By Tracy Frisch
In the Spring ZWNY newsletter, I reported on the new PFAS threat to the village of Fort Edward. In early June, I received a phone call out of the blue from the DEC Region 5 permit administrator.
She told me that Clean Earth’s parent company ESMI had requested that DEC cancel the two public hearings on Clean Earth’s PFAS contaminated soil permit application, scheduled for the following two weeks. DEC agreed to cancel them but also suspended its review of the permit application. So bad news and good news in one sentence.
DEC told me that if they resume review of the permit application, they will reschedule the public hearings and give us 30-day advance notice.
The company’s request to DEC was made the same week that ESMI sold Clean Earth to the multi-billion-dollar transnational French corporation Veolia. Perhaps the new owner looked over the permit application, and the 500+ public comments and the Earthjustice technical legal comments signed by almost 80 organizations opposing the Clean Earth PFAS experiment and decided to carefully assess how to proceed.
Besides these challenges to Clean Earth’s permit application, the village Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) is holding an ongoing public hearing on the company’s appeal of the code enforcement officer’s determination that Clean Earth was only approved to process petroleum contaminated soil. ESMI claims that it received blanket approval to remediate any type of contaminated soil at its Fort Edward facility.
If Clean Earth loses its appeal, it will have to seek site plan approval from the ZBA to expand activities at its facility to include remediation of PFAS contaminated soil. In 1991, the village planning board appears to have originally okayed the facility’s construction to remediate petroleum contaminated soil only. However, the company has been heat treating “low level” PCB contaminated soil for several decades without planning board approval.
Two groups have been opposing the Clean Earth project. The Fort Stops PFAS is a grassroots group formed to stop it. My group, Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls (CAAN) is an incorporated non-profit organization active in three counties. Our strengths and skills complement each other.
It is too early to predict what will come next. Our best-case scenario is that Veolia, the new Clean Earth owner, gives up on the Fort Edward site for its PFAS contaminated soil remediation project. It might decide to relocate its PFAS project to a comparable Clean Earth facility in another state. If that happens, we will arm opponents there with our analysis and arguments. We don’t want a project that would release PFAS into the environment to be approved anywhere!
What this struggle can teach us. 1) Good analysis of threatening projects and technical and legal assistance are important. 2) Mobilizing massive opposition is crucial. 3) Working on multiple fronts makes sense — Oppose bad projects at the state and local levels wherever you find opportunities. 4) Work with any allies you can find.
For further information, contact Tracy Frisch.
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