<!--Mark Scheer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Mark Scheer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com">mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
A conclusion many critics in Niagara County classified as a “flaw” last year has turned up again in the latest version of the state’s Hazardous Waste Siting Plan.
Like its predecessor, the new-look plan, released by the state Department of Environmental Conservation on Wednesday concludes the distribution of hazardous waste facilities in New York is “geographically equitable.”
A similar conclusion reached as part of a 2008 version of the document prompted outcries from critics of the process in Niagara County who have long questioned the state’s method of analyzing distribution, noting that Niagara County is home to the only hazardous waste landfill within the statewide system.
“I don’t think 8 million tons of hazardous waste here and effectively zero in the rest of the state is an insignificant issue,” said Amy Witryol, a Lewiston resident and frequent critic of the state’s handling of the siting plan process.
The hazardous waste siting plan is being developed by the DEC at the direction of the state Legislature to serve as a guideline for various aspects of hazardous waste handling and disposal in New York. The version released on Wednesday follows an earlier draft presented in July 2008. That draft represented a revision of an earlier siting plan released in 2003. All three documents have now concluded that there exists fair distribution of hazardous waste facilities in New York, a claim critics contend is based largely on the state’s decision to lump storage, treatment and landfill facilities all into the same category.
Witryol said the DEC ignored concerns she raised about last year’s version which failed to indicate how much hazardous waste is currently located in each region of the state.
“Does Governor Paterson know the difference between a storage facility and a hazardous landfill?” Witryol said. “He's basically telling us, that one county should carry the entire debt burden of the state of New York.”
The latest document is consistent in another area as it concurs with the findings of last year’s version that there is no need for additional hazardous waste capacity in New York. According to the new plan, the state has at least 20 years of available capacity at this point.
Final siting plan approval is needed before Chemical Waste Management can pursue a proposed expansion of its landfill in Lewiston. Under state law, the review of the company’s permit application cannot occur until a final siting plan has been approved.
CWM spokesperson Lori Caso said the company had no comment on the new plan at this time because it was still examining the findings of the voluminous siting plan.
“Obviously, we are still reviewing it,” she said.
The DEC will host a series of 10 public hearings on the latest version of the siting plan at locations across the state in the coming months. Two of those hearings will be held in Niagara County, with the first scheduled for Nov. 18 at the Niagara Falls Public Library and the second dated Nov. 19 at Lewiston-Porter High School. The comment period for the latest version of the siting plan is about 75 days, down from the period of about 120 days that was allowed for the 2008 version of the plan.
