UPDATE: Patriot plans hit roadblock; site plan approval unknown until next week

TIOGA COUNTY, N.Y. -- The owners of Patriot Water Treatment, LLC will have to wait another week to find out whether their special use permit to develop a gas drilling wastewater site at the former Matthews Chevrolet location in Owego is approved, or whether the request will be denied in its entirety.

During a Town of Owego Planning Board meeting held last week, approval of the special use permit for a flood plain did not receive the four votes needed by the board to pass - so the owners will now have to wait until next week to bring their request before the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The lack of votes needed to approve the site plan followed the same lack of votes rendered at a Tioga County Planning Board meeting one week earlier. According to the Town Attorney, Judy Melville, if the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) does not approve next week, then the requests will end and the owners will not be able to pursue the Taylor Road location for their treatment facility. The ZBA vote is scheduled for Wednesday, March 10, at 7 p.m., and will take place in Tioga County's Hubbard Auditorium located at 56 Main St. in Owego, N.Y.

Andrew Blocksom, who is one of three owners of Patriot Water Treatment, LLC, came up with plans in October of 2009 to develop an industrial facility at the former Chevy dealership location on Taylor Road in Owego for the treatment of waste water from gas drilling sites around the region.

The facility, according to Blocksom, would bring in approximately four "tanker size" trucks per hour, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, to recycle waste water from drilling sites, and then reload with distilled water that would be processed at the facility through a procedure that Blocksom described as brand new technology.

And with millions of gallons of water being utilized per day at gas drilling sites throughout the northeast region, combined with the need for water resources, Blocksom’s concept of recycling water - for the most part - made sense.

But for residents in Tioga County, the location of the proposed site, combined with the projected truck traffic, drew hundreds to the recent County Planning Board meeting and last week's Town of Owego Planning Board Meeting.

The truck traffic, according to the proposed site plans, would travel to the site, and then after unloading would run through the village - traveling along Front Street, East Front Street, North Avenue and West Main Street. These roads are all located in and surrounding the historic district and downtown area of Owego, N.Y.

This projected truck traffic worried residents of historic homes in the area, like Kim Trahan; and was meeting opposition from business owners as well - like Pat Hansen from the Hand of Man and Lisa Curatolo from The Goat Boy. "Can’t you just take it somewhere else," said Hansen during a period of remarks offered to those in attendance. "We don’t want it here," she added.

But Blocksom’s attorney, Sarah Campbell from Hinman, Howard and Kattell, defended Patriot Water, LLC’s proposal by stating, "It’s zoned industrial - so of course there will be traffic." Doug Barton of Tioga County Economic Development echoed this argument, stating that "I’m a village resident too, and I’m here to help them get their site plan approved."

But residents attending last week's meeting also expressed concern surrounding the location of the site, which is located in a flood plain and in close proximity to the river and a federally designated wetland.

According to Blocksom’s site plan, The facility will treat frack-water and flowback from early in the drilling process, not the heavily-salted "brines" that are produced later with the gas. Blocksom said that the wastewater will be tested for metals, ethylene glycol and other volatile organics, and radioactivity. He promised that his facility would not take wastewater contaminated with high levels of any of those things - and that trucks hoping to recycle such wastewater would be directed to go to injection wells for disposal.

Blocksom added that he could only instruct trucks to return rejected water to injection wells, but that it was not his responsibility. "If we reject the water from the trucks, it is no longer our responsibility," said Blocksom. This raised even more concern from area residents, and concern that illegal dumping might result.

The plan also did not address where the solid waste would be disposed of from the facility, or where the water would come from to make up the 15 percent of the truck’s load that had the solids extracted upon refilling.

Residents also expressed concern that the technology is too new, and leaves many unanswered questions. Blocksom agreed that the technology is brand new, with only one other location - Castanea, Pa. - allowing for the facilitating of this type of industry. And although Castanea, Pa. approved a special use permit for Patriot Water Treatment, LLC, they placed restrictions on the company regarding the amount of truck traffic allowed, and limited the number of gallons of wastewater that could be processed in one day.

But in Tioga County, for now, Blocksom will have to wait until his permit is tabled for a vote from the Zoning Board of Appeals. "We’re trying to find the most ecologically friendly way to do this," said Blocksom of the new technology. Owego Town Planning Board member Robert Rieg said, "If it’s done right, it will be a good thing."

Rieg, along with Lisa Baileys and James Tofte voted yes to the plan. Planning board members Leah Hammond and Lynn Esquivel voted no.

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