Ethanol in the Finger Lakes?

Is it good for the environment? Is it good for the economy? Is it good for the residents of Seneca County? Give us an Environmental Impact Statement, and we'll give you our answer!!

Friday, June 8, 2007

Why We're Going to Court

Cilion/Empire Biofuels wants to build a massive 50 million gallon ethanol facility close to the shore of Seneca Lake. They also intend to take over 4700 acres of highly sensitive wildlife habitat, harvest biomass from this land, and burn it to fire their boiler. All this will generate uncertain levels of emissions and cause unknown levels of odor and noise. They intend to transport large amounts of material into and out of the facility, some of it highly hazardous, using local roads and a stretch of railroad running along the lake. Simple logic says that this will have large impacts on the natural environment, the quality of life, and the regional tourist economy.

Incredibly, on February 8, 2007, the Seneca County IDA issued a finding that stated: "The Project does not include the potential for a significant adverse environmental impact." On that basis, the project was allowed to proceed without an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), the only process which would have given the public a meaningful study of the impacts of a project of this scale. The Department of Environmental Conservation is on the record as stating that the decision not to require an EIS (the “Negative Declaration”) is NOT SUPPORTED by the available documentation, AND SHOULD BE RESCINDED!

It is for this reason that the Finger Lakes Future Alliance filed an “Article 78” petition on June 8, 2007, challenging the decision. We agree with the DEC that a proper assessment of the impacts of this project has not yet been made. The information submitted by Empire Biofuels in their initial application was full of errors, omissions, and misleading information. Instead of following the formal process required by the state's SEQRA law, the applicants have sought to allay public concern by running a series of newspaper ads and conducting a few slick public presentations, where they have used highly selective information to try to present their project in a favorable light.

A sales pitch is not an environmental review. Many members of the public remain concerned that, in the absence of a proper EIS, as required by law, we simply don't know what the real impacts of this project will be. There are good reasons why ethanol plants elsewhere have been subjected to the EIS process. Perhaps a handful of individuals stand to profit from this project, but we need to consider the larger interests of the county and the region as a whole. The Finger Lakes Area is a beautiful place to live, and has the potential to be an outstanding tourist destination with a diverse economy. Do we care so little about the future of this area that we will leave it to chance?

Posted by Finger Lakes Future Alliance

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Sign our Petition for an EIS

October 22, 2007

Our position from the beginning has been that the ethanol plant project in Seneca County needs an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The more we learn about this project, the more we realize just how essential this is.

The Seneca County Industrial Development Agency (SCIDA) sees its main role as promoting industrial development---especially industrial development that benefits members of the SCIDA themselves, their family members, and their friends and business associates. However, when the SCIDA saw to it they they were named "lead agency" under SEQRA, New York's environmental review law, they took on a legal obligation to defend the public by making sure any negative environmental impacts were identified and studied.

They have shown little interest in doing that. Despite overwhelming evidence that there would be huge environmental impacts, they issued a "negative declaration", and refused to require an EIS. In effect, they gave a free pass to a huge project with enormous giveaways of public lands and taxpayer funds. It would destroy a sensitive ecosystem and degrade air and water quality. There is little evidence that this project would benefit the public in any way. But there is overwhelming evidence that there would be serious negative consequences to the public.

But it's not too late.

Under the SEQRA law, the lead agency is not just permitted, but OBLIGATED, to rescind a negative declaration when it becomes clear that the scope of the project has changed, or new information has come to light. Both of those conditions clearly apply. The project as it is now discussed is different in many respects from the preliminary documents presented by the developers, which were used as a basis for the negative declaration. These documents were full of omissions and misrepresentations.

Will the IDA do its duty and rescind the negative declaration, and now require an EIS?

Maybe---but only if we hold their feet to the fire, and hold our public officials accountable.

That's where the petitions come in. Let it be known that we demand that the IDA do its duty and RESCIND THE NEGDEC!! We need an EIS for this project!

SIGN OUR PETITION:

There are two ways to express your support for Finger Lakes Future, and demand that the IDA do the right thing and REQUIRE AN EIS :

1) Click here to sign our petition on the Care2 website.

or

2) Email us at fingerlakesfuture@gmail.com and we'll add your name to our petition. Or, if you prefer, we'll send you a pdf of our petition, suitable for gathering written signatures.