Ithacans Bruce Shindhelm, left, and Edward Humulock, right, talk with Cornell Lake Source Cooling Project Manager Lanny Joyce and Liz Moran, Stearns & Wheler representative, about plans for the LSC project at an open house on Aug. 2 at the site of the proposed heat-exchanger facility on East Shore Drive. Frank DiMeo/University Photography
The draft Environmental Impact Statement (dEIS) for Cornell's proposed Lake Source Cooling (LSC) project drew technical, procedural and emotional objections as well as support at a recent public hearing held by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Some of the nine speakers at the Aug. 6 public hearing at Boynton Middle School predicted ecological damage to Cayuga Lake and questioned the role of Cornell faculty members in environmental studies.
As proposed by Cornell facilities engineers, LSC would replace the university's conventional cooling system and its energy-hungry compressors and chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants with a system of pumps, piping and heat exchangers to tap a renewable natural resource the coldness of Cayuga Lake water. Chilled water, circulating through a closed-loop between the campus and a heat-exchanger facility near the lakeside, would cool university buildings and equipment, as well as some Ithaca City School District buildings.
The hearing was held to obtain public comment on the 1,200-page dEIS, which was released in early July and concludes that the project would have only negligible environmental impact on the lake.
Some speakers at the public hearing appeared not to trust the dEIS, which was developed by the engineering consulting firm of Stearns & Wheler, or even the integrity of Cornell faculty members. Town of Ithaca resident Pauline Layton recalled another Cayuga Lake proposal some 30 years ago, when Cornellians helped halt a nuclear-powered electricity-generating plant that would have sent hot water to the lake.
"The lake is in danger of being 'modified slightly,' and all these Cornell professors are saying it is OK," Layton said. "How is it possible for them to be objective under these circumstances?"
Lakeside resident Donald Stephenson, terming himself a Cornell-trained biologist, said lake-impact models are "based on fudgey data." Stephenson said LSC "would be pumping (phosphorus) fertilizer from the bottom of the lake and dumping it just below the surface. This phosphorous makes weeds, algae and E. coli bacteria grow."
Support for LSC came from Edmund Ritchie, president of the Ithaca-Cortland Building Trades Council, who called LSC "environmentally friendly" because it would reduce the burning of fossil fuels and eliminate the use of chemical refrigerants. Ritchie said the $55-million project would create "hundreds of good-paying jobs."
David Morales came to the public hearing with recent cold-water experience. He said he had spent the entire day swimming in the lake, and the endeavor had produced something of an epiphany. "You are literally turning the lake upside down," he said. "There's a whole lot of life down there that depends on the natural being of the lake. I'm not a scientist, but I love the lake. The lake trout are there at 42 degrees; at 43 degrees they are gone."
"We believe that all the concerns, including those raised at the hearing, are adequately addressed in the environmental impact statement," said Lanny Joyce, LSC project manager. "However, we appreciate the public interest in this project and welcome all additional comment."
By law, all public comments on the dEIS must be considered by agencies approving the project. Written comments will be accepted through Sept. 8 at the regional office of the N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation, 1285 Fisher Ave., Cortland, N.Y. 13045. Copies of the dEIS are at the Engineering Library in Carpenter Hall on campus, at the Tompkins County Public Library and in the municipal offices of the towns of Ithaca and Lansing, the village of Cayuga Heights and the city of Ithaca.