Questions Prove That More Answers Are Needed

City Council met Wednesday night (2/20) to discuss several issues (you can find the agenda here). The one that dominated the meeting, however, was the consideration of a resolution about stewardship of Seneca Lake’s water quality and the air quality in the Finger Lakes. In absence of a regionally coordinated agency, the Seneca County Industrial Development Agency (SCIDA) took charge of the environmental review process for the proposed biofuels production facility on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake. This ethanol plant is one part of a larger redevelopment plan for the former Seneca Army Depot. The plant investors have produced a statement of potential impacts that detailed the water consumption, treatment, discharge, air emissions, increased truck and rail traffic to the site and other considerations. Clearly, the plant is a major construction project requiring several environmental permits to operate, from agencies like the state Department of Enviromental Conservation (DEC) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Projects of this magnitude require that the lead agency (in this case, SCIDA) gauge the potential environmental impact and make a determination. According to DEC (read it for yourself here) the lead agency can either say that the project has little or no environmental significance; or that it has the potential to have environmental significance. It’s an either/or choice, no middle ground. The DEC website provides examples of projects that would be classified ‘insignificant’, they include residential home construction, swimming pools, and garages. The investment group’s own environmental engineering study, a document weighing several pounds, provides insight into several potential environmental impacts. This is clearly not your typical neighborhood construction project. So, it seems that the SCIDA would issue a ‘positive declaration’, meaning that an Environmental Impact Statement would be required. To be clear, the issuance of such a declaration is not a statement about the project itself. Just like our City required an EIS of Guardian Industries, but still welcomed the business with open arms and financial assistance, so too could the SCIDA move ahead with the biofuels plant while still conducting the environmental review. By doing so they fulfill their dual-obligation: to serve the public by improving the economy and to serve the public by maintaining a decent quality of life.

Instead, the SCIDA issued a negative declaration, stating that the project has little or no environmental significance. As you can imagine, this was cause of great concern to residents around our lake. We all draw drinking water from Seneca Lake, and we’d all like our air quality to be well-monitored for any potentially hazardous emissions. So, a petition was filed with the Geneva City Council requesting that council pass a resolution asking SCIDA to rescind that negative declaration. At this point, SCIDA could rescind its finding and ask the investors to work with the regional representatives to produce the Environmental Impact Statement according to DEC guidelines. The project planning would proceed as the review happened, but the public would be allowed to review, comment on, and ask questions of the developers regarding the controls in place to prevent the discharge of contaminants into our living environment.

A gaggle of hired experts and government officials showed up to urge Council NOT to pass the resolution, including an engineer and a consultant paid by Empire Green Biofuels, the head of the Seneca County IDA, an IDA board member, and a representative of Finger Lakes Railway, the company that will transport the fuel that is produced at the site. They unfortunately portrayed the resolution as a vote against the plant, which it clearly was not, and chastised the Council for ‘meddling’ in the affairs of its neighbor.

Although the resolution had overwhelming support from council just two weeks ago, when it was added to the agenda for action, that support was chipped away by the plant’s investors. Councilor at Large Ron Alcock and Second Ward Councilor Paul D’Amico agreed that we shouldn’t get involved in Seneca County business, ignoring the fact that the project involves truck traffic, railroad cars, airborne emissions, water supply issues, and other concerns directly effecting Geneva. Alcock went on to speculate, citing no evidence, that the region’s lakeside wineries may “pollute” the lake more than an ethanol plant would.

In the end, the motion was tabled to give council more time to familiarize themselves with the issue and communicate additional questions or concerns to the Mayor. It seems, at Councilor Greco’s suggestion, that Council will identify their main environmental concerns and discuss mitigation strategies with SCIDA officials. This is a good idea, but it should occur in addition to and not instead of the state-mandated Environmental Impact Statement.

We still hope that the March 5th meeting will bring a change of heart to some of the resolution’s opponents, and we also hope that some of the issues raised during the discussion will be addressed. Perhaps most importantly, Geneva could take the lead in strengthening regional partnerships around Seneca Lake for the protection of water and air quality. There is always competition for economic development, but counties should not race each other to the bottom when it comes to environmental oversight. Companies looking to relocate to the Finger Lakes need to know that we’re happy to have them so long as they understand we have clear standards that are equitably applied to protect the very resources that make the area desirable in the first place!

The image above appears on the website of the plant developer.