BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — County lawmakers heard about the impact the new Buffalo Bills stadium could have on the environment Thursday.
Attorneys and other leaders presented the findings of studies looking at everything from water use to traffic flow. Attorney Adam Walters from Phillips Lytle says, "There are from my perspective no significant adverse environmental impacts."
Part of the process of building a new stadium includes a state-mandated Environmental Quality Review. It's a process known as SEQR. Erie county lawmakers now have the results from those studies that have taken place over the last several months.
Walters said, "generally speaking the studies found that because the old stadium was designed and built 50 years ago before we had environmental review statutes, the new stadium with its state-of-the-art designs, environmental practices will actually be an improvement in many instances." The new facility is expected to use less water, improve water pressure for area residents on game day, improve traffic flow, and more.
The environmental committee is made up of leaders from Erie County's Department of Environment and Planning, leaders from the Buffalo Bills, Attorneys, and others. They also looked at the sewage system and said they found there's "plenty of capacity."
Now that the findings have been presented and discussed, the legislature will vote on the SEQR documents and determine if there's a significant environmental impact.
Daniel Castle, Commissioner of Erie County Department of Environment and Planning said, "I think the meeting today went very, very well. Their questions were very good, and I think we were able to address them to their satisfaction so they will vote hopefully next week."
