Save the Finger Lakes

Stop the Incinerator

It has been such a beautiful beginning of summer in the Finger Lakes. Clean air and clean water are the foundation for a vibrant wine and agriculture industry. It is what keeps the tourists coming back. But, that is now at risk if the proposed garbage incinerator in Romulus goes forward.

If built, the facility would be a mere 3,200 feet from the K–12 Romulus School. The building would be 18 stories high, with a 26 story smoke stack. Garbage trucks would traverse our roads making 148,000 truck trips per year. Trash trains would be rumbling by our homes, wineries, and State Parks. The plant would emit 1 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, not to mention dioxins, lead and mercury. This would not be in place of land filling, but would be an additional 2,640 tons of garbage per day presumably from New York City.

Thankfully, there is something we can all do to stop this incinerator proposal in its tracks.

Senator Pam Helming has been working hard to pass an important bill in the NYS Legislature. The Finger Lakes Community Act of 2018 would prohibit garbage incinerators in the entire Finger Lakes watershed if the proposed incinerator is within 10 miles of a priority water body as designated by NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation.

Thanks to Senator Helming's leadership, the bill has bi–partisan support and passed in the NYS Senate unanimously. However, the bill got stuck in the State Assembly and never came to the floor for a vote. We are fairly confident that if it came to the floor, it would pass by a very wide margin.

Here is a segment on Capital Tonight featuring Finger Lakes Wine Business Coalition (FLXWBC) Secretary Will Ouweleen.

There is a decent chance that the NYS Legislature will come back in to session in July. We need you to do the following things to help get this important bill passed:

1. Call Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie at 718 654 6539 and urge him to pass Assembly bill A 11214. No time to write letters. Please call him this week.

2. Call Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle in Rochester at 585 467 0410. Yes, he is running for Congress, but he is a member of the Assembly until December 31. He really let us down and did not show much leadership in the Assembly. Tell him we need to get A 11214 to the floor for a vote.

3. Call your own Assemblymember with the same message.

Please post this information on your Facebook page and twitter. Tweet at these folks and urge them to take action to pass this bill as soon as possible.

Go to the Seneca Lake Guardian Facebook page for the latest information. Please make a generous financial contribution to Seneca Lake Guardian so we can keep this important work going. We are all volunteers, but it takes some funding to stand up to big polluters. Stand with us so we can stand up for the Finger Lakes.

Thank you.