Environmental Protection Agency Commissioner Carter Strickland today presided over the graduation of 26 new officers from the DEP's Environmental Police Academy.

The Academy, launched in 2002, is the first of its kind in the nation to provide training, experience, and concentrated course work in advanced environmental laws.

Graduates successfully completed 31 weeks of instruction during which they received intense training in counter terrorism, the environment, police science, the use of firearms, and defensive tactics.

DEP  officers protect the water supply of New York City as well as thousands of square miles of watershed lands in NYS.

OLIVE, N.Y. (AP) - The Town of Olive in the Catskill Mountains is the latest community in New York to ban to natural gas drilling using high-volume hydraulic fracturing.
    
More than 50 New York communities have enacted so-called fracking bans at the urging of residents who say the potential benefits aren't enough to risk polluting water supplies and endangering public health.
    
The state already bans the practice in Olive since it is inside the New York City watershed. But town officials told the Times Herald-Record of Middletown that they took the vote Tuesday night because they wanted to take a stand.
    
New York has had a de facto moratorium on shale gas development since it began an environmental review and regulatory process in 2008 to address the impacts of fracking.

Warm weather has arrived, that means more people are outside. One thing NYSEG wants everyone to remember is safety.

Some Safety Reminders :

Look up- Look Out- always carefully check your area for potential hazards like overhead powerlines.

Call 811 before you dig- You never know when there is a power line or gas main buried below.

Play it Safe- Parents should remind children to stay away from electrical equipment, substations, never climb utility poles, and never fly kites near power lines.

Water and Electricity don't mix- Keep power tools away from water, pools, rain, wet ground. Its a good idea to add GFCI's to outdoor outlets.

Trees near power lines- Get a professional to cut any trees near power lines.

Be Alert for gas leaks- Natural gas smells, may look like a white cloud, and may have a roaring noise associated with it.