Larry Schwartz ? Fracking Hatchet Man

(He was fired because he said publicly that the DEC did not have the resources to monitor fracking.)

October 21, 2010 : ?Grannis said that Larry Schwartz, the governor?s top aide, called him about 4 p.m.?Wednesday to demand his resignation over the memo becoming public.?Here I am being called on the carpet for doing what we were supposed to do, for being?asked to tell the administration what the cuts they want meant,? Grannis said.??Apparently facts don?t sit well with this administration.? Posted on?October 21, 2010:
Pete Grannis, the commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation since 2007, was fired Thursday by?Gov. David Paterson. A state source said it was due to ?poor performance and insubordination.?A?front-page story?in Tuesday?s Times Union described one likely cause: the leak of a?memo?sent by DEC to the Budget?Division that laid out in stark terms the possible consequences of the planned layoffs of more than 200 agency employees.

The unsigned, undated memo warned that fewer polluted sites would be cleaned up, fewer regulators would be available?to oversee the potential natural gas drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale, and stocking of game fish could halt.

In order to avoid cuts to programs that protect human health or address immediate environmental damage, the memo?suggests the most logical places for deep cuts would be outdoor recreation and sports ? including skiing, fishing, hunting,?camping and hiking.

?Many of our programs are hanging by a thread. The public would be shocked to learn how thin we are in many areas,? the?memo stated. ?DEC is in the weakest position that it has been since it was created 40 years ago.?

Paterson spokesman Morgan Hook confirmed the dismissal but would not comment. DEC spokesman Yancey Roy also?declined comment.

A long-serving former Assembly member from Manhattan, Grannis was appointed to the top job in DEC by former Gov.?Eliot Spitzer in 2007. Grannis??bio on the DEC?s website?notes that he began his career in public service at the agency in?the early 1970s, when he worked as a compliance counsel.

Update:?In an interview Thursday night with TU environmental reporter Brian Nearing ? who wrote the article on the?leaked memo ??Grannis said that Larry Schwartz, the governor?s top aide, called him about 4 p.m. Wednesday to demand?his resignation over the memo becoming public.

?Here I am being called on the carpet for doing what we were supposed to do, for being asked to tell the administration?what the cuts they want meant,? Grannis said. ?Apparently facts don?t sit well with this administration.?

Grannis protested that the memo was not leaked with his knowledge, and left two telephone messages with Paterson, one?Wednesday evening and another Thursday morning, seeking a chance to make his case.??Larry Schwartz said the?governor would not talk to me,? Grannis said.

Calling Schwartz a ?hatchet man? and a ?thug,? Grannis released a harsh email exchange between himself and Schwartz?during Wednesday and Thursday.

In one email, Schwartz wrote, ?Avoiding me is not going to change the outcome. Either you cooperate with regards to your?resignation or a release will go out saying you have resigned by the end of the day. All the calls that you are having people?make is not going to change the decision. You can either do this in a cooperative fashion or a hostile fashion. That is up to?you.?

Schwartz followed that with an email that stated, ?It?s unfortunate that you have not contacted me tonight as we discussed in?my office earlier today. This is to remind you that you are not to report to work tomorrow. If I don?t hear back from you by?10am tomorrow a press release will go out without your input. Failure to comply with this request and what I discussed with?you today will result in your immediate termination tomorrow morning and the press release will reflect that.?

Grannis countered on Thursday:

In response to your ultimatums (set forth below), I will not resign from my position. As you know, I would have liked to?discuss this with Governor Paterson directly, and was surprised that you would not permit me to speak with him. Your?suggestion that I am being fired because a memo outlining the consequences of further cuts to DEC (which I was asked?to provide), leaked to the press, is absurd. I?m not concerned about the threat in your note that this will move forward in?a ?hostile fashion.?

Grannis said Schwartz was using him ?as a very convenient excuse? after a number of environmental groups and others?began calling Paterson?s office after the layoff memo became public. He said he was not sure what he was going to do?next, but he did note that because he was fired, that state ethics laws prohibiting his appearance before agencies that he?was involved with as DEC commission would not apply.

The same Larry Schwartz resurfaces:

http://www.ewg.org/report/top-cuomo-aide-s-oil-and-gas-holdings-raise-questions-impartiality-ny-fracking-debate

Top Cuomo Aide?s Oil and Gas Holdings?Raise Questions of Impartiality in N.Y.?Fracking Debate

Categories
Fracking
Oil & Gas
By By Dusty Horwitt, EWG Senior Counsel, and?Thomas Cluderay, EWG Assistant General Counsel,?September 2012

By Dusty Horwitt, EWG Senior Counsel, and Thomas?Cluderay, EWG Assistant General Counsel

As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo nears a decision on whether to lift the?state?s moratorium on shale gas development, filings with the state ethics?commission reveal that one of his top advisors may be in a position to benefit?personally from the outcome.
An investigation by the Environmental Working Group found that Lawrence?Schwartz ? who has the title of Secretary to the Governor and is?considered??the ringleader? in the governor?s office in part because state deputies and?commissioners report to him ? has a history of investing in oil and natural gas?companies. Since 2009, Schwartz has reported investments in several?companies engaged in shale gas development, including one he identified as??Mobile Exon,? apparently a reference to Exxon Mobil Corp. Exxon Mobil has?a?direct interest in Cuomo?s decision?through its subsidiary, XTO Energy,?Inc., which holds leases for natural gas drilling in New York?s portion of the?gas-rich Marcellus Shale. Schwartz also reported financial interests in a firm?or firms he identified variously as ?Williams Co.? and ?Williams Companies,??apparently references to The Williams Companies Inc., an oil and gas pipeline?firm that has a general interest in the Marcellus formation that underlies?large portions of New York and other eastern states.
Gov. Cuomo is said to be close to a decision whether to allow high-volume?hydraulic fracturing, or ?fracking,? and horizontal drilling for natural gas in?portions of the Marcellus Shale. The New York State Joint Commission on?Public Ethics?urges?state officials to avoid personal investments in companies?that would create ?substantial conflict? between their duty to serve the?people of New York and their private financial interests.

Financial disclosure records obtained from the commission show that?Schwartz, who served as secretary to former Gov. David Paterson and?continues to hold that position under Gov. Cuomo, has three times reported?holding investments in gas and oil companies.

??In 2009, Schwartz reported investments of at least $1,000 each in??Williams Co.? and ?Burlington Res.? (Under state law, public officials must?identify companies in which they have investments of $1,000 or more but are?not required to report the exact value of their holdings or the income they?produce.) The?Williams Companies?operates gas and oil pipelines and related?infrastructure across North America. ?Burlington Res? appears to refer to?Burlington Resources, an energy exploration and production company with?worldwide operations. It was acquired in 2005 by ConocoPhillips Co., one of?the world?s largest oil and gas producers, in an effort to expand operations in?Texas? Eagle Ford shale, ?one of the best shale plays in the?country,?according to?a ConocoPhillips executive quoted on the company?s?website.

??In 2010, Schwartz reported income in excess of $1,000 each from?investments in ?Mobile Exon,? ?Occidental Petroleum? and ?Williams?Companies?; he also listed common stock holdings exceeding $1,000 each in??Occidental Petroleum? and ?Williams Companies.??Occidental Petroleum?is?a global oil and gas exploration and production company.?Exxon-Mobil?Corp.?s website boasts of being the ?world?s largest public natural gas?producer.?

??In 2011,?Schwartz reported income in excess of $1,000 each from?investments in ?Mobile Exon,? ?Occidental Petroleum? and ?Williams?Companies?; he also listed common stock holdings exceeding $1,000 each in??Occidental Petroleum? and ?Williams Companies.?

These disclosures raise new questions about whether Gov. Cuomo?s pending?decision on shale gas drilling will be fair, transparent and science-based, as?he has promised. EWG previously?reported?that New York regulators gave?drilling companies exclusive access to draft regulations for shale gas drilling?weeks before sharing them with the public. EWG and New York-based?Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy have alsohighlighted?serious flaws in New York?s draft drilling plan, which downplays or overlooks?risks associated with shale gas drilling.

EWG left a message with Schwartz?s office on Sept. 4, asking for comment?on Schwartz?s financial disclosures. On Sept. 10, EWG talked to Schwartz?s?assistant and asked whether Schwartz still has investments in any of the oil?and gas companies listed in his disclosures, and if so, how much money he?has invested in each. EWG has not yet received a response.

Exxon Mobil Corp., which Schwartz appeared to list in his financial?disclosures for 2010 and 2011, has a direct interest in shale gas drilling in New?York through its $31 billion purchase of XTO Energy, Inc. in 2009. ?At least as?early as 2008, XTO purchased leases for oil and gas drilling in New York?s?Marcellus Shale, paying $90 million to buy leases from a 300-member?landowner coalition in Broome and Delaware counties,?according?to the Press?& Sun Bulletin of Binghamton. In August of this year, The Philadelphia?Inquirer?reported?that the company inked a $110 million deal with a 500-member landowner coalition in New York and currently holds leases on?43,000 acres in Broome and Delaware counties. Last year, XTO?sought?to?force reluctant landowners to extend their leases in New York, arguing that?New York?s moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing and horizontal?drilling had deprived the company of the ability to develop the natural gas?during the original term of the leases.

The Williams Companies, which Schwartz appeared to list in various ways in?his disclosure reports for all three years, may also have a direct stake in the?pending decision to lift New York?s moratorium. In recent filings with the?U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, The Williams Companies?told?investors that in February 2012 it acquired 100 percent ownership of a natural?gas pipeline known as the ?Laser Gathering System,? which includes ?10?miles of gathering lines in southern New York? as ?a strategic platform to?enhance our expansion in the Marcellus Shale.? (Gathering lines are typically?smaller pipelines that connect gas wells to processing facilities and larger?pipelines.) The?Associated Press?recently reported that Williams Companies?has proposed a $750 million pipeline known as the ?Constitution Pipeline??that would run from Pennsylvania?s Susquehanna County through New York?s?Broome, Chenango and Delaware counties to connect with existing pipelines?in Schoharie County. Broome, Chenango and Delaware counties are part of??the portion of the Marcellus Shale most likely to produce gas,? according to?the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in its draft?drilling plan.

The Williams Companies currently?operates?a 10,000-mile pipeline system?carrying natural gas from south Texas to New York City. It has proposed to?expand pipeline operations into the city, which has generated local concern?in part because of the company?s safety record. On Aug. 29, The?New York?Times?reported that ?since 2008, the company?s pipelines have had accidents?? including leaks, ruptures and explosions ? in at least seven states? A?company spokesman said that all the issues raised by the accidents had been?addressed.?

Burlington Resources and ConocoPhillips, the other oil and gas companies?that appear to be listed in Schwartz?s disclosure filings, do not seem to have?a presence in New York, but both are pursuing shale gas exploration and?development elsewhere in the United States and could make a play in New?York if Cuomo lifts the moratorium. The debate over Gov. Cuomo?s pending?decision has attracted nationwide interest because allowing shale gas drilling?in New York could benefit oil and gas companies generally by signaling to?regulators elsewhere that the drilling is safe. Opponents argue that many?important safety questions remain unanswered, such as how drilling?companies will dispose of millions of gallons of toxic wastewater.

If the oil and gas companies gain from Cuomo?s decision, Schwartz could?stand to gain, too.

Source: http://blog.shaleshockmedia.org/2012/09/13/larry-schwartz-fracking-hatchet-man/

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