Opponents of Finger Lakes trash incinerator bring battle to Albany
ALBANY - Opponents of a proposed Finger Lakes trash incinerator took their battle to the state's capital city Tuesday in hopes of convincing Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration to stand in its way.
Circular enerG LLC, a Rochester-based startup, is hoping to build a huge, $365 million waste-to-energy facility in the Seneca County town of Romulus between Seneca and Cayuga lakes.
The facility, which would rise 180 feet from the ground, would burn trash to create steam and produce energy.
The company is seeking approval from a rarely used state siting board to approve the facility amid fierce local opposition from Romulus town officials and activists, which made it clear town approval wasn't likely.
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On Tuesday, Seneca Lake Guardian, an environmental group, joined with a winery owner and Romulus residents to hold a news conference calling on Cuomo's administration to block the company's plans, which haven't yet officially been filed with the state siting board.
"This project would destroy our momentum in building an agritourism destination," said Nancy Irelan, co-owner of Red Tail Ridge Winery in Penn Yan, Yates County. "It would send our community backward and undermine the financial commitments that many of us have made, including Governor Cuomo, to build an ecologically sound future for everyone here."
She continued: "We do not want to be the garbage capital of the United States."
Circular enerG is looking to build the incinerator on a 48-acre parcel at the former Seneca Army Depot.
The company originally sought a special-use permit from the Romulus planning board but shifted strategy as opponents began to organize against the plant.
Now, the company is seeking state approval through a 2011 law that allows a state siting board composed of five state agency heads and two town residents to decide whether to approve a new power plant.
The process, however, is rarely used, with the first major project just approved last month. And it's never been used for a waste-to-energy facility like the one proposed.
Alan Knauf, Circular enerG's Rochester-based attorney, criticized the opponents of the project, accusing them of "living in the past."
"They're really saying we'd rather have landfills than energy-producing, environmentally sound waste-to-energy, which people are doing in Europe, in Florida," Knauf said. "It just makes so much sense."
Knauf said the company's public participation plan, a necessary-but-involved first step for starting the state process, would likely be filed in the coming months.
James Denn, a spokesman for the state siting board, said the company's application — which it has not yet submitted to the board — would get a thorough review.
"To be clear, any proposed waste-to-energy project would undergo an extensive environmental and public review process by the Siting Board designed to deny any project that is not protective of public health and the environment," Denn said in a statement.
Sue Ellen Bauluff, a member of the Romulus Planning Board, reiterated the board's opposition to the proposed plant, citing concerns about emissions and its proximity to residential areas and a local school.
A Realtor, Bauluff said she's had two buyers walk away from purchasing homes or vacation properties after they expressed concern about the proposed incinerator.
"This project not only affects the residents of our town but the surrounding area as well," she said. "We hope Governor Cuomo will support the time-honored home rule of local municipalities and strongly oppose the trash-incinerator project."
JCampbell1@Gannett.com
Jon Campbell is a correspondent with USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.