Seneca Lake Guardian Responds to Gov. Hochul Finger Lakes Workforce Development Announcement

DRESDEN, NY (05/23/2022) (readMedia)-- Today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the grand opening of the $11.4 million Finger Lakes Workforce Development Center. In her announcement, she touted the Finger Lakes' natural beauty, low energy costs, and quality of life thanks to the region's vibrant downtown, lakes, and wineries - all of which are threatened by Greenidge Generation's climate-killing cryptomining and Seneca Meadows Landfill's toxic pollution. In response, Yvonne Taylor, vice president of Seneca Lake Guardian, issued the following statement:

"We are glad to see Governor Hochul making an investment in the Finger Lakes' economy, but it'll be money down the drain if she doesn't also take action to protect the climate. Our $3 billion, 60,000 job agritourism industry is fighting off the dual environmental threats of cryptomining and the Seneca Meadows landfill. The Greenidge Generation bitcoin mine is filling our air with one million tons of CO2 every year - equivalent to 100,000 homes - and heating up our lakes. And Seneca Meadows Landfill is leaking PFAS, a dangerous chemical, into our drinking water. The landfill's disgusting stench alone has made it difficult for local businesses to recruit. If Governor Hochul is serious about supporting the Finger Lakes economy, she has to deny Greenidge Generation's permit renewal now and close Seneca Meadows."

Background

Seneca Meadows Inc. Landfill

The Seneca Meadows landfill, located in Seneca Falls, the birthplace of American Women's Rights, is the largest of 27 landfills in New York State. It is permitted to accept 6,000 tons of waste and produce up to 100,000 gallons of toxic leachate per day. It accepts 36% of NYC's garbage annually, in addition to garbage from four other states.

Seneca Meadows was previously required to stop receiving waste and halt operations by December 31, 2025. However, Waste Connections, the parent company of Seneca Meadows Inc., gave around $280,000 in 2021 to pro-landfill candidates who won seats in Town Board and County races and are now supporting the Valley Infill, SMI's planned seven-story high expansion. The expansion would keep the landfill operating until 2040 with allowable dumping on the Valley Infill (the former toxic Tantello superfund site), rising another 70 feet into the viewscape.

Even with the planned closure in 2025, the mountain of garbage promises years of problem and remediation that could take generations to mitigate.

Leachate and wastewater runoff from the landfill containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can cause widespread contamination of drinking water and harmful health impacts, cannot be remediated. Seneca Meadows produces 75 million gallons of leachate each year which is distributed not just to Seneca Falls but also to Buffalo, Watertown, Chittenango, and Steuben County, contaminating drinking water across the state.

SMI is located two miles from Seneca River and three miles from every school in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, exposing students to airborne particulates and unseen gases known to contribute to respiratory illness, asthma, and migraine headaches. The landfill is too big for methane collection and controls, making it a large contributor to climate change.

SMI is harming the Finger Lakes' natural resources that have led to the region being under consideration for a National Heritage Area Designation, and which the $3 billion, 60,000-employee wine and agritourism economy rely on. The odor from the landfill can be smelled from miles away, including at Thruway exit 41, the northern gateway to the Finger Lakes. Large, sustainable employers in the area are finding it difficult to recruit and retain employees, because nobody wants to raise a family near a dangerous landfill.

SMI's expansion is also at odds with the overwhelmingly popular amendment to the New York state constitution passed last year, which guarantees every New Yorker the right to clean air, clean water, and a healthful environment.

Greenidge Generation and Cryptomining

Proof-of-work cryptocurrency is an extremely energy-intensive process that requires thousands of machines whirring 24/7 to solve complex equations. The more machines that are running, the faster a coin is mined. Each one of these machines requires energy to run, plus more energy to run cooling technology. Globally, proof-of-work Bitcoin mining uses the same amount of energy each day as the entire country of Argentina. It produces 30,700 metric tons of e-waste each year, comparable to the yearly IT equipment waste of the Netherlands.

More than 1,000 organizations, businesses, environmental activists, concerned residents, wine makers, elected officials, and more have taken action over the last year in opposition to Greenidge and crypto mining in New York State. A letter sent to Governor Hochul in October was signed by more than 650 individuals and groups. In letters to Governor Cuomo last year opposing Greenidge Generation's expansion from an emergency peaker plant to a 24/7 Bitcoin mining operation, organizations, businesses, and Finger Lakes residents demanded Gov. Cuomo revoke Greenidge's grandfathered-in permits. And recently, several groups sent an open letter to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer urging them to visit the Finger Lakes and meet the residents and business owners whose livelihoods are suffering the environmental and economic consequences of Greenidge.

In addition to supporting legislation (A7389B/S6486C) to place a 2 year moratorium on proof-of-work cryptomining in New York State, advocates are calling on Governor Hochul to do the same.

The Governor is well within her legal authority to act, according to a new white paper from Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law: A Pause on Proof-Of-Work: The New York State Executive Branch's Authority to Enact a Moratorium on the Permitting of Consolidated Proof of Work Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities. The paper (summary of findings available here) draws on precedent established in 2010 when the executive branch signed the fracking moratorium. It finds the Governor has authority to stop new proof-of-work cryptomining operations by enacting a moratorium on the permitting of these facilities until a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) to determine the full extent of the impacts of mining on communities is complete.

Cryptomining is at odds with the overwhelmingly popular amendment to the New York state constitution passed last year, which guarantees every New Yorker the right to clean air, clean water, and a healthful environment. Revitalizing old polluting power plants for private financial gain, with drastic consequences for our air, water and climate, all while causing huge amounts of noise pollution, is now unconstitutional - and ought to be treated as such.

Reform groups Common Cause/NY and NYPIRG have specifically criticized the crypto mining industry for exploiting public resources and straining the energy grid for private gain, and a group of federal lawmakers led by Senator Elizabeth Warren requested details from six major Bitcoin mining companies about their electricity usage and contributions to climate change. The NY League of Conservation voters sent a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to pause and regulate cryptomining, and 1199 SEIU recently announced their endorsement of a cryptomining moratorium. Earlier this year, President Biden issued an executive order requiring federal agencies study the legal, economic, and environmental impacts of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin mining. Even the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, an avid crypto booster has come out against mining, declaring at a February 9th joint session of the Legislature: "I support cryptocurrency, not crypto mining."

About Seneca Lake Guardian

Seneca Lake Guardian is a New York State Not-for-Profit Corporation with 501(c)(3) and is dedicated to preserving and protecting the health of the Finger Lakes, its residents and visitors, its rural community character, and its agricultural and tourist related businesses through public education, citizen participation, engagement with decision makers, and networking with like-minded organizations.