May 1, 2015
SUNY class: Ash plan environmentally safe
SUNY Cortland students who have been studying the proposed ash for trash deal with Onondaga County gave their final presentations on the topic Wednesday, with five out of eight concluding the controversial plan would carry minimal environmental, financial and health risks to residents.
The students presented their research that mapped out the environmental impacts of the ash for trash deal and agreed that the risks are not significant enough to merit not proceeding with the deal.
“There’s never a zero risk,” senior Bradley Kommeth said after the presentation. “There’s a risk in any of these. I’d be lying if I said zero.”
“You have to weigh your options,” senior Richard Alfaro said. “As far as we’re concerned ... the benefit outweighs the risk.”
The Environmental Science class of 10 students was given the assignment by professor Steven Broyles.
The Cortland Standard visited one class presentation attended by eight students.
Broyles said Thursday he chose the Cortland County-Onondaga County ash for trash partnership because it gave an opportunity for students to connect classroom learning with current community problems.
The proposal before both counties involves Cortland County accepting about90,000 tons of ash from the Onondaga County incinerator yearly in exchange for sending between 17,000 and 35,000 tons of trash to be burned yearly. The proposal is in the contract negotiation phase and a final vote is expected in June.
Several aspects studied
In the class, four students focused on environmental aspects of the deal such as the ash’s impact on leachate and the sole source aquifer and the potential exposure to dioxins, a cancer causing chemical in the ash. Leachate is runoff from the landfill that is collected and tested for hazardous metals at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
Two other groups were formed to study financial aspects and the health and social aspects of the deal.
The environmental concerns duplicate ones that have been brought up to the Legislature by Cortland County residents who oppose the deal.
“The students learned how difficult it is to sort out fact from fiction, misinformation from truth, and how to not rely on single sources,” Broyles said in an email.
Some of the speakers students referenced included local officials and residents. Among them, Cortland County Legislator John Troy; Todd Miller, retired hydrologist; Alison King, a toxicologist and health policy analyst; and Pat Reidy, water quality specialist for the Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District.
One of the biggest concerns raised by residents is the potential for public exposure todioxins.
Senior Jordan Markell concluded that dioxins would not be a huge risk to the county, pointing out the ash for trash deal is not the only way dioxins can be brought into the county. Residents can also be exposed to dioxins through backyard burning and even cigarette smoke, Markell said.
Reidy has said said that of the 90,000 tons of ash brought in yearly, only about 3 ounces of it would be dioxins.
Markell stressed the importance of comparing the potential dioxin exposure from the ash to the risk of getting exposure from everyday occurrences.
“I’m hoping with technological advances .. we can even lower it (the amount of dioxins) more,” Markell said, regarding the everyday occurrences of exposure to dioxins.
One of the benefits of the deal, Markell pointed out, would be an overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as a result of the shorter trip to Cortland County. The Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency currently trucks the ash to Rochester, about double the distance of going to Cortland County.
Five out of the eight students who were in the class Wednesday voted in favor of the ash for trash partnership while three said they needed more information regarding the county’s current recycling efforts, finances and further historical information at the landfill.
Nicole Garifo, a business economics major, posed the question of what the group might say to residents who believe the deal is hazardous to the county.
Garifo said she is fascinated by the fact that certain residents and officials have reached vastly different conclusions based on identical information.
The sole-source aquifer is another concern of Cortland residents who say the ash would possibly contaminate their drinking water.
Students primed
for future involvement
Alfaro, a geology major with a concentration in environmental science, said contamination is highly unlikely because leachate collection is constantly monitored at the landfill by the county highway department.
Broyles said projects like this are important because students will most likely be involved in important discussions on environmental and scientific topics in the communities in which they eventually live.
“They should have learned this semester to probe beneath the surface of the complex issues, look for facts, and learn to evaluate risks,” said Broyles, also chair of the Biological Sciences Department.
After class, the group said it does not think other SUNY Cortland students know about the deal, adding that they were not aware of the proposal until it was assigned for class.
The group would like to see more students get involved by choosing to recycle more refuse rather than mixing recyclable materials into the trash.
“I think the bigger topic to get to the Cortland students would just be recycling,” Alfaro said.
The group agreed students can be further educated about the importance of recycling, mirroring what county residents and legislators have been trying to do.
The Cortland County Legislature released the details of the ash for trash contract with OCRRA earlier this week, showing the deal will pay Cortland$17 per ton on about60,000 tons of ash. From the $17, $2.50 will be put toward recycling and green initiatives as indicated in the contract to help improve Cortland’s recycling.
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