Archive: Opinions

My family has lived in Lansing for 24 years. We live just off Rt. 34B, five miles north of the Lansing Schools and just 2 miles south of the Cayuga Power Plant. The owners have submitted a permit request to convert the plant to natural gas. All of this gas would be transported by truck.

I am very concerned about the possibility of 25-60 gas trucks (number from the permit request) driving on 34B each day to get to and from the plant. That is up to 120 new truck-trips through Lansing daily. I am especially concerned that most people are unaware of this. How can such a huge impact on our town not be known?

I have been speaking with friends and neighbors and nearly all of them did not know that the proposed change at the plant could result in up to 60 trucks carrying toxic gas coming through the middle of Lansing every day. My husband and I drive on that road to work every day. We, and many other people, ride our bicycles or run on it. My children, my friends' children who are learning to drive, and all of the families bringing their children to school each day, drive on that road. It is only two lanes wide with narrow shoulders and steep hills.

The Lansing Central Schools' campus is directly on the truck route. That area is already very congested in the mornings and afternoons with buses and carpools, parents picking up children and teenage drivers. Traffic is often backed up at the Middle School and High School entrances out on to 34B. Just imagine adding many tractor trailer trucks - on a slick, snowy day or a foggy, rainy day. And consider the noise all of those trucks will make downshifting to slow for the school zone right in front of the Elementary School. The risk of dozens of trucks carrying toxic gas passing by our schools and homes and the possibility of an increase in accidents is unacceptable.

Should the permit be denied by Governor Cuomo and the DEC, there are obvious concerns about lost jobs and reduced tax revenue. We would need to help find financial assistance or new jobs for workers and other sources of funding for the town and schools. The school district has already successfully dealt with an over 80% decrease in tax revenue from the old, devalued plant. We can work toward a solution that prioritizes the health and safety of Lansing families instead of having all of those potentially dangerous trucks coming through our community.

Diane Beckwith
Lansing, NY

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