Reading planning board asks for risk analysis

    READING—The town of Reading planning board joins the Watkins Glen village board in asking the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to require a quantitative risk analysis (QRA) of the proposed $40 million Inergy gas project.
    According to Joseph Campbell, founder of Gas Free Seneca, the planning board voted on drafting a letter to the DEC at the Thursday, Oct. 20 meeting.  In the letter the board is asking the state to require Inergy LLC to do a QRA performed by an independent third party.  In June, the planning board had previously refused to hear public comments.
    Inergy is proposing to build a liquid petroleum gas storage and transfer facility in Reading.  According to the state, Inergy is proposing to store a maximum of 2.1 million barrels of gas in the naturally formed salt caverns on U.S. Salt property; owned by Inergy. The process will also include using a 14 acre brine pond to hold the salt water displaced from the caverns by gas. The facility will connect to the existing TEPPCO LPG pipeline and will ship liquid gas by trucks via Routes 14 and 14A and by the Norfolk & Southern Railroad.
    The state is currently accepting comments on the project. A new public hearing will be held Thursday, Nov. 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the Watkins Glen high school auditorium. The DEC is accepting oral comments at the public meeting about Inergy’s facility in the town of Reading and the state’s draft environmental impact statement on the project.