Brian Nearing in The Albany Times-Union reports that the Thruway Authority does not want two Hudson Valley towns taking roles in the environmental review of the proposed Pilgrim Pipeline that would cross Albany, Greene, and Ulster counties on its way to New Jersey. Last week the authority wrote to the state Department of Environmental Conservation opposing requests by New Paltz and New Windsor in Ulster County from having a say in the project's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The project would create twin 178-mile pipelines between Albany and Linden, N.J., one carrying crude south from Albany, and the other carrying gasoline and other products north. New Paltz, New Windsor and more than two dozen other Hudson Valley towns have opposed the entire project and/or the Thruway Authority's involvement in the environmental review. Environmental groups opposing the project sent a letter March 25 to the New York State Thruway Authority and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, urging the agencies to suspend further review of the project to prevent waste of agency time and resources. They say the project is unviable, given the level of local government opposition to the pipelines expressed over the past year. Read the full story in The Albany Times-Union.