Jim Planck is reporting in The Daily Mail in a unanimous vote Tue., Dec. 1, the Catskill Town Board has decided to formally oppose a request by the New York State Thruway Authority to act as lead agency in the environment review of the Pilgrim Pipeline proposal. Catskill follows the Ulster County towns of Plattekill, Rochester, Saugerties, Marbletown and New Paltz to oppose the Thruway Authority's request. Prior to the vote, the board heard from property owners affected the construction itself, or the potentially lower real estate values resulting from the pipeline's presence. The conversation focused on concerns that the Thruway Authority is not the appropriate agency to conduct an assessment of the plan's environmental factors. It was also noted the Thruway Authority has a financial interest in the project it is seeking to review. The proposed 178-mile pipeline would move Bakken crude from Albany to Linden, N.J., through Albany, Greene, and Ulster counties, and send refined crude back to Albany, largely along the I-87 corridor. In Greene County, the proposed project veers east of Route 9W west of Sleepy Hollow Lake in Athens, and then back near the interstate around Leeds-Athens Road. After Catskill, the pipeline veers west of the interstate briefly around Cauterskill Road. Read the full story in The Daily Mail.