The Challenges We Face With Our Environment - Seneca Lake

Here's a topic that is way too big for a simple writer like me so I'm going to add some articles and quotes by others. I write this as the battle between Crestwood Midstream, a movement called We Are Seneca Lake, another called Gas Free Seneca and political as well as economic development leaders in the Schuyler County community continues and escalates. There are also other developments that play into all of this discussion. An out of service coal fired power plant in Yates County on Seneca Lake just north of Schuyler County is being reopened by a new operator (Greenidge) who has committed to using natural gas and bio mass vs coal. This is being presented as the clean alternative. In addition, within the past few weeks toxic blue-green algae has been discovered on the northeast shores of Seneca Lake and on other lakes in the Finger Lakes region.

With that back drop, the challenges are clear. Seneca Lake provides drinking water to over 100,000 people. It also adds about a billion dollars to the economy through recreation, tourism and agriculture. There is push and pull that occurs between the public, elected officials and economic developers. Corporations and businesses of many sizes also enter the mix. Economic growth is quickly part of any discussion. The idle power plant is one example. When it closed, millions of dollars were lost in tax revenue along with jobs in a community that needs them. So now, as a new owner steps up, many just look at the return of revenue and jobs without asking some critical questions about business plans, sustainability and environmental issues. That tends to happen a lot I think.

Then there's the storage of methane and liquid propane gas in abandoned, unlined salt caverns on the shores of Seneca Lake near Watkins Glen, NY. Those who support it talk about revenue and jobs. They dislike the 'outsiders' who protest the project and point to decades of similar use of the caverns, seemingly not able to recognize that the volume being proposed far exceeds any historical quantities. Those who oppose it point out risks related to both the storage and the transport of the products and point to the winery and tourist industries as the clean, safe industries that could be adversely affected by the gas storage and transport project. There are some contradictory issues that surface in the whole debate. On the one hand the politicians and developers express a desire for 'clean', 'light industrial' operations that are compatible with the rural nature of the area. They promote tourism and bringing people in from outside the region to visit, buy and consume. Yet when people come from neighboring communities or counties on or around the lake to protest or question they are rebuked as 'outsiders'. Now you just can't have it both ways. Tourists are most likely outsiders. Some will move here. They will have new and different ideas. That's the way it works.

The defenders of the lake also have some issues that need to be thought about and talked about and some of them are more urgent due to the appearance of the blue-green algae mentioned above. Farming and agricultural practices all around the lake add to the problem of algae growth and development. Much of that comes from the cultivation of the crops that people are promoting as the alternative and way of life they want to see in the area. The grape growing and wine industry has some major responsibility in helping to maintain the health of Seneca Lake through environmentally sound agricultural practices. The reality is that the environment of Seneca Lake is challenged by gas storage and agricultural practices that place nutrients in the water. A recent opinion piece by Rich Reiben in the Finger Lakes Times speaks to this issue and also offers good information on the blue-green algae. Take a look here Love Not In This Bloom.

The folks from We Are Seneca Lake have been utilizing and promoting Pope Francis' latest encyclical, Laudato Si', as an informational and directional learning tool. They are right to do so. There are critical important pieces to the document for water keepers, farmers, politicians, economic developers and yes, all of us. Catholic Workers have joined the We Are Seneca Lake defenders. There is a strong historical commitment by the Catholic Worker toward peace, nonviolence, economic and social justice along with environmental concerns. I am proud that I myself am affiliated with the Catholic Worker and someone who knew and worked with Dorothy Day in the '60's. She was a mentor and a strong leader with much wisdom. She was non violent and tolerant but she also had the right amount of anger at injustice. She was arrested numerous times in the cause of peace. She sat in the vineyards and was arrested with Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers in California. She was inducted and is a member of the Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls and has been proposed as a saint in the Catholic Church. So We Are Seneca Lake is in good company with the Catholic Worker and its traditions.

Thomas Reese has written an article in the National Catholic Reporter titled "Saving The Environment Through Dialogue and Transparency" about Pope Francis' Laudato Si'. Here is an important quote from the article by Reese:

Transparency is an essential element in the dialogue to find better ways of preserving the environment, according to the pope, especially transparency in the assessment of the environmental impact of business ventures and projects. Corruption, on the other hand, conceals “the actual environmental impact of a given project” and produces “specious agreements which fail to inform adequately and to allow for full debate.”

What is needed is environmental impact assessments that are “interdisciplinary, transparent and free of all economic or political pressure.” Only when scientific and political discussions are imbued with honesty and truth can all the different stakeholders reach a consensus on the alternatives available. “The culture of consumerism which prioritizes short-term gain and private interest, can make it easy to rubber-stamp authorizations or to conceal information.”

Pope Francis calls for a thorough investigation and discussion of any proposed venture. “What will it accomplish? Why? Where? When? How? For whom? What are the risks? What are the costs? Who will pay those costs and how?”

If a study finds that “serious and irreversible damage may result, a project should be halted or modified.” He recognizes that sometimes the evidence is disputable. In such cases, the burden of proof should be on the projects promoters “to demonstrate that the proposed activity will not cause serious harm to the environment or to those who inhabit it.”

The full article can be accessed here Thomas Reese Article.

So yes “What will it accomplish? Why? Where? When? How? For whom? What are the risks? What are the costs? Who will pay those costs and how?” These are the questions we have to be able to ask about the Crestwood Midstream project, the Greenridge plant and the blue-green algae problem. Experts and regulators like DEC and EPA should be asked to review and recommend but we should not abdicate to 'experts' where our environment is concerned. - JW