Environmental Impact Study Urged By Douglas C. Knipple Daily Messenger Posted Mar 02, 2009 @ 10:29 AM Geneva, N.Y. - Between the Ontario County Landfill in Stanley and the Seneca Meadows Landfill in Waterloo, 9,000 tons of garbage is trucked into the northern Finger Lakes every day. It comes from New England, New Jersey, the New York City area and Pennsylvania. Our region has become the garbage capital of New York state.
As if this situation were not bad enough, with hundreds of 18-wheelers hauling trash through our towns and villages, and the smell of the Ontario County Landfill occasionally wafting downwind to the western shore of Seneca Lake, the Ontario County Board of Supervisors is now moving forward with a plan to build a waste-to-liquid fuel gasification plant at the Ontario County Landfill. If it's built, we would have the first commercial facility of its kind in the United States here in the Finger Lakes. The county, as lead agency in the State Environmental Quality Review process, has made a declaration of "no significant environmental impact" for the proposed gasification pilot plant, with no apparent independent analysis or input from scientific authorities. The short Environmental Assessment Form the county submitted to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, in lieu of a full environmental review, fails to address significant technical, environmental, and public health aspects of this unproven technology. Among the unsubstantiated claims in the form is the unbelievable assertion that the proposed plant would produce no hazardous air emissions. We strongly urge the county to rescind its Negative Declaration and allow a full environmental impact study incorporating independent scientific analysis of the potential risks and impacts to county residents before any aspect of this project is initiated. We also urge concerned residents and, especially, our elected representatives on the Ontario County Board of Supervisors, to attend a lecture by Dr. Paul Connett, a world renowned waste expert and chemist, who will speak about sustainable solutions to waste management at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, in Albright Auditorium on the campus of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva. Finger Lakes Zero Waste Coalition, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to promote sustainable waste management practices. We support recycling and effective waste reduction strategies. We are dedicated to protecting our environment, protecting the health of our families, protecting our property values and quality of life, and practicing good stewardship of public money and resources. Douglas C. Knipple president Finger Lakes Zero Waste Coalition Geneva Here's a link to this article: http://www.mpnnow.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x617073721/Environmental-impact-study-urged _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
