11/25/17, 11(10 AMNew suit filed against permits for Greenidge Power Plant – FingerLakes1.com

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New suit filed against permits forGreenidge Power Plant! Published: 11/21/2017 @ 10:38 am | Updated: 11/21/2017 @ 03:24 pm

Three local environmental organizations joined the Sierra Club last week in filing a new lawsuit challengingtwo new permits issued for operation of the Greenidge Generating Station on Seneca Lake.

The new permits are the water withdrawal permit and the SPDES water discharge permit issued by the NewYork State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) on September 11, 2017. The lawsuit claimsthat DEC failed to conduct the proper environmental reviews before issuing the permits. The suit asks for thepermits to be annulled and new environmental reviews conducted.

The groups filed Sierra Club v. DEC, Index No. 2017-0232, in Yates County Supreme Court in Penn Yan onNovember 8, 2017.

The local groups joining the Sierra Club as petitioners in the lawsuit are the Committee to Preserve theFinger Lakes (“CPFL”), the Coalition to Preserve New York (“CPNY”) and Seneca Lake Guardian, aWaterkeeper Affiliate (“SLG”).

This is the second suit filed challenging permits issued for operation of Greenidge Station by DEC.

In October 2016, Sierra Club, CPFL and CPNY challenged the air emission discharge permits DEC issued toGreenidge. The air emission permits were issued in September 2016 before the plant resumed operations.

Michael McKeon, a spokesman for Greenidge issued the following statement to FingerLakes1.com:

“The state and federal permits and approvals we were required to secure were and are uniquely strong; theyfacilitated our conversation to natural gas as our primary fuel and they will fully protect the region’s air andwater. Greenidge is now, in many ways, the environmental permitting benchmark by which other similarfacilities will be measured. This suit, which attempts to rehash the same arguments already brought by thesesame few individuals and soundly rejected by the court, does not erase that reality.”

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11/25/17, 11(10 AMNew suit filed against permits for Greenidge Power Plant – FingerLakes1.com

Page 2 of 4http://fingerlakes1.com/2017/11/21/new-suit-filed-against-permits-for-greenidge-power-plant/

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DEC waited until six months after new operations began in April 2017 to issue the plant’s water withdrawaland the water discharge permits.

“These two permits authorize the largest daily water withdrawals and the largest daily water discharges intoSeneca Lake.” said Peter Gamba, president of CPFL. “The water withdrawal permit authorizes withdrawalsof almost 140,000,000 million gallons per day from Seneca Lake and the SPDES water discharge permitauthorizes discharges of up to 134,000,000 million gallons of heated condenser cooling water from theplant’s once-through cooling system into the Keuka Outlet, 700 feet from the lake.”

“Seneca Lake Guardian joined in this suit because we are concerned about the huge impacts the newoperations of the Greenidge plant will have on Seneca Lake,” said Joseph Campbell, President of SLG. “Theheated discharges from the plant increase the likelihood of toxic algae blooms in the shallow area of the lakesurrounding Keuka Outlet. The maximum temperature of the discharge allowed is 108 degrees Fahrenheit insummer and 86 degrees Fahrenheit in winter. These discharges can have a big effect in this area of thelake,” Campbell said.

“In addition to the discharge of up to 134,000,000 gallons per day of heated condenser cooling water intoKeuka Outlet, the SPDES Permit also authorizes discharges into Seneca Lake and groundwater of bottomash pond overflow, including stormwater, treated coal pile runoff, treated maintenance cleaning wastewater,oil separator, and boiler chemical cleaning final rinse; boiler water final rinse, coal pile runoff, fly ash hopperdecant, demineralizer regenerate wastewater, maintenance cleaning wastewater, stormwater and otherdischarges. These additional discharges are not subject to any flow restrictions, but are subject to otherstandards that vary by the type of discharge,” Gamba remarked.

Kate Bartholomew, Conservation Chair of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter noted that “the SPDES permitrequires the installation of cylindrical wedge-wire screens and variable speed drives to reduce fish kills andinjuries by the plant and requires GGLLC to submit a cylindrical wedge-wire screen pilot study plan,installation and operation plan, and a verification monitoring plan. The SPDES Permit also requires a dilutionstudy to determine appropriate dilution factors for Seneca Lake,” Bartholomew said.

“We think DEC should have required the preparation of a draft environmental impact statement and allowedthe public to weigh in on the impacts of these withdrawals and discharges before allowing this plant to beginnew operations,” Bartholomew said. “The plant is currently operating without any equipment to reduce fishkills and injuries in violation of Clean Water Act requirements, what impact is that having on the lake?”Bartholomew asked.

The environmental groups assert that the water withdrawal and SPDES discharge permits are legallydeficient because DEC violated the requirements of the water withdrawal permitting law, the SPDES law andthe State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) when it issued the permits without conducting aproper environmental review of the impacts of restarting the Greenidge Station.

Petitioners are preparing their appeal to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department in Rochester of JudgeWilliam Kocher’s April 2017 decision to grant Respondents’ motion to dismiss the first Article 78 petition,which challenged the air permits.

The environmental groups are represented in both proceedings by attorneys Richard Lippes from Buffaloand Rachel Treichler from Hammondsport.

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11/25/17, 11(10 AMNew suit filed against permits for Greenidge Power Plant – FingerLakes1.com

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11/25/17, 11(10 AMNew suit filed against permits for Greenidge Power Plant – FingerLakes1.com

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