March 4, 2015
Onondaga advances ash for trash deal
SYRACUSE — In a move that brings the ash for trash deal one step closerto fruition between Cortland andOnondaga counties, the Onondaga County Legislature on Tuesdayaccepted the latest study of the deal, the draft FEIS.
The vote on the Final Environmental Impact Statement was 11-4.
Legislators Peggy Chase (D-19th District), Monica Williams (D-16th District), Linda Ervin (D-17th District) and David Knapp (R-12th District) were opposed.
Legislators Danny Liedka (R-7th District) and Derek Shepard (R-13th District) were absent.
The Cortland County Legislature is expected to vote on the draft FEIS at6 p.m. Thursday.
By adopting the document, Onondaga County legislators are agreeing that concerns about environmental ramifications of the deal have been thoroughly examined.
Onondaga County legislator and Environmental Committee Chair Mike Plochocki said Tuesday after the vote that the Legislature as a whole felt that the FEIS took a hard look at what was needed.
“Our law department reviewed it and we said to them, ‘In your opinion is this legally adequate? Yes or no?’ The answer was resoundingly, ‘Yes,’”Plochocki said.
The deal would involve Cortland County sending about 25,000 tons of trash to the Onondaga County incinerator yearly in exchange for receiving about 90,000 tons of ash yearly at the landfill.
Many of the environmental concerns of the partnership from both Onondaga and Cortland county residents include worries about possible contamination to the air and groundwater from both the incineration process itself and from runoff of chemicals in the ash that would be dumped in the landfill.Residents have raised concerns that the tests done so far have not accurately replicated the true changes to the composition of the ash over time. In particular, they have cited concerns about dioxins in the ash as a potential threat to the community, concerns which they say were not adequately addressed in the draft FEIS.
The vote by the Onondaga County Legislature to approve the document in the wake of recent uncertainty from the Syracuse City Council over whether the city should extend its contract with the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency, the facility that owns theincinerator.
A special meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m. today to review the city council’s Monday vote against renewing the contract for another 20 years. Concerns have been raised about how that vote would impact any financial or environmental aspects of the contract. The contract between Syracuse and OCRRA is set to expire in June.
Councilor-at-Large Jean Kessner said Tuesday night in a telephoneinterview she recommended the council instead accept a five-year contractwith OCRRA and look into other alternatives that would have a “zero-waste goal.”
“The meeting they called, there’s a tremendous pressure to change the votes,” Kessner said, noting she is not sure why this is.
She also said the city’s vote would not have an impact on the ash for trash deal with Cortland County.
Plochocki said the Legislature just briefly discussed the Syracuse vote. He said the discussion around passing the draft FEIS was more procedural in nature and he stressed that passing the document is just one step in the mandated State Environmental Quality Review Act process.
“It was not a discussion on what should the ultimate answer to this situation be,” Plochocki said. “It also was not the final environmental answer,either.”
He said there will be more opportunity for public comment in coming weeks. Ultimately, each county must release a findings statement. This is a document that will take into consideration all the environmental studies and public comments and it will be used by each county to weigh the merits of the deal.
Cortland County Legislator John Troy (D-LD1), vice chair of theSolid Waste Committee, said Tuesday evening he thinks the draft FEIS will pass on Thursday, but with a close vote.
“It’s not a vote on ash for trash, it’s a vote on whether the environmental impact statement was done thoroughly,” Troy said. “I think it’s going to pass but I think it’s going to be close.”
The draft FEIS was endorsed by Cortland County’s Solid Waste Committee by a 3-2 voteFeb. 24. The main reason legislators gave for passing the resolution at the time was that they wanted the full Legislature to decide what might be the best option for the county.
Legislators Jim Denkenberger (R-Cuyler, Solon and Truxton) and Raylynn Knolls (D-LD7) opposed the resolution during that meeting.
Cortland County residents have been frustrated with the county Legislature for not releasing the financial ramifications of the deal.
Legislators have said the financials could not be released due to legal reasons and the fact preliminary negotiations are ongoing.
If Cortland County passes the draft FEIS, it finalizes the document and both counties would then move on to issue and adopt a finding statement.
The findings statement would explain each county’s reasoning for approving the project. It would say the Legislature considered the environmentalimpacts “against the needs for and benefits of the action,” according to anews release by the Cortland County Legislature.
If the Legislature approves the draft FEIS on Thursday, the findings statement would be voted on in the end of April or early May.
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