Norlite

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has opened investigations into a pair of incidents at the Norlite facility in Cohoes.

The Cohoes Housing Authority Staff and Board of Commissioners says it has received approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to relocate residents of Saratoga Sites and demolish the complex.

Activists rallied Saturday outside the governor’s mansion in Albany to demand the shutdown of the Norlite plant in Cohoes.

A new report from the American Lung Association finds that air quality has worsened in the Albany metro area.

Activists say respiratory cancers have been linked to dust emanating from the embattled Norlite plant in Cohoes. The company disputes the claims, while the city mayor says more study is needed.

Activists say the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation is allowing the Norlite plant in Cohoes to continue operating despite violations of cease-and-desist orders.

Commissioner Basil Seggos was in Plattsburgh to speak at the Quebec-New York Transportation-Aerospace Rendezvous. While there, he sat down with WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley for a wide-ranging interview.

Under local and state scrutiny, a public letter from Norlite on its “community” website has attracted the attention of Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler.

The initial path has been cleared for the city of Cohoes to purchase the Saratoga Sites public housing complex. But there is still a long journey ahead.

The future of a public housing complex at the center of a local environmental battle in Cohoes could soon be determined.