Latest news with #environmentalissues
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
This California beach used to be filled with families. Now it's deluged with Mexican sewage
Imperial Beach, California, is a city with a dirty secret. There's a reason why nobody, beyond a determined bunch of early-morning surfers, ventures beyond its sandy beaches and into the sea. It's the same reason local restaurants source their fish from further up the coast, and residents keep their windows shut at night, even during the sweltering West Coast summers. The city, a short drive south of San Diego, is being polluted by billions of gallons of raw sewage flowing across the Mexican border every year. Its beaches have been forced to close, its air is being contaminated by pollutants hundreds of times above levels deemed safe, and locals are falling violently unwell. The issue is now a source of tension between the US and Mexico, and The Telegraph understands that Donald Trump has given a personal commitment to tackle it as the two countries attempt to negotiate a solution. When The Telegraph visited earlier this year, Tom Csanadi, a retired paediatrician, was looking out at the view from his home on the beachfront. To the north he could see the curve of the coastline as it arcs towards San Diego, and directly in front of him the blue of the Pacific Ocean, with an old wooden pier stretching a quarter-mile out to sea. Rising up on a hillside to the south, beyond the border wall, is the Mexican city of Tijuana, which even at a distance of a few miles seems to dwarf Imperial Beach. 'S--- flows downhill,' Dr Csanadi said. 'And we're downhill.' Tijuana is one of Mexico's fastest-growing cities, exploding in size since the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) came into force in the mid-1990s. But its development was too fast for the antiquated and neglected sewage systems on either side of a border, which were overwhelmed by the demands of a population that now numbers more than 2.3 million and is climbing ever higher. Instead, up to 80 million gallons of its waste is flooding into the Pacific Ocean and the cross-border Tijuana River every day. The river used to disappear during the dry months, from around June to September. But these days it is kept flowing by a cocktail of raw sewage and industrial chemicals, bearing viruses, bacteria and parasites into the US. Imperial Beach is bearing the brunt of it, and has become what some locals refer to as 'Mexico's toilet'. Dr Csanadi and his wife, Marvel Harrison, thought they had staked out their own share of paradise when they bought an undeveloped plot on the beachfront 10 years ago. Over time, it became a family home for them and their children – along with a pet chicken roaming outdoors called Daphne – and at the back of their minds, they thought they would be there for the rest of their lives. They don't think that any more. In the years since moving in, Dr Harrison, a psychologist, has developed a condition similar to asthma that has left her with a chronic cough and means she has to use an inhaler. There are some days when she can't walk on the beach because of the strain it puts on her lungs. 'We're a small town with a global problem,' she said, taking sips from a large mug of tea in her kitchen between barely-suppressed coughs. As for Dr Csanadi, he has developed an E coli infection that is resistant to antibiotics and regularly comes down with sinus issues. Accounts of chronic illness are common throughout Imperial Beach, where residents report cases of migraines, respiratory conditions, stomach problems, fatigue, skin infections and nausea. Authorities say hundreds of Navy Seals, training at the base a short distance up the coast, have developed gastrointestinal issues from contact with contaminated ocean water. The dead animals that regularly wash up shows the wildlife isn't immune either. A group of bottlenose dolphins found on a beach one summer were killed by sepsis caused by bacteria transmitted via urine or faeces, researchers at State Diego State University found. Most of Imperial Beach's population stays out of the sea, where access has been restricted for around three years. Warning signs instructing swimmers to stay away are planted in the sand every 20 feet or so. But people are falling ill anyway because the pollution is spreading through the air from the churn of the diseased river and crashing waves of the Pacific. Every night, somewhere between midnight and 2am, the city is enveloped by a strong smell. It can happen during the day as well, albeit less commonly, leaving locals prisoners in their own homes. Nobody can quite agree what the odour is: some compare it to rotten eggs, while others say it has a bitter chemical tang. To TJ Jackson, who lives along the beachfront, it simply 'smells like Tijuana'. The stench is the result of hydrogen sulphide emanating from the Tijuana River, according to Benjamin Rico, a PhD student studying the pollution at the University of California San Diego. Typically, hydrogen sulphide levels are below one part per billion (ppb), and California has set a safe limit for children and pregnant women at 7.3ppb. But Mr Rico shared research with The Telegraph showing hydrogen sulphide levels taken from one neighbourhood in Imperial Beach reached up to 4,500ppb. And it is just one of potentially thousands of pollutants being given off by the river, and spread over the rest of the county. At one pollution hotspot on Saturn Boulevard identified by Mr Rico, the sulphur smell is overpowering. Water pours out of a concrete pipe into an estuary, churning untreated sewage, chemicals and metals. Many of the nearby trees, their branches dipping low towards the water, are withered and black. The area was deserted, with the exception of a young boy who cycled past with a T-shirt clamped over his mouth and nose. Paloma Aguirre, the mayor of Imperial Beach, hit out at the response from Gavin Newsom, the California governor. 'He has not done enough,' she said. 'And it borderlines on gross negligence that he is actively refusing to help us, despite the overwhelming evidence pointing to the fact that we are really being harmed here. 'He hasn't done more than send a letter to [former US president Joe] Biden asking for more funding.' A spokeswoman for Mr Newsom said Ms Aguirre's frustration was 'misdirected' because sewage infrastructure was 'under federal and international jurisdiction'. She said the California governor had been a 'strong advocate' for Imperial Beach, and last year 'secured critical funding and support to address cross-border pollution from the Tijuana River while holding authorities accountable to expedited timelines'. 'We call on the Trump Administration to continue to fund repairs and complete infrastructure to protect public health and safety and end this environmental crisis once and for all,' she added. So far, locals are quietly optimistic about Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who visited Imperial Beach in April and declared the sewage crisis was 'top of mind' for Mr Trump. Mr Trump's administration submitted its plan to Mexico earlier this month, and the two governments are in the midst of thrashing out a deal that is expected to be concluded within weeks to upgrade sewage treatment facilities. 'We're literally going line by line on past agreements, and pressure testing everything to see what can be completed faster,' a US government source said. 'If it says five years, could it be done in two years? Could it be done in 100 days?' To date, Mexico is said not to have rejected any of Washington's proposals, and negotiations have been spurred along by both Mr Trump and Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican president, who are 'committed to solving this problem'. But the move comes too late for some Imperial Beach residents who have packed up and moved away, worn down by what they feel is years' worth of neglect from the government. Among their number is Serge Dedina, Ms Aguirre's predecessor as mayor, who suffered sinus, ear and stomach infections and whose son required urgent care when he fell violently ill after swimming in the sewage-infested waters. Ms Aguirre, however, plans to stick around and see what happens next to Imperial Beach. 'I can't leave – I'm the mayor,' she said. 'I go down with the ship. That's my responsibility.' The Mexican government has been approached for comment.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Leamington Spa fly infestation needs to be resolved
An MP has called for a public meeting with environment bosses to resolve a fly infestation and odour issue that has affected residents for more than two Western, Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington, first met constituents about the problem in September 2023, which many say originates from a recycling plant regulated by the Environment Agency (EA) near Leamington three years later, Western described himself as "beyond frustrated" that the issue recycling company and the EA said they were yet to find a substantial link between the odour and any site. People living in Heathcote and Whitnash, to the south of Leamington, have blamed the issues on a nearby recycling plant owned by Amcor, formerly known as Berry Circular recently raised their concerns in parliament with Mary Creagh, a junior secretary in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural said residents could not be "continuously dismissed" when there was "very obviously a problem" and added he was applying for an adjournment debate on the matter. Local residents have formed a Facebook group, Residents Against Pollution and Industrial Damage (RAPID), to encourage reports of flies and foul smells.A spokesperson said: "I don't know what our confidence levels are like, however I can say we are not giving up".They added Western had represented "thousands of residents" in the Commons and it was "a great way to get the message across". "It's about time the EA and the government looked at this," they added. 'Plant is compliant' An EA spokesperson said sites in the Leamington Spa area were "regularly inspected" and "operators made improvements where they were required". "We are committed to ensuring that people and the environment are protected," they added. Amcor said its Leamington Spa site was "compliant with the EA" and that it worked closely with the agency to make improvements. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Irish Times
13-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Residents near Dublin Airport to meet Minister for Transport over planning and environmental worries
Residents in the vicinity of Dublin Airport are to meet Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien to press their concerns around planning and environmental issues related to air traffic. Mr O'Brien has already met several aviation organisations and business groups and is due to continue engagements over the coming weeks. The Government is in favour of lifting Dublin's 32 million annual passenger cap and the Department of Transport is working on a new national aviation policy, which is expected by early 2026. [ Health cost of noise at Dublin Airport put at €800m Opens in new window ] The meeting on Wednesday with the St Margaret's The Ward Residents' Group is thought to be his first with community representatives. READ MORE 'We're all about proper planning and sustainability,' said its spokesman Liam O'Gradaigh. 'We want to make sure that the Minister is also wearing his Department of Environment and Climate hat – that he fully understands the health impacts associated with Fingal residents and east Meath and that he listens to us and that he follows proper planning.' New research suggests that noise levels at Dublin airport could have a health cost to residents living nearby. Video: Enda O'Dowd Mr O'Brien is also Minister for the Environment and many north county Dublin residents angered by developments at the country's main airport live in his Dublin Fingal East constituency. A spokesman for Mr O'Brien said the programme for government included a 'strong commitment' that relevant agencies would engage with communities affected by noise, flight movements and airport operations. The group will raise health concerns based on a report it commissioned from PMCA Economic Consulting, which claimed local aircraft noise brought a human 'health cost' of almost €800 million and causes cardiovascular issues for thousands. [ Living near Dublin Airport: 'The noise, it's overwhelming ... it penetrates through the whole house' Opens in new window ] They will appeal to Mr O'Brien's responsibilities in environmental policy and highlight a planning submission from airport operator DAA where modelling shows that raising the passenger cap from 32 million to 36 million people annually would increase CO₂ emissions by more than 276,000 tonnes in 2026. Other concerning issues on the group's agenda are its opposition to night-time flights, and the flight paths from the airport's second runway, which have caused considerable local disquiet since beginning three years ago. It will raise a planning submission from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to An Bord Pleanála that said it had assessed and approved instrument flight procedures (IFPs) relating to flight paths, but that this 'should not be confused with any suggestion that these specific IFPs were required by the IAA, or that the IAA thinks that they are the optimal flightpaths, whether from a safety perspective or otherwise'. About climate issues, the Minister's spokesman said the State strongly supports the policy objective of reducing aviation emissions. Measures would include aircraft technology and operations improvements, and the increased development of sustainable aviation fuels. In the Dáil last week, Mr O'Brien raised the issue of additional capacity at regional airports and said there was a need for an updated 10-year national aviation policy. The St Margaret's The Ward group believes it should have more involvement in its formulation. An update of the regional airports programme from 2026 to 2030 is also due. Mr O'Brien said that the current stay on Dublin's passenger cap, due to a related European Court of Justice case, will probably remain in place for most of 2026.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Yahoo
Antelope Valley residents say they are fed up with rampant dumping, official inaction
Eric Eller likes to ride his dirt bikes through the canyons, dry riverbeds and rocky outcroppings of the Antelope Valley in the high desert north of Los Angeles. Eller's an off-the-grid kind of guy with a "Mad Max" vibe — living in a house on a remote plot of land next to a jury-rigged trailer where he tinkers with the remnants and pieces of gutted automobiles, motorcycles and other mechanical debris. But Eller's isolation was obliterated last June when dozens of big dump trucks began snaking up the dirt road behind his house and discarding their loads into the nearby dry river canyon. The caravan of waste-haulers continued in the days that followed, often arriving after sundown or in the dark hours before dawn. Two months later, the convoys abruptly stopped. But not before the makeshift dump's surface had been camouflaged with dirt and mulch — much of which has since blown away, revealing a 30-foot-deep noxious stew of chopped-up concrete, plastic tampon applicators, faded plastic children's toys, toothbrushes, syringes, empty caulking tubes, two-by-fours, faded books, weathered Styrofoam pipe insulation, plastic bucket tops and more. Across the Antelope Valley, waste trucks are hauling garbage in from the Greater Los Angeles area and Central Valley towns such as Bakersfield, and then dumping it at makeshift sites. Letters, bills and envelopes visible at several of these waste sites in April showed addresses in Pacoima, Los Angeles and Van Nuys, among other cities. "Illegal dumping has been a problem in the Antelope Valley for decades," said Chuck Bostwick, a senior field deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents much of the area. "But it's gotten worse in the last two or three years, markedly worse." In some cases, such as the site behind Eller's home, the waste sites are flat-out unauthorized. No landowner has given permission to dump at the site, and the waste consists of construction, household and medical debris. But in others cases, the waste-haulers have the landowners' permission to dump — but are disposing waste that should be going to landfills equipped to handle household and industrial waste, lawsuits claim. In one lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, residents claim that major residential waste-hauling companies including Athens Services, California Waste Services and Universal Waste Systems are dumping hazardous substances without authorization. The suit claims these companies are disguising the construction and demolition debris as "green waste by unlawfully covering this waste with highly flammable wood chips and other organic waste." Eric Casper, the president of California Waste Services, said in an email that his company has "never engaged in dumping waste of any kind, at any time, in the Antelope Valley — legal or illegal. Nor anywhere else." Athens Services also denied any illegal dumping, saying in a statement that California's organics recycling law "encourages sending compostable material to third parties such as farmers and other property owners for beneficial use. This is the material that Athens Services produces and distributes." Universal Waste Systems and other companies named in the suit didn't respond to requests for comment, nor have they filed responses to the federal suit. Residents say there are more than 100 dump sites scattered throughout the valley — from Lake Los Angeles to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve and north to Mojave — that they contend are unauthorized. Some of these sites cover hundreds of acres and extend dozens of feet deep. And residents worry that what they can see — from the roads or their homes — is just the tip of a malodorous and malignant iceberg, and that there are probably dozens more they haven't yet identified. They complain they are plagued by the toxic, sour and rotten-egg like smells emanating from the discarded trash that cooks in the hot sun and then wafts across their properties. They also note that the flammable mulch and other materials in the dump, combined with a broiling desert sun, makes for an acute fire risk. Between 2020 and 2024, the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to 42 mulch or trash-related fires in the Antelope Valley, ranging from a quarter-acre to 22 acres, ultimately costing taxpayers roughly $1.6 million to extinguish, according to Los Angeles County documents. Ashley Mroz, who lives in the Antelope Valley community of Neenach, said a mulch-covered dump site spontaneously combusted near her home last summer. "It had been smoldering for days and days," said Mroz, one of the plaintiffs in the federal court suit. "We could not even go outside. The smell was so horrific." And the scourge has spread beyond the dump sites: Shredded plastic debris can be seen hanging from roadside Joshua trees and creosote bushes. While a midday view across the arid landscape reveals a sea of glimmering, reflective glass shards, like the tips of cresting waves over a vast, brown ocean. According to Antelope Valley residents and the federal suit, property owners in some cases have given permission — and received payments for — waste to be dumped on their land. Not only do these sites pose a nuisance to the neighbors who live adjacent to or near them, in some cases the material being dumped includes industrial and household waste that can leach into the groundwater. In its statement, Athens pointed out that property owners sometimes give permission to accept material from multiple waste companies. "To the extent there are any instances of noncompliant material, we are confident the evidence will demonstrate that it came from another source," Athens said. On a blustery day in April in the high desert town of Adelanto, local residents watched as two dump trucks offloaded their waste into a San Bernardino county-certified organic waste dump site that is surrounded by eight- to 10-foot high berms of mulch-like waste laced with shredded plastic, insulated wires and chopped-up, plastic children's toys. Through a break in the berm, the residents could see that the ground around the recently dumped haul glittered in the sunlight with broken glass, while stalks of what appeared to be insulated wires and rigid plastic stood sentry across the 138-acre expanse. Two men sitting in a silver GMC pickup truck who were watching the disposal drove over to the gawking residents. When the residents asked who they were and what the trucks were dumping, the men declined to answer and referred questions to the owner of the property, which The Times later determined to be Kevin Sutton, the owner of a company called Circle Green Inc. Sutton didn't respond to requests for comment. As neighbors and a Times reporter and photographer drove away from the site, the silver pickup followed for several miles, tailgating and swerving erratically. The truck turned around only when the small caravan came across a handful of heavily armed California Fish and Game law enforcement agents parked alongside the road. "It's the Wild West out here," said Kristina Brown, a Lancaster property owner who is a party to the federal suit. The Antelope Valley's proximity to Los Angeles and its vast stretches of wild desert make it a prime target for unauthorized dumping. Sitting at roughly 3,000 feet above sea level, and surrounded by the Tehachapi, Sierra Pelona and San Gabriel mountains, the valley is also divided by jurisdiction — with Los Angeles, Kern and San Bernardino counties all claiming some territory. "For decades, our illegal dumping was small-time stuff," said Bostwick, Supervisor Barger's field deputy. "It was somebody who had a sofa they couldn't be bothered to take to the dump or they didn't want to pay, so they dumped it out in the desert. There was commercial dumping then, but it was small time as well." But then the state's waste laws changed, he said. Starting in 1989, California began requiring municipalities to divert 50% of their waste away from landfill and toward more sustainable waste management solutions, such as recycling and compost. And as Bostwick noted, the vast open spaces of the Antelope Valley beckoned. In 2022, lawmakers implemented Senate Bill 1383, which initially mandated the diversion of 50% of all food and organic waste away from landfills, but increased to 75% on Jan. 1, 2025. Another 2020 law closed a loophole that had allowed waste companies to dump green waste in landfill, but not have it counted against them. As a result, the need for dumping grounds increased again. Cities, counties and towns that fail to meet the diversion rates risk fines of up to $10,000 a day. Residents, lawmakers and experts say while the spirit of these laws is noble, in many areas of the state, the infrastructure to handle the diverted waste is lacking — especially in Southern California, where there is not nearly enough farmland or water to handle the increased volumes of green waste leaving the region's cities and suburbs. As a result, waste companies and haulers — trying to keep costs down and maintain city contracts — are tempted to dump the waste wherever they can, while local governments are reluctant to crack down on violations, Bostwick said. State regulations have made "disposal much more expensive and hard to deal with, and so that's increased the financial incentives for companies or individuals to just dump illegally," he said. There's also very little enforcement. According to Los Angeles County data, while taxpayers spent roughly $1.3 million between 2017 and 2018 to mitigate illegal waste disposal in the region, that number jumped nearly fourfold in 2022-2023, when taxpayers had to foot $4.46 million to mitigate the problem. At the same time, the number of cases filed with the Environmental Crimes Division of the district attorney's office decreased from 15 in 2019 to three in 2023. In February, CalRecycle, the state's waste agency, finalized emergency orders they say should empower local law enforcement agencies to stop the illegal disposal. Previous regulations only allowed for action against the owner of land where the disposal was occurring. The new orders allow enforcement officials to target parties that are dumping the materials and the facilities that provided the material. The orders came after officials from the state agency came to visit the area in October 2024 — prodded by Brown, Mroz and other local residents, many of whom have spent years calling state and local officials about the problem. Enforcement of these orders, however, is the responsibility of the county, said Lance Klug, a spokesman for the state waste agency. "Local enforcement agencies can best speak to their enforcement actions to date, and any anticipated next steps, now that emergency regulations are in effect," he said. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted a measure last year requiring mulch suppliers to take back any contaminated or illegal waste dumped on private land. The measure, which was sponsored by Barger, also directed county agencies to require "stringent record keeping for all land application operations regarding the origin of all incoming loads and testing results from all mulch suppliers." County officials couldn't immediately provide numbers recently when asked how many enforcement actions had been taken. "There's literally no enforcement," said Brown, who worries that the situation is only going to get worse. Last month, Eller was riding his dirt bike when he stumbled upon a 60-acre expanse of freshly dumped construction debris, medical waste and compost on a plot of land miles away from any major road. The tire marks from dump trucks hadn't yet been blown away by the incessant gales of the high desert. No fences or berms were erected to contain the site, making it impossible to see from the road or along the horizon. He said it feels like they are living in a real-life game of whack-a-mole: As soon as he and his neighbors identify and report one site, the haulers move onto another. And they say they feel abandoned by regulators, who they say are doing nothing to stop it. "It feels like we're screaming into the wind," Brown said. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State lawmakers pass budget
May 8—ALBANY — The New York state budget has passed — lawmakers in the state Assembly and Senate wrapped up voting on the $254 billion state spending plan late Thursday night. In a series of nine bills, the state legislature and Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul agreed on a wide-ranging array of policy and spending goals, putting a billion dollars into environmental issues and funding public school districts at a record-high level, while also expanding the use of involuntary commitment to mental hospitals for people living on the streets and adjusting the rules around discovery in criminal trials. The legislature also moved to give Hochul near-unilateral power to cut up to $2 billion from the spending plan, with the legislature retaining the option to come back to Albany and reverse the cuts if they so choose. Albany flaks and lawmakers widely agreed — this year's budget process was a weird one. Speaker of the Assembly Carl E. Heastie said in February that the budget was among the best executive budgets he had ever seen, although he was only cautiously optimistic about negotiations on the final product. "The hell is in the details," the speaker said at the time. The state budget in Albany is frequently critiqued for being negotiated largely in private, between essentially three people; the governor, the Senate majority leader and the speaker. Sen. Mark C. Walczyk, R-Sackets Harbor, calls it "three Democrats in a room," frequently on social media. And for months, those three people and their staff members debated a handful of policy issues to be included in the state spending plan. Because the state budget requires that the governor initiate the legislation and court decisions have given the executive significant power over the budget, governor's for years have pushed their policy agendas mainly through the state budget process. Hochul has chosen to fight, this year, for changes to discovery rules, involuntary commitment to mental hospitals, a cell phone ban in schools, a criminal face mask ban, and an "inflation refund check," as well as a late-introduction ask for power to choose her lieutenant governor pick for the party primaries and an adjustment to the rules around hiring state prison security staff and early release for a limited group of incarcerated people. She was largely successful on those goals, although Hochul's efforts to get changes to the discovery rules was watered down by lawmakers last-minute, even as Hochul and her chief counsel outlined the final agreement as a win on her terms. That wasn't apparently the whole picture, and the ultimate legislation now in place falls far short of where Hochul and her team had outlined it on April 28. Hochul outlined a plan that would have essentially taken the dismissal of a case off the table as a penalty for when prosecutors failed to turn over evidence in a timely manner, and state rules on speedy trials were also being violated. But the language now in law keeps dismissal on the table in those cases — when a judge finds the prosecutors did fail to turn over evidence. But lawmakers did agree to language that would expand the use of involuntary commitment for people deemed unable or unwilling, because of mental illness, to provide for their own shelter, food, clothing or medical care. The state will also send $200 to $400 checks to about 8.2 million New Yorkers, a slightly watered down version of Hochul's "inflation refund checks" plan outlined in January. Her ask to cut the middle-class tax rate has also been deferred by a year. Democrats lauded the budget after it passed as a commitment to families and average New Yorkers. Heastie pointed to the inclusion, last minute and after Gov. Hochul had said it wouldn't happen, to pay off the state's roughly $7 billion debt to the federal unemployment system, largely left over from the pandemic which resulted in higher costs for businesses who pay into the unemployment system. "This budget invests in our people and in our state," Heastie said in a statement. "While the federal government proposes policies that are causing economic insecurity and worries about the future, we are fighting to support our small businesses, put money back into the pockets of hardworking families and invest in programs that will allow our children to reach their full potential. After it passed, state Republicans largely hammered the budget plan for its size, the policy inclusions and its tardyness. Assembly Minority Leader William A. Barclay, R-Pulaski, hammered the agreement in a statement. "Most of the policies that held up budget talks for more than a month represent small steps when comprehensive action was needed. Actions to address involuntary commitment, discovery reform and the statewide mask ban could have gone further, and hopefully they will do so in the future," he said. Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, had a more bipartisan take on the budget; he voted in favor of most of the appropriations bills and two of the policy-laden bills. He approved of the bills that increased school funding and enacted universal free school meals for legislators, as well as the bill that included a move to allow some school districts to delay the 2032 deadline to fully electrify their school bus fleets. Gray also said he approved of the discovery changes, which he said will help to streamline criminal cases and reduce the number of cases dismissed based on technical mistakes. He voted down on four of the nine budget bills, including the bill that allows for the closure of 3 state prisons next year, the mental hygiene law that expanded involuntary commitment, and the transportation, economic development and environmental protection. "While the overall budget is larger than I'd like, I won't vote 'no' just because my job is to do a deeper dive into these bills and see what they deliver for the north country and all New Yorkers," Gray said. "This budget is imperfect, but it includes important initiatives that benefit our communities. I supported the measures that responsibly invest in our future and opposed those that went beyond what I believe is prudent."
