Watkins opposes gas storage project

WATKINS GLEN—After weeks of discussion, the Watkins Glen village board passed a resolution opposing Crestwood’s proposed liquid petroleum gas (LPG) storage expansion in Reading. The resolution was met with applause from those who attended  the village meeting Monday, Aug. 18. The measure was approved with three votes in favor and two abstentions from trustees Paul Clifford and Anthony Fraboni. Clifford said he abstained due to being a Cargill employee who wanted to avoid the appearance of being a direct competitor to the project, while Fraboni abstained, stating earlier he thought taking a stance on the issue would have little to no impact on the state’s decision.
The resolution reads, “In keeping with the majority opinion of the local village community, the village of Watkins Glen board respectfully requests that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) withhold approval of any plan for mass storage of LPG adjacent to or under Seneca Lake and exercise its power in identifying a more appropriate location for any such storage site.”
The motion was read into the record by Trustee Scott Gibson and was seconded by Trustee Kevin Smith, both of whom said they were “on the fence,” regarding what stance they were going to take. Smith said while he realizes how safe a gas storage project like this can be, he decided to vote with how his constituents feel. Gibson said while every industry has risks associated with it, it is up to the community to decide what level of risk is acceptable. He added when looking at the numbers, the economic driver in the community is mainly tourism.
“I don’t think it will really benefit this area one bit,” Gibson said.
Mayor Mark Swinnerton, who was the tiebreaking vote, said this resolution is not speaking for all the residents of Schuyler County, but only the residents of the village. He listed several drawbacks to the project that would have a potential detrimental impact on the village, which includes a threat to the water source, an increase in truck traffic the village and a potential negative impact on the tourism industry.
Clifford, who said he is actually works for the competitor of the salt company and not the gas storage, said he still believed gas storage “is not the direction we want to go in Schuyler County.” He said for him, eight to 10 new jobs is not enough to justify the risk to the area as well as tourism.
Fraboni said while he also supports tourism in the area, he was not in favor of the board taking a stand on the issue, adding it only divides and negatively polarizes people against one another.