Tuesday, September 16, 2008
(315) 798-5800
Picente
Slams NYRI Silence
Oneida County Executive Anthony J.
Picente, Jr. today criticized New York Regional Interconnect for its lack of
response to his challenge that top NYRI officials visit
“When an elected official representing thousands of people who would be
impacted by this project asks for a meeting with a real person, and not a
blizzard of press releases, we are met with silence,” said Picente, who
noted that only two days after the state had ruled NYRI’s application was
complete, the company was mailing local officials to tell them the news and
urge officials all along the route to o support the project. However, when
Picente responded to an NYRI mailing on Sept. 9th asking for a
meeting, a week has passed with no answer or acknowledgement. “When they
want to tell one side of the story, they generate all sorts of
communications. When you challenge them to have an honest, open dialogue,
there is no response.”
“The silence from NYRI in response to my letter speaks louder than
words,” Picente said. “If they cannot come here and look me in the eye
– and look the people of Clayville, South Utica, and Waterville in the eye
– and tell us about the supposed benefits of this project, that should
tell the state Public Service Commission, the federal Department of Energy
and everyone else at every level who will review this project that NYRI has
no interest in being the good citizen it likes to portray itself. NYRI’s
game is clearly to bury the state and federal regulators with paper, send
out press releases and form letters with unproven claims, and duck the real
issue – the damage this project would cause to the communities targeted
along the proposed route. For a project of this magnitude, with the damage
it would do to dozens of communities along its route, the fact that NYRI
refuses to talk to the people it wants to ride roughshod over should count
against the project when the PSC reviews the application.”