Greig to hold hearing on water law
GREIG — The Greig Town Council on Wednesday will discuss a proposed law that could greatly restrict commercial water projects, including a controversial one that has been in the pipeline for many years.
"I just hope what we're doing protects the people of the town of Greig," town Supervisor Marilyn E. Patterson said.
However, the attorney for John T. and Lynn L. Smoke, owners of the Hidden Falls Spring Water project, suggests the proposed legislation should be sent down the drain.
"In 30 years of practicing law and holding public office, I've never seen a more blatantly unconstitutional, illegal and discriminatory proposed law," said Raymond A. Meier, a past state senator, Oneida county legislator and county executive.
The Town Council will hold a public hearing at 5:45 p.m. on a proposed zoning amendment regulating commercial water extraction, defined as any water withdrawal from the surface or ground that is subsequently sold for off-site use. The proposal is posted on the town's Web site.
The Lewis County Planning Board is slated to review the proposed legislation on Thursday, so Mrs. Patterson wasn't certain the board could adopt it Wednesday.
"Our attorney will advise us on that," she said.
For the better part of the decade, the Smokes, residents of Bangor, Pa., have been working to develop a facility for collection, bulk storage and shipment of spring water on their property off Sweeney Road. Following a public outcry against the project, the Town Council and Planning Board both rejected the Smokes' plans.
In response, the Smokes have proposed building a bulk-water distribution center off Burdicks Crossing Road in the town of Turin, and constructing a water line under the Black River connecting to their property. The projected maximum flow would be 288,000 gallons per day.
An environmental review of the project's latest incarnation is under way, with the state Department of Environmental Conservation serving as lead agency.
Greig's proposed zoning amendment would declare all surface and ground water in the town to be in the "public trust" and require a special permit for any new commercial water extraction. Such projects could be located only in a light industrial zone — the Smokes' property is in a residential zone — and could withdraw only 5,000 gallons of water per day.
The proposed law also would require the Town Council, upon request by the town Planning Board, to hire hydrogeologists as consultants at the applicant's expense. The applicant also would have to issue a surety bond and pay for installation of a water meter and ongoing independent monitoring, including drilling of at least five test wells around the project. If the water level in any of those wells were to drop by 5 percent from the baseline value, water extraction would be stopped. The special permit would be revoked if the well wasn't replenished within 90 days.
Water extraction permits would expire after three years but could be renewed three times, providing up to 12 years of operation.
The proposed legislation would allow the town Planning Board to grant the water extraction permit only if the project meets a stringent set of criteria, including no adverse affects on other water users, natural resources and the health or safety of residents.
Mrs. Patterson said the proposed law was developed over the past year by a committee of town officials and residents.
"It wasn't something that we just pulled out of our hat," she said.
The group borrowed from several municipal laws elsewhere, some of which were adopted only after a water company came in, Mrs. Patterson said.
"There have been some towns that have been hurt by big extractions," she said.
Water, unlike gold, diamonds, oil or other extracted resources, is something humans can't live without, Mrs. Patterson said.
"It's one of the most important commodities we have," she said. "We have to protect it."
Mr. Meier countered that town officials, particularly Mrs. Patterson, have systematically discriminated against his client, exposing the town to "enormous civil liability." A notice of claim was filed against Mrs. Patterson and the town earlier this year for alleged derogatory comments against Mr. Smoke at a Turin town Planning Board meeting in December. No lawsuit has been filed yet, he said.
"What they might as well do is pass a law that says John Smoke can't do business in the town," he said.
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