ALBANY – State Senator Jen Metzger (D, Rosendale) has introduced legislation that would deny environmental permits to companies if corruption was involved in the permitting process, even if related to an earlier permit.
The CPV electric generating plant in the Town of Wawayanda is currently between air quality permits and awaits a decision by the state Department of Environmental Conservation on a Title 5 air quality permit.
The legislation authorizes the DEC to suspend or deny a permit if a company’s directors or officers have been convicted of a criminal offense relating to the permitting process that involved fraud, bribery, perjury, an offense against public administration, or conspiracy to commit any of those offenses, said Metzger. “This is is basically a bill that says corruption will not be rewarded in New York State and it’s really about making sure the public has trust in the permitting process,” she said. “And that trust was entirely undermined in the case of CPV.”
In 2018, Peter Galbraith Kelly, Jr., vice president for external affairs, was convicted for giving a low-show job to the wife of Joseph Percoco, a top aide in the Cuomo administration, during the permitting process for the power plant. Kelly was given a 14-month prison sentence for his role in the corruption case. Percoco was sentenced to six years in prison.
