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$10,000
donation by Seneca Meadows, Inc. helps protect land |
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Seneca Meadows, Inc., the operator of New York State’s largest solid waste landfill, has made a $10,000 donation to Braddock Bay Bird Observatory for the purchase and protection of land near Braddock Bay. The donation has been used towards the purchase of approximately five acres of land bordering the bay and the banding station. Preservation of this land is a vital component in the ongoing success of BBBO’s conservation, research, and education programs. In addition to its generous donation for land preservation, Seneca Meadows has also made a pledge of $5,000 to be dispersed over the next five years. This donation will assist BBBO with its annual operating budget.
BBBO Board members David Bonter and Rick Marx recently met with Don Genticlore, Division Manager, and Tom Hasek, Environmental, Engineering & Compliance Manager from Seneca Meadows to tour the landfill facility in the town of Seneca Falls, New York. The tour highlighted Seneca Meadows’ commitment to the community and to environmental stewardship. For instance, Seneca Meadows captures the methane gas that is generated as a result of the decomposition of the solid waste disposed in the landfill. The gas is then used to fuel an adjacent power generation plant that produces enough power to meet the electric needs necessary to operate the entire landfill as well as power for approximately 10,000 homes annually. In addition, the facility turns more than one million waste tires per year into a liner used in landfill construction. The tires are shredded in an on-site tire shredder, eliminating the need for a natural resource, crushed stone.
The current landfill will reach capacity within five years and will be "capped" with soil and planted with grasses. Bonter and Marx encouraged Seneca Meadows to consider managing the capped facility to benefit grassland birds. Seneca Meadows is also working to protect more land for birds in the wetlands complex surrounding Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. As part of a landfill expansion proposal, Seneca Meadows proposes to mitigate the expansion by restoring nearly 400 acres of freshwater wetlands within the Black Brook watershed that have been eliminated or degraded over the past 50 years. If the required regulatory approvals are obtained, the restored wetlands would be maintained in perpetuity, and would be a great benefit to the plants and animals that would inhabit the mitigation site. The proposed mitigation would increase the wetland inventory in the Montezuma wetlands complex. These wetlands serve not only as a significant resting and feeding area for numerous species of migratory birds during both fall and spring migration, but would also provide suitable nesting habitat for many bird species.
BBBO, as an environmental conservation organization, recognizes the need for modern, well-run landfills and applauds Seneca Meadows for its ongoing sensitivity to the environment and the local community. BBBO is happy to welcome Seneca Meadows as a major benefactor, and looks forward to advising the company on how to best manage its properties for the benefit of birds.
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