March 31, 2004
American Lung Association of New York State
Environmental Advocates of New York
Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks
Sierra Club – Atlantic Chapter

Public Health and Environmental Groups Give Governor Pataki’s Snowmobile Plan for the Adirondacks a Failing Grade. Call on Governor to Require Study of Pollution Pumped Out by Machines.

Albany – NY Today public health groups and environmental advocates joined with noted toxicologist Dr. David O. Carpenter, M.D. of the Albany School of Public Health, to present information showing that the Draft Comprehensive Snowmobile Plan for the Adirondack Park, released by the Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) fails to consider the air and water pollution caused by snowmobile use in the Adirondack Park.

"The State of New York has made no effort to examine the air pollution or water pollution, or impacts on wildlife from snowmobile use. The Department of Environmental Conservation has made no attempt to calculate the number of riders on a given trail on a winter weekend. This is important information that needs to be analyzed and provided to the public," said Peter Bauer, Executive Director of the Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks.

To prove their point, the groups presented information on snowmobile emissions analyzed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Reports by snowmobile manufacturers of actual emissions from their 2004 four stroke models show that emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons increased over 2002 four stroke models.

“Small engines can wind up being big polluters effecting the health of those forced to breathe the emissions,” said Peter Iwanowicz, Director of Environmental Health for the American Lung Association of New York State. “Since these emissions can create dangerous health impacts, we need Governor Pataki and his administration to do a much better job assessing the pollution pumped out by snowmobiles.”

“The Snowmobile Plan assumes that snowmobiles will be getting cleaner. Real world data show that the Arctic Cat and Polaris four stroke machines – the cleanest running snowmobiles on the market – are getting dirtier. We shouldn’t trust our lungs or our environment to assumptions. DEC needs to gather the information necessary to decide if snowmobile pollution is a threat first, before they plan to increase snowmobile use and corresponding pollution,” said John Stouffer, Legislative Director for the Sierra Club – Atlantic Chapter.

Residents of the Park who live in areas with heavy snowmobile use say that snowmobile exhaust creates definite pollution problems.

John Nemjo, President of Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company in Inlet, NY spoke about the air quality in Inlet on weekends during snowmobile season. “When weather conditions are right you get a haze that hangs in town and the smell is inescapable. I can’t believe that the DEC says that there is no problem with snowmobile pollution. It’s like they don’t want to do air monitoring because they are afraid of what they might find.”

The groups also claimed that the Snowmobile Plan does not meet the standards of the State Environmental Quality Review law. The State Environmental Quality Review law requires that state agencies take a hard look at all likely environmental impacts and then avoid or mitigate the significant adverse impacts to the fullest extent possible.

“In the Snowmobile Plan, the state fails to take any look, let alone a hard look. This agency is charged with protecting our air, water and the irreplaceable wild beauty of the Adirondack Park,” said David Higby, Adirondack Project Director, Environmental Advocates of New York. “They have really let all New Yorkers down with this plan.”