(Credit: Luke Mosseau, 2023)
Protestors stand outside the Sandy Hill Arts Center in Hudson Falls before a Saratoga Biochar Solutions public discussion of the company's proposed project in Moreau on March 29, 2023.
Saratoga Biochar Solutions executives held the latest in a series of required meetings as they pursue permission to build a processing plant they say will turn biosolids from wastewater and wood into carbon fertilizer. They met stiff resistance from a vocal crowd that often interrupted or shouted dissatisfaction at the Sandy Hill Arts Center in Hudson Falls. The meeting was held March 28. Protestors aligned with the Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls and the “Not Moreau” groups held signs in front of the building before the meeting and took part later, inside. More than 80 people attended.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation requires the company to receive a solid waste management facility permit and a state air facility permit since the proposed location of the plant at the Moreau Industrial Park sits in an environmental justice area. According to the permit application that the company posted on its website, the two-mile radius from its location includes not only the Town of Moreau, but the villages of South Glens Falls, Hudson Falls and Fort Edward. A recording of the meeting will be forwarded to the DEC as part of the application process.
Tracy Frisch of the CAAN handed out information pamphlets during the pre-meeting protest rally as heavy commuter traffic on Hudson Falls’ Main Street honked their horns in support of signs reading “Stop Biochar” and a “No Sewage Sludge.”
In the pamphlet, CAAN claims that “Saratoga Biochar is an unproven company that has never built or operated any type of facility anywhere.”
Many of the arguments made during the meeting were ones people had brought up last year when the Town of Moreau Planning Board approved the project with conditions.
Frisch and others complained about potential air pollutants, such as nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions from the plant. Concern over PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” was also at the top of the residents’ minds.
Saratoga Biochar President Bryce Meeker has told FoothillsBusinessDaily.com that the super heating process breaks down PFAS and PFOA into nontoxic chemicals.
“There needs to be an Environmental Impact Study (EIS), as well as an independent consultant to assess the project’s potential harm,” said Frisch.
Moreau resident Tom Masso agreed. He said the process has lacked transparency regarding the environmental impact.
“The fundamental problem with this project is the lack of trust between the community and Biochar. It is the result of a process short of independent scientific data, relying more on a slick marketing campaign,” Masso said. “We’re terrified that this project will move forward without serious evaluation from independent experts.”
Biochar’s Meeker has said that the multi-step process that super heats the solids without burning them includes various physical and chemical filters that remove dangerous chemicals from the process.
Not only do people question the efficacy of the process, they fear the DEC would not enforce the emission levels, to which Saratoga Biochar didn’t have a clear answer. When Masso asked Saratoga Biochar CEO Ray Apy if the company will hire a third party independent consultant, Apy simply replied "No.”
Back on August 25, 2022, the Moreau Planning Board approved the site plan with 16 environmental health and safety conditions. The plan is to construct the facility in three phases over the next five years on 5.89 acres within Moreau Industrial Park.
The Clean Air Action Network (CAAN) is suing the Moreau Planning Board over their hasty acceptance of Saratoga Biochar’s proposal that the plant would have no significant impacts on the environment or people’s health.
Saratoga Biochar CEO Ray Apy expressed frustration by the mischaracterization of his company and wished to make some clarifications at the meeting’s outset.
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“SBS is not an ethanol refinery and is not anything like an ethanol refinery,” Apy stated.
The facility will receive only non-hazardous biosolids feedstock from local municipal wastewater treatment facilities, and clean wood waste feedstock, to manufacture Carbon Fertilizer for beneficial use, according to Apy.
Biochar’s Meeker identified six purposes for the project:
- Recover resources.
- Displace Dirty Industries.
- Destroy Contaminants.
- Sequester Carbon.
- Restore Soil.
- Protect Human Health.
“We’re not here to harm people,” said Meeker. “Air emissions will be monitored, tested, and reported. All handling of biosolids will be performed indoors.”
Contrary to Moreau residents, Saratoga Biochar execs framed the company as environmentally conscious when discussing their fertilizing manufacturing process.
If all goes according to plan, Saratoga Biochar hopes to begin operational use at the facility in the spring of 2025, after the first initial construction phase.