Facing opposition to its plans in Saratoga County, a fertilizer production company is now pitching to Fulton County officials.
Republican Gloversville Fulton County Supervisor Constantine Orfan called a meeting last month between the county’s public works committee and representatives of Northeastern Biochar Solutions.
Orfan says he’s all for a production plant in his county.
“This community, Fulton County, New York, like any other upstate community is looking to grow. And when I first heard about biochar and Moreau there was only controversy going on and then they put the moratorium in. And among my campaign promises I said that I am pro-economic development and jobs. And I wanted to keep a campaign promise,” said Orfan.
Saratoga Biochar Solutions, a subsidiary of NBS, had proposed a production plant that would process more than 4,200 tons of biosolids, or sewage sludge, in the northern Saratoga County town of Moreau per week.
Progress on that plant is stalled. Town officials implemented a nine-month construction moratorium in the town’s industrial park as a task force rewrites zoning codes from the late 1980s. Local environmentalists launched a grassroots effort to stop the plant altogether, and the issue has roiled local politics.
A Fulton County plant would be located near the jointly-owned Johnstown and Gloversville wastewater treatment facility and create roughly 25 permanent jobs and require more than 100 workers to construct the plant.
Saratoga Biochar Solutions CEO Raymond Apy says he has no intention of abandoning the Moreau plant.
“In order to solve New York state’s biosolids problems you would need about 20 of our facilities throughout the state including a fair concentration around New York City. So, there’s certainly room for more, especially along the I-90 corridor. Which is a major biosolids hauling corridor. There are probably upwards of 100 biosolids transport trucks that travel Route 90 every day. Anything that’s fairly close to any of those Thruway exits is a good candidate—if there’s a good site and a willing community that’s a good candidate for one of our projects,” said Apy.
The Moreau plant would have three production lines and cost upwards of $90 million. Apy says the proposed Fulton County facility would be one or two lines with a price tag between $40 and $60 million.
Orfan says he wanted to make the public aware of the potential plant as early as possible for maximum resident input.
“I am not a dictator, never will be. I have to work as a team member and as a community leader. So my opinion could be outnumbered or it could be supported. There’s no way of knowing. But I would love the public to know where I stand and why I stand where I stand; being pro-jobs and economic development. And that’s only a start,” said Orfan.
Local Moreau opposition has focused on environmental and health concerns surrounding the presence of harmful so-called forever chemicals in biosolids.
Saratoga Biochar representatives say recent EPA guidelines promote their production process as a way to eliminate PFAS chemicals present in waste. Activists say that’s a mischaracterization of the EPA’s findings.
“I think really the ball is in the court of Biochar to see if they would like to move forward in Fulton County. You know, I think that the first step for them is to sit down with the joint sewer board and pitch their idea and see if there’s interest from that point. You know I would assume that presentations would be made to both the city of Gloversville Common Council and the city of Johnstown Common Council,” said Henze.
Orfan says he welcomes the potential boost to his county’s economy.
“Why not start somewhere? You’ve got to remember, zero jobs because this company isn’t like, plus zero jobs because that job isn’t liked, plus zero jobs because the third company isn’t liked, you see where I’m going with this, equals zero in the end. Let’s start and build from there. Let’s have an open mind,” said Orfan.
Apy says Northeastern Biochar representatives plan to present before the Fulton County Industrial Development Agency and the Gloversville-Johnstown Joint Wastewater Treatment Facility Board.
