Residents share concerns about compression station

The debate over upgrades to the Borger Compression Station centered at the Dryden Town Board Aug. 20 business meeting. Many members of the public signed onto the Town Board’s Zoom meeting to voice their concerns about the energy plant’s environmental impact to Town Board members and representatives from Dominion Energy, the company behind the Borger Compression Station.

Local residents and Town Board members also rehashed the revisions to zoning laws in Varna, a frequent topic of discussion during this summer’s meetings.

Early last spring, Dominion Energy submitted a proposal to the town of Dryden to add two new turbine compressors and three new microturbines to the Borger Compression Station, as well as upgrade some of the energy plant’s aging and faulty infrastructure. The Borger Compression Station is an already-operating power facility located at 219 Ellis Hollow Creek Rd. in the town of Dryden, operated by Dominion Energy Transmission.

In recent years, proposed maintenance of the compression station’s infrastructure has raised some controversy among town residents — in particular those whose properties are near the facility — as the current infrastructure of the energy plant releases sulfur dioxide, nitrous dioxide, nitrous oxide and other hazardous pollutants, which are irritants to the lungs and eyes and can cause asthma, according to Dryden Deputy Town Supervisor Dan Lamb.

Following public outcry, Dominion Energy agreed to use equipment with cleaner, safer emissions. But because of the company’s use of improved equipment, it can now apply to the state for a more lenient permit, called a small source permit, which allows it to run the equipment for more hours per year.

As a result, though the new infrastructure will generate a lower quantity of “criteria pollutants” — the chemicals that harm the health of those living in the immediate area — the plant will produce significantly more carbon dioxide than before.

Fifteen members of the public spoke against the project. Those speaking recognized the improvement to the health of nearby residents that results from the reduction in criteria pollutants but expressed concern about investing resources into a plant that contributes to climate change.

“We need to take a sharp U-turn on fossil fuels,” said Martha Robertson, District No. 13 representative in the Tompkins County Legislature. “Fossil fuels will be a stranded asset.”

Residents pushed for a broader opposition to funding the fossil fuel industry.

“We know that gas isn’t safe; we know that gas isn’t reliable,” resident Lisa Marshall said. “We know it’s not the future.”
Several others expressed a similar sentiment.
“It doesn’t make sense to be ramping up any compressor station,” said Carol Chock, an Ithaca resident. “It’s time to ramp them down.”

The more lenient permit allows for far higher carbon dioxide emissions, and though representatives from Borger said that they would not reach their highest allowable capacity, members of the public expressed skepticism.

The compressor station is connected to the Iroquois Pipeline, which is half owned by Dominion Energy and half owned by TC Energy. The pipeline brings gas to downstate New York, according to Don Houser of Dominion Energy.

The plant’s connections to broader natural gas infrastructure led to more distrust from the public that Dominion Energy’s energy production could be constrained.

Town Board members advocated for members of the public to the representatives from Dominion Energy, pushing the representatives to identify their role among the broader natural gas infrastructure of the region and to explain why the public should trust that they will not emit at the highest allowable level.

But in the Town Board’s agenda meeting Aug. 14, Lamb warned against moving ahead with this project too slowly, fearing that if the project takes more than a year to be fully approved, Dominion might back out of their promise to use cleaner equipment that is less harmful to the health of nearby residents.

“There’s a high likelihood they’ll walk away because no one’s making them do it,” Lamb said.

The improved equipment that Dominion agreed to use is considerably more expensive than the equipment it was originally going to install, according to Lamb, which he said further supports the concern that the company might have reason to back out of their promise.

“The No. 1 driver of this project was community driven — you coming to us to do this project,” Houser said, referring to Dominion Energy’s inclusion in the proposal of infrastructure that emits lower quantities of criteria pollutants.

The primary suggestion from members of the public was that the town hire an independent expert in emissions in order to accurately analyze and explain the details of natural gas emissions.

“There’s too much that we don’t know,” said Gina Cacioppo. “We need to hold Borger accountable in some way.”
Following the discussion, the Town Board unanimously voted to make the town the lead seeker on the project.

The Board then heard public comment on the rezoning amendment for the hamlet of Varna.

The new amendment allows for an increase in allowable density that is three times the recommended level of the Varna Plan but nonetheless places a lower cap on the potential population increase that the current zoning laws, according to Town Board member Jim Skaley.

But in a July 26 letter to Burger, Tompkins County Commissioner of Planning and Sustainability Katherine Borgella asked that the town maintain the 2015 zoning laws.

Members of the public supported reducing the allowable density, calling attention to the so-called “myth” that greater density results in more affordable housing.

According to town resident Janet Morgan, families have been kicked out of their homes so that the owner could try to sell the property to big developers, like Trinitas, which has submitted a proposal for development in Varna.

“These folks were our neighbors. Who will replace them? People who can afford high-price units,” Morgan said. “I still hope that Dryden is a place where people are valued more than big profits.”

Robertson suggested utilizing “inclusive zoning,” a common tool for requiring a prescribed percentage of affordable housing. Robertson advocated for a moratorium on rezoning amendments until town officials take a closer look at the inclusive zoning option. Town resident Chuck Geisler also supported a moratorium.

Some Town Board members were concerned that they could be sued for enacting a 6-month moratorium, but Skaley suggested that the Board prepare documents for a moratorium.

The next Town Board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. Information on the agenda and joining the meeting will be posted on the town’s website, dryden.ny.us.