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Public demands more environmental analysis before salt mine expansion
Photo: Matt Butler
"We need a political campaign. We need to wage the same kind of battle against Governor Cuomo that won the fight against shale fracking [...] I implore you: help protect the lake. If you rely on the DEC to help protect this lake, they're just not going to do it."
The words came from activist Walter Hang, of Toxics Targeting, and were met with silent nods of approval. It was a loud crescendo to a meeting otherwise filled with quiet technological analysis of the planned addition of another access shaft beneath Cayuga Lake by Cargill Deicing Technology to provide another entry and ventilation to its road salt mining operation beneath the lake.
Several speakers addressed the packed room at the Merrill Family Sailing Center, asking one central question, blared on a flyer handed out at the entrance: "Too high a risk?"
The event, by Cayuga Lake Environmental Action Now (CLEAN), called for the crowd to contact Governor Andrew Cuomo's office to demand the completion of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) from the state's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). On August 31, 2016, that department declined the opportunity to produce a full DEIS, deeming that the 12.3 surface acre addition's effect on the environment is negligible enough to not warrant a full-scale review process. The DEC had previously issued a "negative declaration" of the project's environmental impact in June 2016.
The DEC has final say on such matters, as the state owns the land on which the mine rests, though Cargill operates the mine itself.
CLEAN, on the other hand, is calling for an environmental review of both the additional shaft and the tunnel which would connect it to the mine. The shaft would be located 2,500 feet in the ground, while the tunnel one stretch one mile.
CLEAN invited Richard Young, a professor of geological sciences at SUNY Geneseo to provide an analysis of the similarities between the Cayuga Lake Salt Mine and the infamous Retsof Salt Mine, which was one of the biggest in the world before it collapsed in 1994. Young showed Retsof, which was located about 25 miles from Rochester, as an example of the inherent risks of drilling and mining under bodies of water. The geology surrounding the Cayuga Lake is similar to that which neighbored the Retsof mine, according to Young, and its size raises the potential for a collapse. The research and numbers, Young said, don't match up with the DEC's decision to not investigate further.
Brian Eden, the Chair of the Tompkins County Environmental Management Council, advised attendees that the only way to work against the proposal is to convince the DEC there are actual environmental concerns that are being overlooked, a process Eden admitted will be difficult but is really the last option left. He said the DEC had only quietly publicized their rulings, perhaps in order to avoid any public backlash; two public comment periods were held, he noted, but only after the department had made its determination.
Additionally, Raymond Vaughan, a Buffalo-based environmental scientist and geologist, gave a speech regarding five points of the project that troubled him. He listed:
- The lack of a clear closure plan from Cargill - Once the new shaft is decommissioned, will it be flooded or kept dry?
- A lack of clarity or transparency from Cargill regarding collapse prevention - shifting bedrock can threaten the integrity of the arched pillar support systems.
- A seeming disregard of evidence of thinning bedrock toward the northern end of the project - The distance from the top of the bedrock layer through to the top of the salt mine is only about 100-120 feet, which is much smaller than other parts of the mine under the lake. Vaughan said this can lead to possible water leakage issues. Vaughan said ideal bedrock distance to protect a mine would be more like 350 feet.
- Possible water table concerns, with Vaughan explaining certain water flow patterns in the area suggest groundwater could be leaking into the existing mine shafts already, which could be exacerbated by another mine shaft.
- A fault that may be developing around Corehole 18 of the mine, something Vaughan has determined through bedrock scan data showing the layer's thickness. Vaughan said there could be other explanations for this, but Cargill hasn't provided that yet.
The issue of segmentation was not broached directly at the meeting, though it was listed as another allegation by CLEAN. Segmentation is essentially a end-run around the environmental review process: instead of presenting a complete proposal, applicants might break down a proposal into smaller parts, or segments, which would give the appearance of lesser environmental impact than if the whole project was submitted at once. It is outlawed in New York. CLEAN points to Cargill's separation of its proposal for the new shaft, as well as the expanded drilling to the north, as possible segmentation violations.
As local effort against pipeline grows, Dominion eyes expansion
Photo: Walter Hang
After a small victory for activists railing against upgrades to a natural gas compressor station in Ellis Hollow, it appears Dominion Energy – the national energy company whose New Market Project runs through the Town of Dryden – has found a way to continue building what activists now say is a pipeline to sell fracked gas from Pennsylvania to Canadian customers.
Though Dominion has already begun construction on the facility, the town as well as activists have been seeking a legal means to stop the project which, by some careful maneuvering by the company, has been allowed to continue through the state’s permitting process, rather than the town’s. According to activists and town officials, the company – attempting to circumvent a public utility moratorium implemented by the town last summer – applied for a building permit and stormwater pollution prevention plan, which are not subject to the conditions of Dryden’s zoning law. The building permit was received one day before the moratorium went into effect and – because the SWPPP application sent to the state April 2016 was still being reviewed by the Department of Environmental Conservation – was not granted until January 12.
For months convinced the project was out of its oversight, Town of Dryden officials revealed last month the town had discovered it had the authority to subject Dominion to its special use permitting process due to several changes being made to the project, which would require the project to undergo extensive environmental review. In a letter to Dominion’s State Policy Adviser, Don Houser last month, town officials told the company any changes to a project’s site plan would, under the conditions of the town’s moratorium, be subject to resubmission and site plan review despite the precedent of three “misapplied” special use permits approved for the substation in the early-1980s.
“There is a principle,” the letter reads, “that there is no estoppel against the government, which means that even if a municipality misapplied its zoning law in the past, it is not estopped from applying it correctly in the future.”
However, the letter fell on deaf ears: the following day, May 25, Houser emailed town officials to confirm a site visit to the facility and, despite the position of Dryden’s legal representation, Dominion has carried on and no stop work order has been issued.
In a statement, Dominon said it had a “very productive meeting in late May with Town of Dryden officials,” during which, the company reaffirmed it will not making any changes to the work area as it moves forward with its plans.
“We are continuing construction of the project as originally designed and as currently permitted,” the company said in a statement. “We are moving forward and expect to be in-service later this year to help meet the growing need for natural gas for National Grid customers in both upstate and downstate New York.”
The town has not issued a stop work order, to the dismay of local activists. Mothers Out Front has deferred to appealing to the company to improve the project on its own volition while environmentalist Walter Hang, president of local research group Toxics Targeting, has relied on a consistent email campaign calling on his subscribers to stop the project’s construction, citing the legal language of the town’s own moratorium and code.
However, there is no legal precedent for Dryden to rely on and, theoretically, enforcement of the town’s utilities moratorium would be entry into uncharted waters: the closest legal example, which is still unresolved, involves the Town of Pendleton invoking its home rule status to challenge the provisions of the Natural Gas Act and the Northern Access Pipeline by denying National Fuel – the developer – its building permit. The town is now being sued by the company.
“I go to all these town board meetings and I listen to somebody who wants to build, say, 26 new apartments in Varna or something, and they have to jump through all these hoops to get through the special use permit process,” said Katie Quinn-Jacobs, team coordinator for local activists Mothers Out Front, who with the town have been leading the brunt of the opposition efforts. “Meanwhile this giant industrial plant isn’t doing that at all. We want the same protections the zoning – and the comprehensive plan – offered. We want that applied here.”
Borger Station: A Small Part Of A Bigger Picture
Though the Borger Station in Ellis Hollow is just one small component of the pipeline’s more than 200 miles, the fight at Borger – like the activist efforts to prevent expansion of similar stations in Brookman Corners and Utica – has been one of a greater effort: to stall the expansion of natural gas consumption in New York State in a region where nuclear power from the troubled Indian Point power plant once was its lifeblood.
But that expansion, now, may be much larger than activists initially thought.
At a meeting last month in Hartford, Connecticut, Iroquois Gas – a company of which Dominion holds controlling interest – revealed plans for a second New Market Project connecting its downstate markets to Canada. This project, according to a presentation given by the company, would – if ever proposed – involve a supply push from among three other pipelines, Dominion’s existing New Market pipeline, to provide natural gas not only to the proposed 1,000 megawatt gas plant at Cricket Valley (Indian Point’s replacement) but northward to the Canadian market, concurrent with a production push by U.S. markets to increase production at a time when American oil is selling at record lows.
Though this does not necessarily mean there will be a new pipeline constructed, if demand rises for natural gas, then so will the potential for a new project.
“In assessing potential future supply, we look at current projects that have the potential to be expanded,” Ruth Parkins, Public Affairs Manager for Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company said in an email. “While Dominion’s New Market Project is under construction and will be in service later this year, Iroquois’ presentation was not meant to infer that there is a New Market II project proposed, but rather to speak conceptually about addressing future market needs.”
Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands
The task, Mothers Out Front leadership says, is simply-stated, but not so simply executed: in their best case scenario, the group aims to convince Dominion to spend money on creating a cleaner compressor station in Ellis Hollow – which currently contributes an excess of 12,000 tons of pollutants per year, according to 2015 emissions data from the DEC – all without allowing the company to make money through the expansion of natural gas supply to the eastern end of the state.
A cleaner compressor station, its opponents say, is a simple objective: according to an analysis of the station’s specifications, two of the three compressors at the Borger station are powered by very old Dresser Clark DC 990 turbines (one dating back to 1984) that produce nitrogen oxide emissions and other pollutants greatly exceeding that of the station's third turbine, a Taurus 70 turbine installed in 2010. Because of their higher levels of pollution (and difficulties of maintenance, activists requested that Dominion replace its old Dresser Clark turbines at Borger with modern equipment like at Horseheads, Sheds, and Brookman Corners not only because modern equipment would be cleaner, but ultimately save Dominion time and money in their upkeep.
But, despite the optimism, Dominion has no plans to change the project.
“Dominion Energy Transmission received, after 24 months of public review and comments, an Order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to construct the New Market Project with the equipment that is now being installed,” the company said in a statement. “As Dominion Energy publicly stated at the May 1 public forum held in the Town of Dryden, we are willing to discuss future needs at Borger Station after completing the current project.”
In the immediate future, that plan does not include green compressors. So Mothers Out Front say they have a different idea: the group is working to implement an environmental health project to monitor the population within a two kilometer radius in order to compare their current health to whatever their health may be after several years of direct exposure to the emissions released by the compressor station.
This is not a new idea, as some counties on the pipeline’s route, like in Madison County, have their health departments assisting to conduct these studies. Tompkins County though – for lack of resources to cover the estimated $18,000 cost – declined to participate, leaving the local activists to go it alone. Working on locking in grant funding, Mothers Out Front are trying to raise the funding themselves but, sadly, may have to wait to see if things go wrong.
“One of the things that is probably bound to happen – if it turns out we do have some serious problems here – is that they’ll [the health department] suddenly get interested in this,” said Elisa Evett, an activist. “They’ll have to.”
New Market Pipeline Project in Dryden delayed
The former CNG Transmission Station on Ellis Hollow Creek Road, now owned by Dominion.
(Photo: Nick Reynolds)
The Town of Dryden said it has suspended the storm water pollution prevention plan approval and building permits for Dominion Energy's Borger Compressor Station in the Ellis Hollow neighborhood.
The town suspended the permits when it was notified Dominion would be making amendments to its plans for the upgrades at Borger as part of the New Market Pipeline Project.
The town said it was told the work will require Dominion to seek further approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission because Borger is a natural gas compressor station which is part of an interstate pipeline regulated by FERC.
Frank Mack, the communications project manager for Dominion, said the changes are no longer being requested and Dominion intends to proceed with the original approved plan.
“After a brief meeting earlier this week, the New Market Project team re-examined its construction activities at Borger Station and determined that changes to the project are not required," Mack said in a statement. "We intend to continue construction of the project as originally designed and as currently permitted, and we will not be requesting any changes.”
Town of Dryden Supervisor Jason Leifer said officials from the town will be meeting with officials from Dominion at the Borger station on Tuesday, May 30, to discuss the project. He also said on Friday the SWPPP approval and building permits are still suspended.
In addition, the Town of Dryden will require Dominion to apply for an amended Special Use Permit and go through Site Plan Review. The purpose of the SUP and Site Plan process will be to ensure that any impacts on the neighborhood are properly mitigated according to a release by the town.
Dominion hopes to add 33,023 horsepower of compression to the existing state pipeline transmission system, which includes the Borger Compressor Station and a station in Horseheads. The project will allow the delivery of additional supplies of natural gas to National Grid distribution areas upstate to meet the growing consumer demand for the fuel. The project’s total cost is expected to be about $159 million.
At the Dryden station, Dominion is adding three microturbines to increase electrical output and two gas cooling stations.
The divisive project has been met with resistance from local residents and environmental groups, including Mothers Out Front and Walter Hang's Toxics Targeting.
Virtual pipeline causes stir in Port Dickinson
A Vermont transportation company wants to tap the 220-mile Millennium Pipeline in Port Dickinson to deliver the natural gas to customers who don't have access to the nation's pipeline system.
But the proposal is running into serious opposition from the Broome County Planning Department, the Village of Port Dickinson, the Chenango Valley Central School District, among others, who contend the site, on the eastern bank of the Chenango River, could pose serious hazards.
Seven-term Village of Port Dickinson Mayor Kevin Burke expressed concern about the the compressor station's proximity to the river, while others question the impact of truck traffic, which could number 100 trips daily during the busy winter season, on the western service road of the Interstate 88 arterial.
The Town of Fenton Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Town Hall (44 Park St., Port Crane) to rule on a variance requested by project sponsors. If approved, the plan would go to a 7 p.m. meeting of the town's planning board, which has final authority.
Burke expects the Tuesday meeting to be packed with plan opponents. Nearby residents pledged to attend the sessions to voice their disapproval.
Growing demand for cheap natural gas has prompted NG Advantage of Colchester, Vermont, a natural gas transportation company, to propose a compressor station. Their plan comes as industrial and commercial customer demand grows for the fuel, which sells for a fraction of the price of oil and propane. It also produces less pollutants than coal.
The trucking operations, also referred to as virtual pipelines, load highly compressed natural gas in specially equipped trailers for customers who want the fuel but don't have access to an existing pipeline.
Last year, New York rejected the Constitution Pipeline, which would have shipped Marcellus Shale gas from Pennsylvania's rich Marcellus Shale gas fields to Massachusetts. The state expressed environmental concerns over the project's river crossings.
The Port Dickinson project would be the second virtual pipeline operation to be built in the region since the rejection of the Constitution project. Last year, a similar operation opened in Pennsylvania's Forest Lake Township, about 25 miles southwest of Binghamton. Trucks loaded with compressed natural gas now regularly travel Broome County roads as trailers with XNG logo deliver the commodity to customers within a day's drive.
The XNG project in Forest City Township delivers natural gas to customers in New York and New England without access to pipeline delivery.
Trailers full of natural gas are dropped at the customer while empties are hauled back to the compressor station be refilled.
"If you can't transport it one way, you're going to find another way to transport it," said Walter Hang of Toxic Targeting, an Ithaca-based environmental firm.
In the Midwest, rail tankers and tanker trucks are used to transport shale gas from the rural areas where it is drilled to market.
"We have a general awareness of it," Broome County Emergency Management Services Director Michael A. Ponticiello said of the hazards of transporting compressed natural gas in trailers. "It happens all the time. We don't have any specific concerns as long as codes are followed."
Based on plans submitted by NG Advantage, the compressor and loading station in Port Dickinson will operate 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year filling anywhere from 50 to 100 trailers daily. One of NG's larger customers is the International Paper plant in Ticonderoga, New York.
Virtual pipelines make gas "so mobile, so accessible," said Brad Gill of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York. "They fill a niche event the pipelines couldn't fill."
Chenango Valley School District administrators expressed concern about the project's proximity to a nearby elementary school, while Burke wonders whether the ambient noise from the compressors will disturb the peace of an adjacent Port Dickinson park.
Burke notes the same property was under 10 to 12 feet of water in the wake of the 2011 flood, and wonders if building a potentially hazardous natural gas loading station with the flood plain is a wide choice. There are other tap points for the 36-inch Millennium Pipeline, he said.
Eco Defense Radio - Walter Hang, Stopping Dominion’s New Market Pipeline Through New York State
Today we’re getting an urgent and timely update on the fight to stop the Dominion New Market fracked gas pipeline by Walter Hang from Toxics Targeting.
Walter has been actively working to stop fracking and fossil fuel projects in New York. Why? Because he wants to know, if existing spills and contamination haven’t been dealt with, why are new projects even being considered?
We spoke to Walter in August 2016 about the Dominion project, and about effective strategies. Go back and listen to that here.
Today we’re getting an update about the campaign opposing the Dominion pipeline which could be carving through our region, unless of course, we stop it. Walter brings valuable insight, data, and perspective to this fight.