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Mountain Eagle: Letters to the Editor | March 4, 2022

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Let’s first start here with you providing this requested information so we The Trash Spies who you reference as providing nonsense to the community can evaluate the safety of this garbage processing plant to our community and, I can assure you, is not pretending with only one motivation which is to stop anyone from destroying or doing harm to our Beautiful, magnificent, scenic community.

– Trash Spy J.(Joseph) Scarangello, Grand Gorge

It’s not a downstater vs local or NIMBY vs local jobs issue. As we are divided, we are weakened. Let us collectively reject this marriage of corporate interest and government subsidy or we will once again be it’s victim.

Beware those selling promises that sound too good to be true. They usually are.

– Allan Aujero Roxbury

If the Hughes Energy project is worthwhile and the technology so revolutionary, HEG should be willing and able to provide an address where a fully operational plant can be seen. HEG should be able to provide real data that can be confirmed. These are both reasonable requests. Mr. McSpadon was right about one thing, “the local community has a bucket of talent” which leaves me wondering why he and HEG would think anyone would ever believe their misleading GARBAGE.

– Greg Cross, Supervisor Town of Prattsville

Instead of muddying the facts, why doesn’t Hughes answer direct questions, such as: what is the full, life cycle effect of this project, including all energy used to transport waste, process over 175,000 tons of waste, and deliver waste to its final destinations? And how does that compare with other, proven options available? Have any studies been done?

Stop insulting our intelligence and start giving us straight answers.

– Robin Factor Roxbury

Hughes reputation for starting and bailing out of large projects has been well documented. What, we ask, are the future plans for the proposed site? Will Hughes re-sell to yet another developer, or will they simply abandon this site should it prove untenable in any way? Who, will be left to pick up the pieces and live with the behemoth in our midst?

Surely, Mr. Hughes and his team cannot really be relying on Dane McSpedon to provide accurate information about the proposed plant. The contempt for the intelligence of local citizens displayed in his letter is truly astounding. They should be ashamed.

– Amy Gilman Srebnick, Grand Gorge

 

Mountain Eagle: The More Grog The Merrier
Michael Ryan | March 4, 2022

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“He [Dane McSpedon] said there were similar successful operations overseas so it was simply a matter of America jumping on the Good Ship Lollipop and putting Grand Gorge and Prattsville on the environmental leadership map. Local citizens embraced the idea of saving the planet, fewer landfills, more jobs and gobs of tax revenues but a pesky problem keeps popping up.

Nobody can find out if any of this is true. McSpedon has refused to provide definitive information or contact numbers for what have now become alleged overseas operations. Which is where the Trash Spies entered the picture, some pretty smart and respected people looking for the elusive overseas plants on their own.

What they’ve found is this…nothing exists even close to what McSpedon claims or Hughes Energy says it will build…in fact, the company is now totally disassociating themselves from anything overseas.”

Times Union: State orders sweeping review of proposed trash-to-fuel plant in Catskills | December 2, 2021

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“Hughes then had to prepare a "scoping" document laying out how it planned to study and minimize these potential impacts. The scoping document, released Oct. 1, stated there would be no significant negative impacts on odor, water resources or traffic, and the only issue Hughes felt it needed to address was the plant's impacts on noise.

The public had 60 days to comment on this document, and the DEC received more than 750 written submissions. After demands from environmental groups and "hundreds" of letter-writers to extend the comment period, the DEC requested adding 30 days, but Hughes Energy declined the request, according to the DEC.

On Wednesday, the DEC released its own scoping document, declaring Hughes must address all four potential impacts the agency originally identified, and adding a fifth - the potential impact on public infrastructure, such as utilities, emergency medical services and open space.”

Mountain Eagle: The Trash Spies Keep Digging
Michael Ryan | December 23, 2021

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“Unfortunately, two years into this thing, the truth is inexplicably floaty in terms of what Hughes Energy does and how many of these autoclave businesses, if any, are actively revolutionizing the garbage industry. So what the Trash Spies want to know is, if some of the perilous planetary problems can be be solved in little old Prattsville and Grand Gorge, why aren’t the people already doing it in Limerick and York or wherever, shouting it from their overseas rooftops for all the world to hear?

And what the Trash Spies want to know is, will Prattsville and Grand Gorge and Planet Earth be better places to live with 150,000 tons of garbage being steadily trucked into the Schoharie Valley every year? And maybe it doesn’t amount to a hill of decaying beans but what the Trash Spies really want to know is, how and why did Prattsville and Grand Gorge get so lucky and what in heaven’s name could be so threateningly non-disclosable in all those NDA’s?”

The River: In the Catskills, One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Business Model | December 2, 2021

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“There’s not a lot of places like this left in this country, sadly, especially in New York,” Imhauser says. “To see an industrial plant of this size and scale trying to come in and build on a place that’s never had a building…it’s really disheartening. Most people are here because of how unique and pristine this land is, whether they’re a tourist or have been living here for 50 years. That is the pull here.”

Despite the environmental sensitivity of the area, the site was selected in part due to its proximity to the existing Greene-del Sanitation and Recycling station, according to Hughes. “The project selected this location for several reasons including the parcel availability, existing permitted transfer station and regional demand for waste management options,” according to the company. “The New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), along with decreasing landfill capacity and increasing disposal costs have created an environment of increased demand for alternative waste management options.”

Mountain Eagle: Letters to the Editor | December 3, 2021

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Described as an important renewable energy project, it is,in fact, an experimental pilot program with probable long-term consequences to the area. Rejected by other communities in the U.S. including several European locations, the Town of Roxbury Planning Board, in cooperation with the NYS DEC/DOT and NYC DEP studying this project, will be a contributing factor with site plan approval, using Grand Gorge as an unwilling sacrifice. Roxbury, potentially holds the fate of this little Hamlet and its borderline town of Prattsville, as well.

– Lee Buchar, Grand Gorge

Hughes Energy is hyping their proposed project for its environmental benefits and for its role in solving municipal solid waste (MSW) issues. It is worth noting that the locale surrounding the proposed site of the Hughes Energy project is rural, agricultural, recreational, sparsely populated and not in need of additional waste treatment services. Hughes is proposing to bring this facility to a pristine NYC watershed area with the goal of solving a problem that does not exist here… they are burdening [our community] with new and unknown impacts to our water, our air, our flora and fauna, our roads and our quality of life.

– Mirka della Cava

Our communities comprise an area that is deeply rural, supplies drinking water to NYC, and is in the midst of thousands of acres of state and DEP-preserved forest and wetlands. This proposal has the potential to change the quality of life for many people and communities in the Catskills Region with little benefit to them, and the potential for serious environmental harm. In the long run, unspoiled nature is the resource and attraction that brings jobs, employment, and a solid tax base to this beautiful area—not garbage.

– Doug McLaurine and Robin Factor, Roxbury General

NYSDEC issues a Positive Declaration | September 20, 2021

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”The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has determined that the proposed Hughes Energy, LLC. Solid Waste Management Facility has the potential for at least one significant adverse environmental impact [including traffic, noise, odor, and water resources]. Accordingly, DEC has prepared a Positive Declaration pursuant to the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR). A Draft Environmental Impact Statement is required for the project.”

This declaration means that Hughes Energy’s proposal must undergo a full environmental review that includes a formal public comment period. Stay close as we organize and act for the long road ahead.

Radio Kingston: Biofuels Coming to the Catskills? | September 19, 2021

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Green Radio Hour with Jon Bowermaster
Every week it seems new community static rises up around one or another potential new energy source. Which is a good thing! We need to be looking for options to burning fossil fuels, which will take time, investigation and inevitable public-wrangling. To that end, a sizable biofuels plant, which proposes to turn mostly food waste into pellets that can be burned for energy, is proposed in Roxbury. The potential for toxic spillage and a vast increase in truck traffic has kicked off the debate with a couple volatile public meetings. Catskill Mountainkeeper Wes Gillingham and Times-Union reporter Roger Hannigan Gilson bring us up to speed on the Green Radio Hour with Jon Bowermaster.


“A lot of the proposals that are out there are more about creating large markets for this stuff, which is just a distraction from moving away from fossil fuels…we should be weaning ourselves from these fossil fuels as fast as we can.”

-Wes G., Catskill Mountainkeeper 

Mountain Eagle: Letters to the Editor | September 10, 2021

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“It is my belief, and that of most of my community, that this area of natural beauty and resources is not appropriate for industrialization. Our biggest industries by far are tourism and farming and this project is simply not compatible.”

-Paul M., Grand Gorge, NY  

“This is a pristine area. The Delaware County Sanitary (Landfill) Solid Waste Management Center in Walton has just been approved for another 40 to 60 years of use, so we are getting along just fine without this plant. Please don’t destroy our beautiful town. We don’t need it, given the unknown environmental and community problems that can occur.”

-J & D L., Roxbury, NY

“That is one reason among many that residents of Prattsville and Roxbury, and of other locales who number almost a thousand, object (as your article notes) to turn the proposed site “not only [into] a dumping ground for municipal solid waste from a fifty mile ra- dius, but also a guinea pig for a green energy project not yet thoroughly established ..”; 

-Ralph C., Grand Gorge, NY

“Mr. McSpedon of Hughes Energy kept quoting the traffic total to Greene-Del as "45 vehicles a day". While that may be technically true, notice that he did not say "45 tractor-trailers". That is all that keeps the statement from being a lie.”

-Joyce D., Grand Gorge, NY

Catskill Mountain News: Local Teen Speaks Out Against Hughes | September 3, 2021

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“To take advantage of beat down people and plan to abuse natural resources so horribly is atrocious. To market it as a ‘green’ project when it could harm everything around it is revolting. To know all of this and still go through with it for your greed is disgusting. This area is wonderful, it’s wonderful without any big factories or any huge trucks zooming by. Every con about this project heavily outweighs the pros.”

-Rowan K., Roxbury, NY

Op Ed: Trashing America's Original Wilderness | August 21, 2021

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“Enter a new technology into a fragile ecosystem. One that depends on the very watershed that gives so much to the people of New York. A stone’s throw from a reservoir that services North America’s largest city. One spill. One fire. One mistake undoes all of the sacrifices that New Yorkers have made to create these irreplaceable resources and very likely could not be undone.”

-Ian W., Roxbury, NY

The Daily Star: Proposed facility would turn waste into fuel | August 17, 2021

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Saving room in a landfill is not a matter of great concern for Delaware County, which was among the first to implement a centralized waste facility and continues to lead the industry in innovative and diverse uses of solid waste, according to Public Works Commissioner Sue McIntyre.

While other municipalities have adopted profit-driven waste management strategies, importing solid waste from beyond their borders, Delaware County maintains an operation in Walton that is “very much self-sufficient,” McIntyre said.

In an age when many U.S. landfills are nearing capacity, the Walton site has maintained an efficient intake rate “only because we divert so much material away from the landfill by recycling and composting and only handling Delaware County waste,” McIntyre said.

–Sarah Eames, Staff Writer

Mountain Eagle: Concerned Prattsville Resident Voices Opposition to the Hughes Proposal | August, 2021

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“Why did the company choose this site, in between Grand Gorge and Prattsville, near protected wetlands, the Schoharie Creek, the beautiful rolling hills of the far western Catskills? Because it is on the edge of two counties, where zoning laws can get complicated? It feels a bit like the David and Goliath story— the corporations with their professionalized team of lawyers, scientists, etc. present a rosy picture of “benefits for all” package with the tropes of “green,” “economic opportunity” etc. to seduce the local, economically-challenged community into awestruck submission.”

-Peter P., Prattsville, NY