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Environmental Analyst: NG Advantage Misleading Fenton Residents
TOWN OF FENTON, NY -
A study conducted by four environmental experts reveals NG Advantage is misleading residents by comparing its proposed natural gas site in Fenton to the one in Milton, Vermont.
"It's irrefutable, I don't see how anyone could say that the two sites are similar," said Walter Hang, Toxics Targeting President.
According to Hang there are ten times more sensitive receptors (homes, schools, parks, places of worship, etc.) within a one mile radius of the Fenton location compared to the Milton site. In total there are more than 2,000 homes and businesses at risk in Fenton compared to just 200 in Milton.
"There are too many homes, too many commercial buildings where there could be hundreds of people congregating, so this is really not an appropriate location for this kind of facility," said Hang.
NG Advantage CEO, Rico Biasetti has called the Milton location very similar to the one in Fenton.
Hang and a group of three researchers compiled local, state, and federal environmental data of both the NG Advantage location in Milton and the proposed site in Fenton. They applied the data onto maps to identify how land is zoned - agricultural, industrial or residential.
"The two locations are nothing alike, they're completely different," said Hang.
Assembly members call to stop Cayuga Lake salt mining expansion
LANSING, N.Y. -- There's a new call to stop the expansion of salt mining under Cayuga Lake - and to move operations out from under the water.
Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton wrote a letter to the DEC detailing concerns with the Cargill Cayuga Salt Mine.
She says an expansion under the lake could potentially cause major risks, in the event of mine failure.
Lifton referenced the Retsof Mine collapse in Livingston County in 1994, saying it caused sink holes, property damage and polluted water.
She says her team's main concerns are protecting the lake and ensuring its sustainability.
But some former mine workers and other legislators say there is no problem with the mine remaining under the lake.
"The DEC has signed off on the project. They are the scientists that have signed off on this," said Mike Sigler, a Tompkins County legislator. "So they are denying the science from the state and listening to other people who really don't know what they're talking about."
"This is something serious that I think the state ought to look at," said Lifton. "I'm not making a final judgment call, that's not my expertise or authority."
Cargill's Salt Mine manager says the mine gets inspected once a year.
Lifton calls for stop to mining under Cayuga Lake
Long the subject of scrutiny by the local scientific community, the Cargill Salt Mine in Lansing has attracted the attention of Tompkins County’s voice on the New York State Assembly, Barbara Lifton, who has joined the group of those opposed to further salt mining under Cayuga Lake.
In a press conference on the shores of Cayuga Lake on Thursday Lifton, joined by activist and founder of local environmental research firm Toxics Targeting Walter Hang, announced a proposal to call for a moratorium on any additional mining under Cayuga Lake while, in the meantime, urging Cargill to pursue mining under the stable ground of the land surrounding the lake.
The announcement comes after data produced by Dr. Richard A. Young, an expert on salt mining at SUNY Geneseo, was presented at a meeting in Albany on June 15 attended by Assemblyman Steve Englebright, Chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Environmental Conservation, and high-level Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials, outlining concerns that expanded salt mining under Cayuga Lake could pose potentially catastrophic risks to the lake in the event of a mine failure. Young, whose expertise includes extension study of a 1994 salt mine collapse in Livingston County, presented a new study drawing certain parallels between the conditions of the Retsof salt mine collapse and those present at the Cargill site, urging DEC officials to reconsider their approval of Cargill’s mining operations as it works to dig a new mine shaft for its workers.
In a letter to DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos, Lifton – who at this point has yet to meet with Cargill officials or members of government in the Town of Lansing – and Englebright call for the DEC to prohibit future mining activities under Cayuga Lake, stating the information created a “growing concern” about Cargill’s application to drill a new egress shaft for its workers to improve ventilation for its employees 45 minutes from the surface and, in theory, allow the 18,000 acre mine’s continued push up the length of the lake.
Though the proposed shaft itself presents little to no inherent risks, the continuation of mining under the lake has raised concerns among the mine’s opponents: according to Young’s research, the mine’s construction and the geologic anomalies of the mine present risks resembling those apparent in the Restof mine collapse.
“If the Cargill mine suffered a similar disaster, the potential catastrophic effects on Cayuga Lake would be unprecedented and irreversible,” Lifton said.
Citing the potential threat of such a moratorium to the jobs of 200 people, Lifton suggested as an alternative to focus on mining under the adjoining dry land instead, an arduous process that would involve negotiations with multiple landowners for the rights to the minerals thousands of feet below.
The press conference itself rowdy at times, Lifton and Hang were confronted by a number of supporters for the mine who casted doubts on the legitimacy of activist’s concerns. David Cornelius, a former surveyor in the Cargill Salt Mine, called Hang an “alarmist,” with several supporters from the mine bringing up inconsistencies or perceived inaccuracies in the portrayal of the danger present in mining under the lake including, according to one person in attendance, significant differences in the pillaring of the Retsof mine – the nature of which may have led to the mine’s collapse – versus the relatively new “small pillar” system employed in the Cayuga mine. Notably enough, according to local environmental activist John Dennis, the construction of the Restof mine was done on the recommendation of current Cargill engineer Gary Peterson, who currently oversees the layout and construction of the mine in Lansing.
According to Mine Manager Shawn Wilczynski, the new studies presented by Young are nothing new and the perceived lack of oversight by the DEC, overstated.
In 1995, Cargill initiated a seven year process to create an advanced environmental assessment of the mine’s surroundings, a highly advanced geological assessment whose team included two geology PHDs and a comprehensive survey of all available data from the United States Geological Survey. Since its completion, that study has been used as a baseline for all of Cargill’s independent assessments of the mine’s safety, a document which is reviewed on an annual basis with the DEC in the form of an individual mine stability analysis. That survey then goes through several independent reviews before acceptance by the state.
“Every single year, the mine’s stability, the mine’s plans… everything is gone over,” Wilczynski said. “The DEC – as lead agency – has been providing tremendous oversight over this. We all do share the same thing – the protection of this lake is the paramount thing to everybody – and we’re members of this community as well. We’re reminded every single day of where we work. That lake is a constant reminder of that.”
“The main reason we want to do this is for the health and safety of our employees,” Wilczynski said, who noted that the trip 1,400 feet below the surface takes approximately 45 minutes to travel. “It’s frustrating that fact gets lost when it really is that simple.”
For Lansing’s County Legislator, Mike Sigler, the prospect of derailing one of Lansing’s largest employers because of a lack of trust in the judgement of the DEC is an unreasonable one.
“The science isn’t good enough for them apparently,” Sigler said. “A lot of people trust the DEC. Apparently these people don’t.”
He added: “It’s just one more moratorium for Lansing.”
Assemblywoman urges halt in Cargill salt mine expansion below Cayuga Lake
ITHACA, N.Y. – In a press conference Thursday morning, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton voiced concern for future mining activity below Cayuga Lake, calling for a moratorium on expansions of the Cargill salt mine, a proposal which has mine workers concerned.
Cargill was approved for a $640,000 sales tax abatement by the county in October after the company was seeking the abatement to help fund a new $32 million mine shaft. Without the shaft, Cargill said it would have to cease operations within a decade.
The abatement drew criticism community members who were concerned about the environmental impact while others felt the multi-billion dollar company should not be granted a tax abatement.The DEC previously issued a declaration of negative environmental significance in regards to the project and Tompkins County Legislature voted down a resolution in November which would have required Cargill to perform a full environmental impact review before moving ahead with the expansion.
Currently, Cargill salt mines are spread over seven miles below Cayuga Lake. Cargill employs about 200 people and produces more than 2 million tons of rock salt annually, half of which stays within New York State, according to Mine Manager Shawn Wilczynski.
Lifton, accompanied by Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting, said Thursday that given potential threats the Cargill salt mine poses upon the lake she felt it was necessary to call on the DEC and alert the agency of the matter.
Lifton shared a letter, which was written jointly with Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Steve Englebright, in regards to her concerns about potential threats future salt mining could have on Cayuga Lake. The letter calls on the DEC to impose a moratorium on future expansions of the mine and avoid approving permits that would lead to additional salt mining locations under Cayuga Lake.
"A key question is whether relatively new "small pillar" mining techniques used at the site may be insufficient to resist powerful geologic sources associated with both the continental scale compression that is impacting the glacial valley sediments and the glacial scour weakened lithified strata that is the overburden," the letter reads.
Over the past six months, Lifton said she has heard increasing concerns from her constituents in the 125th assembly district in regards to the matter. In a recent meeting with DEC officials, Lifton said SUNY Geneseo Professor Richard Young presented research comparing the Cayuga mines to the Retsof salt mine, which collapsed in Livingston County in 1994.
"Retsof was one of the nation's biggest salt mines and the worst salt mining disaster in New York State," Lifton said. "When the mine collapsed it flooded with water resulting in immense sinkholes, property damage and had an impact on local water wells. It took two years for the mine to refill with water from surrounding aquifers."
According to Hang and Lifton, Young's research suggested that there were clear parallels between the Retsof and Cayuga mines. Hang said both mines used a relatively new mining technique which employs small pillars.
"The geological horizontal forces are pushing in from the side," Hang said. "This has the effect of creating a force that is moving up from the bottom of Cayuga Lake."
Lifton said her goal was not to put a stop to salt mining entirely, but instead to continue work in existing mines and transition mining efforts onto dry land. Since mining companies only have to negotiate with the state over mineral rights underwater, if Cargill were to begin mining efforts on dry land they would also have to begin negotiation efforts with property owners. Lifton said the transition period would happen over the course of several years.
"This is a perfect time to begin to phase out mining under the lake and begin to mine salt under the dry land in the adjoining area," Lifton said. "This would completely safeguard the lake without causing loss of jobs, but the lake comes first when it comes to preventing these pollution problems."
Because of federal law, Hang said additional expansion to the mines will not be possible since miners are required to have to make it out within an hour.
Wilczynski said the proposed shaft was more of a precaution to ensure the health and safety of miners below the lake. He said that currently, it takes about 45 to 50 minutes for miners to get to the current mining location.
"We do struggle to provide fresh air and an escape way that would be closer to where (miners) are working," he said. "The main reason for the shaft is for the health and safety of our employees, which seems to be getting lost when it is purely that simple."
As part of the expansion agreement, Wilczynski said a minimum of three to four mine stability reviews are conducted annually at the underwater location, dating back to 2003. He said seven years of analysis and comprehensive study of the lake served as a foundation for the company since 2002, which they continue to modify.
Wilczynski said Cargill has agreed to meet with the DEC once a year as a part of the expansion terms. The company is also required to provide an annual report to the DEC which is verified by two other parties, and the raw data is then sent to a third party for independent review.
"We all do share the exact same things - the protection and sustainability of the lake is important to everybody involved," he said. "We are members of this community as well, as are our families and friends. We are reminded every day when we show up to work – the lake is a constant reminder and we take extreme responsibility for that and go to great lengths and will continue to do so."