when asked how much the developers were banking on state investments at Gore Mountain, said that, though they were planned together, the projects are separate.
But according to Michael Washburn, the Executive Director of the Residents Committee for Protection of the Adirondacks, the financial commitment on the state’s part remains unclear. Washburn suspects there is going to be a strong connection between state investment (at Gore) and the success of the project. He wonders if the role of the forest preserve should be to enable this kind of exclusive development.
There are some similarities between the Gore Mountain project and one proposed locally here in the Catskills by Crossroads Ventures. Like the Gore project, Crossroads proposal, called the Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park, would be linked to a State run facility, in this case the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center.
They are not similar, however, in their respective reviews. The Gore Mountain Project was submitted for review in 2006 and was approved in less than two years. The Belleayre Resort was first proposed in 1999 and review of the project is still going strong today, even after intervention by former Governor Eliot Spitzer, who signed a deal with the developers and environmental groups last year that called for a restructured project that includes a ski-in/ski-out connection to Belleayre.
There’s also the fact that the local project is located in the middle of one of the world’s leading watersheds, with its own body of permit processes to go through.
Judy Wyman, a Shandaken resident involved with several citizens groups opposing the Belleayre resort, said Monday that the Gore project review appeared inadequate.
“The APA’s decision is suspect. It seems the APA has approved the Ski Bowl Village project despite the fact that many environmental and socio-economic issues remain unresolved and could only be resolved through the adjudicatory process,” she said. “This is one of the largest ever in the Adirondack Park. Why has the APA required more rigorous reviews for significantly smaller projects while letting this one slide? Using state money to build and run facilities that primarily enhance a private development is an inappropriate use of the taxpayer’s money — just as it would be for Belleayre.”
Also questioned, by others, was both project’s sense of reality given new state budget policies being promoted by Spitzer’s successor, Govermor David Paterson, who this week called for a trimming of all commission budgets, including the DEC.
Previously, the state had to cut some of its expansion plans for Belleayre, in spite of supporters’ lobbying efforts. It remains to be seen how much farther the department will have to cut to meet the requirements of a shrinking economy...

Losing Jobs?
Unemployment in the Hudson Valley and Catskills regions rose by over one percent in March as compared to statistics from the same month of last year, the state Labor Department reported this month. Department analyst John Nelson said these are the highest unemployment rates in years.
“I think what you are seeing across the board is an uptick in the unemployment rate numbers for our region, which is no different,” he said. “This probably by far the highest March unemployment numbers in four years. The last time was in 2004.”
Sullivan County tops the list at seven percent unemployment, followed by 6.4 percent in Delaware County, by six percent in Greene County, 5.2 percent in Ulster County, five percent in Columbia County as well as the Dutchess-Orange metropolitan statistical area, and 4.5 percent in the Westchester-Putnam-Rockland area.
At the same time, Nelson said the Hudson Valley gained 3,400 jobs year over year in March for a growth rate of 0.5 percent. And despite the increased unemployment numbers, the Hudson Valley came in third out of 10 regions in the state in terms of low joblessness. Long Island and New York City were tied for first place and the North Country Region came in last.

Prom Ready?
Members of the Shandaken Police report the arrest of two Mt. Tremper subjects for allowing an underage drinking party to happen within their residence. Robert Kovacs Sr. and his wife, Cassandra Kovacs of 5472 Route 212 in Mt. Tremper were charged under the new County Law which prohibits the serving of alcohol to underage persons at a private residence. Shandaken Police responded to a reported fight in progress in front of the Kovacs residence. Upon interview of the subjects involved they were found to be intoxicated and under the age of 21. The Kovacs were issued appearance tickets returnable to Shandaken Court at a later date.
Meanwhile, a group of teens from the AWARENESS group including the Onteora Class President, Rose Hallinan are hoping to gain the interest of Onteora Seniors to go to the first in what they hope will be a traditional Safe After Prom Party. The Reservoir Inn in West Hurley has offered to host the event after the prom until 6:00 am. The group is currently looking for donations of food,deserts,prizes, lap tops, and a large prizem such as a trip or a car, the better to draw students the night of the event.
The organizers are also asking that anyone knowing any big name actors or bands that would be interested in stopping in to make for an exciting night contact Marie at 417-1483 or mslogger@aol.com or Rose at 679-1134 or www.hvinet.com/awareness.

Executive Race
Come November, Ulster County will be voting on its first County Executive. The field grew crowded this past week with a host of announcements, including two legislators, Chairman David Donaldson and Susan Zimet, who ran for State Senate last autumn; the village executive of Ellenville, and several gadflies.
Complicating matters, 13 Democratic Ulster County legislators have endorsed current county administrator Michael Hein for the job, including Robert Parete, Brian Shapiro, Richard Parete, and Peter Kraft from our neck of the woods.
Not yet announced for the position is state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill. Let’s see if he jumps into the swamp too…

Still Smart…
Governor David Paterson and Commissioner of Environmental Conservation Pete Grannis announced last week that $500,000 will still be made available to six communities in the Catskill Park to help local governments plan for sustainable development and make the best use of the natural resources in the region. The funding, previously announced as part of former Governor Eliot Spitzer’s Agreement in Principal for Dean Gitter’s Belleayre Resort plan, will be made available through the state Environmental Protection Fund for grants to promote “smart growth” programs in the Catskill Park following the successful launch of the program in the Adirondack Park. The grants will help communities implement sustainable projects that preserve the natural resources and cultural heritage of their communities while accommodating increased levels of tourism and related development. Smart growth can be used in rural areas to address some of the land-use issues facing the Park communities, such as workforce housing, aging infrastructure, water quality, economic development, open space protection and community revitalization. The grants will be administered by the Department of Environmental Conservation in partnership with the Department of State. The six grant recipients are: the towns of Andes, Middletown, Olive and Shandaken, and the villages of Fleischmanns and Margaretville. Proposals will focus on projects that have been identified in previous planning studies to protect the region’s natural resources and accommodate sensible economic growth by revitalizing existing village and town centers.
A minimum of $40,000 will be made available for projects in each of the six communities should eligible projects be submitted, and the remaining funds will be awarded based on competitive rankings conducted by DEC in consultation with DOS and other state agency staff. The fact that the grants have been officially re-announced seems to indicate current wishes that they be seen apart from the controversial AIP, which has not been officially discussed by the new Governor since coming into office last month.

Budget Aid
The 2008-2009 State Budget includes $15 million in flood mitigation funding. The money will be dedicated to projects aimed at addressing the massive and unprecedented flooding that has devastated the Catskill, Hudson Valley, Mohawk Valley and Southern Tier regions of the state in recent years. Ulster County will receive $2 million from the fund.
In February, a summit for state and local officials was held in Binghamton to explore issues regarding the repetitive devastating flooding that has occurred in various regions of the state over the last three years, threatening the safety of residents and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
It’s a start…
Also in the budget is $6.5 million for The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC), a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to integrate and harness the state’s vast financial, technical, scientific, academic and manufacturing capabilities to double the efficiency of solar technology. TSEC aims to dramatically reduce the costs of solar and thrust it into an atmosphere where it can compete and succeed in the traditional market as a clean, renewable, efficient and cheap source of power. The funding announced will allow the leaders of the project to offer incentives to solar companies if they pledge to relocate to the Hudson Valley and join the Consortium.

College Time!
The Onteora High School Guidance Department is hosting a College Admissions Workshop on Wednesday, April 30th at 7pm in the High School Chorus Room. Important information about post-secondary education and the college admissions process will be presented. This workshop is essential for college-bound Juniors and their parents. However, all Onteora High School students and their parents are welcome to attend. For further information, please contact the Guidance Department at 657-2373.

Want To Own?
Freddie Mac, a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing, has joined forces with Ulster Savings Bank and the Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO) to announce that they are working together to offer informative bilingual workshops to families in Ulster County interested in purchasing a home. Freddie Mac’s Get the Facts! workshops are designed to break down barriers of misinformation that keep many individuals from considering homeownership, and are offered in English and Spanish. Through the Get the Facts! workshops, participants are provided with straightforward information and advice about all aspects of homeownership, including costs associated with home buying and credit history requirements. The Rural Ulster Preservation Company will offer the free workshops. Representatives from Ulster Savings will participate in the workshops, explain how to qualify for a mortgage and take mortgage loan applications for families who are ready to purchase a home.
Freddie Mac, one of the nation’s largest residential mortgage investors, created the Get the Facts! workshops.
For more information about attending a Get the Facts! workshop, contact Vanessa Perez at the Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO) at (845) 331-9860 or visit their website at www.rupco.org.

Watery Futures
Humanity’s demands for energy and water supplies are on a collision course, new research suggests. It takes water to make energy - to cool power plants or process the fuels that power our cars. And it takes energy to get new water - to pump it to where it is needed, or to purify it for human use.
In a far-reaching analysis published in the British scientific journal Nature, scientists argue that water and energy development need to be coordinated or we will not have enough of both to meet humanity’s growing needs. They point out that the problem is already noticeable in water-scarce New Mexico. There, two big coal-fired electric power plants in northwestern New Mexico consume as much water as 150,000 typical Albuquerque households. A third plant proposed for the Four Corners area would add another 60,000 households’ worth of water consumption. A portion of that electricity is shipped to California raising questions about what occurs in the case of a drought.
Because of a loss of power plant cooling water, France lost 15 percent of its supply of electricity from nuclear power plants and 20 percent of the power it normally receives from hydroelectric dams during a drought in 2003, according to the report. Fears of similar problems arose during last year’s drought in Australia. Over the past two years, drought in the southeastern U.S. threatened the cooling water for 24 nuclear power plants. Without enough cooling water, the plants would have to cut their power output.
And the issue is not limited to generating electricity. Oil shale, one alternative to traditional oil for making gasoline and other liquid fuels, requires 2 to 5 gallons of water to make a gallon of oil-equivalent fuel, accord. And biofuels - irrigating corn or soybeans to process into ethanol or biodiesel - can take as much as a thousand times as much water as ordinary oil refining. The problem also works in reverse, with high energy costs for creating new water supplies. Desalination - the purification of seawater or brackish groundwater - takes five times as much energy as conventional water supplies, 10 times the energy in the case of seawater.
All of this is coming as global energy demand is rising - an expected 50 percent in the next two decades, according to Hightower and Pierce. Over roughly the same period, according to the report, demand for irrigation water globally will rise 20 percent and urban water demand will rise 40 percent.
Options for dealing with the issue include using low- or no-water energy sources like solar and wind power. There also are new approaches to cooling power plants that do not require water, and brackish water or seawater can be used for cooling. On the water side, purifying sewage so the water can be used again is a lower-energy alternative to desalination.
Stay tuned…

Olive Hardware?
Don Kenly, owner of the former Tongore Cafe building on Rt. 213 in Olivebridge has submitted a site plan for a proposed hardware store which will be discussed at the upcoming Town of Olive Planning Board meeting to be held on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 7:30 pm. The recent closing of the Creative Spirit gift shop has left Olivebridge with no stores at all. Only the post office is left and neighborhood residents seem to be uniformly welcoming of the new store. In decades past there were two general stores open at one time, one of which had a butcher shop. Other businesses lost have been the Creative Spirit gift shop which was run by Andrew and Nancy Sylvestri, a bar run by Larry Shurter called the Olivebridge Inn and the Motor Speedway race car track off to the left behind the town park in Olivebridge, also run by Larry Shurter of Samsonville.
Mr. Kenly was not available for comment on details of the proposed hardware store as of press time.

Student Loans?
Sallie Mae says it cannot write money-losing student loans indefinitely. Top executives are holding “daily deliberations” about just how long the nation’s largest student lender can afford to sacrifice its bottom line for the sake of college-bound Americans, Sallie Mae CEO Albert J. Lord said in recent weeks. Experts added that, unless the government intervenes or market conditions rapidly improve, Sallie Mae could have no choice but to stop writing new federally backed loans.
Sallie Mae lost $104 million in the first quarter as it grappled with higher borrowing costs, restructuring charges and other factors, though Lord said in a conference call with analysts that the company would not lower its full-year earnings target. And even though the majority of student loans are highly rated and carry a federal guarantee, investor demand for securities backed by these assets has plummeted - a sign of just how nervous investors are about securities backed by mortgages, student loans and other debt.
Bank of America Corp. has said it would stop private student loans, but continue offering government-backed loans. Citigroup Inc. also said its Student Loan Corp. subsidiary will temporarily stop issuing loans to students at schools where profits have not been satisfactory.
These market conditions come just months after a new law reduced government subsidies for federally guaranteed student loans, whose interest rates are capped at 6.8 percent. That situation has forced Sallie Mae, formally SLM Corp., to lose money on every federally backed loan it makes, testing Wall Street’s patience as around 60 other companies have exited the market for those loans, either permanently or temporarily.
More than 75 percent of federal student loans are issued by those lenders, which primarily raise money by bundling loans into securities sold to institutional investors.
Company executives said such assistance is urgently needed, particularly as students rush to file loan applications early, given concern about the availability of funding. “We don’t have weeks or months to resolve the solution,” said Jack Remondi, Sallie Mae’s chief financial officer. A bipartisan bill approved by the House would let the Education Department temporary authority to buy loans from student lenders to ensure their access to capital and would let the government advance federal money to companies that would operate as “lenders of last resort” if they run out of cash. But that’s if it doesn’t get vetoed by the President.

Local Mumps?
According to Ulster County Public Health Director Dean Palen, a pair of possible cases of mumps amongst students at the Woodstock Day School in West Saugerties has “absolutely been on our radar” in the weeks since they were first reported.
According to various sources, the two cases amongst elementary school students at the private institution, which runs from pre-school through 12th grade, sparked the quarantining of several students from the school who had not been immunized to the once-standard childhood disease. Parents were told that their kids could return to school if they took standardized MMR immunizations, routinely given now during infancy and around age 6.
Palen said on Wednesday, April 16, that he didn’t want to talk specifically about what was happening, or had happened, at the Day School until final lab results were released on the possible mumps cases the next day, April 17.
“It may yet turn out not to be mumps,” he said. “We’ve invested quite a bit of time into this and want to have our facts straight.”
Palen added that “some exclusions occurred on a preliminary basis” only among students who could not prove having been immunized.
He added that neighboring Onteora and Saugerties school districts had not been contacted about the possible mumps cases, or quarantines, because contagion of the disease could be isolated… and they wanted a clear diagnosis first. Yet he also admitted that mumps was a “reportable disease,” defined as those listed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as being “ofgreat public health importance” where any and all collection of statistics showing how often a disease occurs can be used “to determine trends and track disease outbreaks to help control future outbreaks.”
Later, Day School Headmaster Jim Handlin said that there was only one case that was confirmed, and she was back in school, all better. He added that the process of keeping the school body safe had been cumbersome, with much disinformation passed around amongst parents and in the community. Mumps, which causes swelling of the salivary glands, can occur at any age but is relatively uncommon amongst teenagers and adults, where some possibility of deafness, encephalistis and male sterility can occur. The time between being exposed to the virus and getting sick is usually 12 to 24 days. They are caused by a virus, which is spread from person-to-person by respiratory droplets (for example, when you sneeze) or by direct contact with items that have been contaminated with infected saliva. There is no regular treatment for the disease, whichis considered “self-limiting” and after running its course, leaves those who have had it immune to catching mumps a second time. In 2006, the state legislature mandated the creation of a statewide immunization registry for the purposes of collecting and storing mandated information on vaccinations administered to all persons less than 19 years of age. Under state education law, every child attending school is required to submit proof of immunizations against polio, mumps, measles, diphtheria, rubella, chickenpox, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pertussis, tetanus, and hepatitis B… unless parents put in writing a specific request for immunity to the immunization laws based on “sincere and genuine” religious beliefs.

Dump Repairs?
When queried about the seemingly slow progress on the Olive Transfer Station roof reconstruction project Berndt Liefeld said that “we are waiting for the steel building company to send out it’s estimator to quote a new roof structure for the Olive transfer station. The old roof collapsed under the extreme snow and ice of last winter. The insurance settlement should be enough to replace the structure.” He added; “the weather is clearing and we hope that the quotes will come in and work will start soon.”

Dem Ladies…
Candidates for the new County Executive position set for election in November were formally announced at the April 15 annual meeting of Ulster County Democratic Women in Kingston, according to the organization’s president, Julie McQuain. In the other business, Vice President Theresa Regan of Marbletown, Secretary Jo Ann Chamberlain of Woodstock and Member-at-large Meryl Kramer-Harrison of Olive were each reelected for two-year terms. The nominating committee was led by Leadership Development chair Elizabeth Murphy of Saugerties and included Issues chair JoAnne Myers, PhD, of Kingston and Susan Zimet of New Paltz. Rounding out the current Executive Committee are Treasurer Jane Ann Williams of New Paltz and Outreach/Membership chair Gail Kniceley of Rosendale. McQuain reported to the members on the events and activities of the previous year.
Ulster County Democratic Women (UCDW) is an independent, grassroots organization devoted to bringing more Ulster County Democratic women into the political process and electing well-qualified Democrats to public office at every level. Women and men are welcome as members. UCDW does not endorse candidates during primaries.
For more information about UCDW see the website at www.UCDW.org or attend one of UCDWs meetings held at 7 pm on the second Monday of each month at 292 C Fair Street in Kingston.

Food Threats
Rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability, the UN’s top humanitarian official warned recently after two days of rioting in Egypt over the doubling of prices of basic foods in a year and protests in other parts of the world. Sir John Holmes, undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, told a conference in Dubai that escalating prices would trigger protests and riots in vulnerable nations. He said food scarcity and soaring fuel prices would compound the damaging effects of global warming. Prices have risen 40% on average globally since last summer.
“The security implications [of the food crisis] should also not be underestimated as food riots are already being reported across the globe,” Holmes said. “Current food price trends are likely to increase sharply both the incidence and depth of food insecurity.”
He added that the biggest challenge to humanitarian work is climate change, which has doubled the number of disasters from an average of 200 a year to 400 a year in the past two decades.
As well as this week’s violence in Egypt, the rising cost and scarcity of food has been blamed for riots in Haiti last week that killed four people, violent protests in Ivory Coast, price riots in Cameroon in February that left 40 people dead, heated demonstrations in Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal, and protests in Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia.
Officials in the Philippines have warned that people hoarding rice could face economic sabotage charges. A moratorium is being considered on converting agricultural land for housing or golf courses, while fast-food outlets are being pressed to offer half-portions of rice.
Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, said “many more people will suffer and starve” unless the US, Europe, Japan and other rich countries provide funds. He said prices of all staple food had risen 80% in three years, and that 33 countries faced unrest because of the price rises.

War Debacle
The war in Iraq has become “a major debacle” and the outcome “is in doubt” despite improvements in security from the buildup in U.S. forces, according to a highly critical study published last week by the Pentagon’s premier military educational institute, the National Defense University, which has raised fresh doubts about President Bush’s projections of a U.S. victory in Iraq just a week after Bush announced that he was suspending U.S. troop reductions.
The report carries considerable weight because it was written by Joseph Collins, a former senior Pentagon official, and was based in part on interviews with other former senior defense and intelligence officials who played roles in prewar preparations. It was published by the university’s National Institute for Strategic Studies, a Defense Department research center.
“Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle,” says the report’s opening line.
At the time the report was written last fall, more than 4,000 U.S. and foreign troops, more than 7,500 Iraqi security forces and as many as 82,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed and tens of thousands of others wounded, while the cost of the war since March 2003 was estimated at $450 billion.
“No one as yet has calculated the costs of long-term veterans’ benefits or the total impact on service personnel and materiel,” wrote Collins, who was involved in planning post-invasion humanitarian operations. The report added that the United States has suffered serious political costs, with its standing in the world seriously diminished. Moreover, operations in Iraq have diverted “manpower, material and the attention of decision-makers” from “all other efforts in the war on terror” and severely strained the U.S. armed forces.
“Compounding all of these problems, our efforts there (in Iraq ) were designed to enhance U.S. national security, but they have become, at least temporarily, an incubator for terrorism and have emboldened Iran to expand its influence throughout the Middle East ,” the report continued. “For many analysts (including this one), Iraq remains a ‘must win,’ but for many others, despite obvious progress under General David Petraeus and the surge, it now looks like a ‘can’t win.’”
The report lays much of the blame for what went wrong in Iraq after the initial U.S. victory at the feet of then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld . It says that in November 2001, before the war in Afghanistan was over, President Bush asked Rumsfeld “to begin planning in secret for potential military operations against Iraq .”
The report also singles out the Bush administration’s national security apparatus and implicitly President Bush and both of his national security advisers, Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley, saying that “senior national security officials exhibited in many instances an imperious attitude, exerting power and pressure where diplomacy and bargaining might have had a better effect.”
Collins ends his report by quoting Winston Churchill , who said: “Let us learn our lessons. Never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. . . . Always remember, however sure you are that you can easily win, that there would not be a war if the other man did not think that he also had a chance.”

Nursery Sale
All of the left over garden material and retail inventory from the former Trail Nursery on Rt. 28 which is located in front of the new Boiceville sewer plant will be sold off by the Town Of Olive this Saturday, April 26th from 9-3pm. Mulch, peat moss, garden tools and more will help you dig into spring planting. All proceeds go to benefit the dog shelter run by Bev Stein. Cold refreshments will be served by Olive Supervisor Berndt Liefeld in the greenhouse, located near the Boiceville fire house. The nursery buildings and a little over an acre of land will be offered for sale to the public at a later date to comply with a stipulation contained in the sewer treatment plant agreement reached between the Town of Olive and the Catskill Watershed Corp. (CWC) that mandates the sale of any property in excess of that which is needed for the sewer plant itself. For more info call 657-8118.

Spying Again…
The Bush administration has said that it plans to start using the nation’s most advanced spy technology for domestic purposes soon, rebuffing challenges by House Democrats over the idea’s legal authority. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department will activate his department’s new domestic satellite surveillance office in stages, starting as soon as possible with traditional scientific and homeland security activities - such as tracking hurricane damage, monitoring climate change and creating terrain maps. Sophisticated overhead sensor data will be used for law enforcement once privacy and civil rights concerns are resolved, he said. The department has previously said the program will not intercept communications.
Democrats say Chertoff has not spelled out what federal laws govern the NAO, whose funding and size are classified. Congress barred Homeland Security from funding the office until its investigators could review the office’s operating procedures and safeguards. The department submitted answers last week, but some lawmakers promptly said the response was inadequate.
DHS officials said the responses are unwarranted.