William S. (Lanny) Joyce, lake-source cooling project manager, and Elizabeth Vastbinder, project coordinator, pose with a model of the heat-exchanger facility, designed by George Hascup of Hascup Lorenzini of Ithaca. Doug Hicks
Lake-source cooling (LSC), one of the largest and most unusual engineering concepts ever considered at Cornell, is moving toward reality at a pace typical of projects requiring extensive environmental review.
University engineers and their consultants are hoping to complete a draft environmental impact statement by year's end, presaging a public review through the winter and spring. If all continues to go well and the necessary governmental permits are granted, Cornell probably will be deciding whether to proceed about this time next year. With a go-ahead, construction could begin in the summer of 1998.
Starting in the year 2000, a large portion of the university would be air-conditioned by transferring some of the chill from the depths of Cayuga Lake to the water in Cornell's cooling pipes, using just 20 percent of the electricity required to power a traditional chilling system.
"We're undertaking an extremely thorough review," said William S. (Lanny) Joyce, the project manager, "to convince ourselves, the community and regulators that LSC is an environmentally beneficial proposal with no significant negative impact."
This is some of the recent and current activity involving lake-source cooling:
·Cornell has purchased Noah's Boat Club, which includes the marina and land at 1000 East Shore Drive, for the heat-exchanger facility. Only a small portion of the land, most of it across East Shore Drive from the marina, would be required for the project. The marina will continue to operate, the land will remain as is for the foreseeable future and plans are being developed with an eye toward minimizing disruption for boaters at the marina during construction.
·The Ithaca Town Board has reviewed and reacted favorably toward architectural drawings and siting plans for the heat-exchanger facility, a sensitively designed structure built into a hillside across Route 34 from the lake shore.
·Cornell is routing the pipeline that will transport water between the campus and the heat-exchanger facility so the city Department of Public Works can replace antiquated utility lines and improve streets and sidewalks along Lake Street and University Avenue as pipeline is laid. The university expects to reach agreement with several other agencies and individuals affected by the pipeline route, including the Ithaca City School District.
·The Cazenovia-based environmental engineering firm of Stearns & Wheler continues to analyze information about LSC's effects on lake ecology, especially water quality, water temperature, construction impacts, control of exotic mussels and preservation of lake life. While some steps must be taken to mitigate LSC's impact, tests continue to indicate that LSC would have no significant detrimental effect on the lake. All findings related to the lake's ecology are being carefully scrutinized by a Technical Review Committee of Cornell's Center for the Environment.
·An independent review conducted this summer by Acres International of Amherst, N.Y., confirmed the technical and economic feasibility of lake-source cooling.
·A 32-page dEIS scoping document -- a voluntary step in the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process -- was prepared by Cornell and accepted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC, lead agency in the SEQR, conducted scoping meetings attended by officials from involved local, state and federal agencies, interested members of the public, and Cornell engineers in the spring. After the dEIS is prepared, it will be reviewed for completeness by the DEC and the other involved agencies. Then the general public and each agency involved in the permitting process will review the dEIS. Following this review, which includes a public hearing, Cornell will have a chance to respond to comments. If there are no major problems, a final environmental impact statement could be ready for DEC approval by the end of the summer.
·Those involved in the project continue to reach out to the community. An updated pamphlet explaining lake-source cooling was distributed at this summer's Ithaca Festival; Joyce and Cornell environmental engineer Robert R. Bland continue to address such groups as the Sierra Club; the Sciencenter is preparing a special lake-source cooling exhibit; and another newsletter will be mailed to the community.
·As a decision on the project grows closer, more Cornellians are becoming directly and indirectly involved. Scientists from the Center for the Environment continue to review findings related to the lake. A number of individuals are working with LSC engineers to plot out the most environmentally advantageous route of the proposed pipeline once it reaches campus. And faculty and students in geology and other disciplines have applied aspects of research conducted for LSC to a number of class projects.