ALABAMA, N.Y. — Orleans County filed a lawsuit against six different parties in hopes to stop construction of a STAMP sewer line that will stretch 9-miles though Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and empty into Oak Orchard Creek.
The respondents of the case are Genesee County Industrial Development Agency (the GCEDC); Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation; STAMP Sewer Works, Inc. (SSW); G. Devincentis & Son Construction Co., Inc.; Clark Patterson Lee; and Highlander Construction.
The lawsuit alleges the manufacturing park’s pipeline was not authorized by Orleans County, that it was improperly financed and will defraud the residents of Orleans County from “millions of taxpayer dollars.”
The Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) in Alabama, New York was created to bring manufacturing businesses the area.
However, all that development brings the need for some improvements to the area.
This includes a much larger sewage system that is planned to run from the STAMP site and into Orleans County.
Grandell Logan with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation feels that much like Orleans County; he too has been left in the dark.
“It kind of plays to our historical trauma, as native people, that’s sort of the story that we’re used to throughout history. We pick up any history book and we can see here’s a time we weren’t considered.”
Even though the Tonawanda Seneca Nation is not part of the lawsuit, he supports the end goal of stopping this pipeline.
“We definitely understand where they’re coming from, up to this point we have felt left out of the decision making... There’s no telling what [pipelines] carry once they get out of somebody’s control. A lot of people here, we still use well water, so we worry a lot about the ground water.”
The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) shared their response to the court that says in part:
“By way of background, STAMP Sewer is constructing a force main to facilitate the sanitary disposal of treated, sanitary wastewater from STAMP to a discharge point at Oak Orchard Creek in the Town of Shelby (the “Force Main”). All required permits and approvals for construction and use of the Force Main have been obtained, including a Right of Way Permit from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to cross Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (“INWR”) and a discharge permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
….
Moreover, any allegation that GCEDC is “using its own money” in contravention of the General Municipal Law is directly contradicted by matters of public record. As Orleans County well knows, funding for STAMP, including the Force Main, comes from a $33 million grant from Empire State Development Corporation, which fully supports the STAMP project.”
The attorneys for Orleans County were contacted for comment, but they did not return any calls.
No court date has been set yet.
