Local Headlines for December 29, 2022

Advocates Say Fish Protection at Greenidge Still Inadequate

Greenidge Power Generation on Seneca Lake is installing long-awaited screens to protect aquatic life. According to Seneca Lake Guardian (or SLG), the financially troubled bitcoin mining operation has used 139 million gallons of lake water daily to cool their equipment—all without protection for the lake’s fish. While Greenidge is touting the measure as proof of their commitment to good stewardship of the lake, SLG maintains that the company’s efforts are too little and too late. A press release from Greenidge claims the screens represent the “best technology available” to protect fish, and are only going in now after finally receiving long awaited regulatory approval. SLG counters that claim, saying the company waited until the eleventh hour and that available “closed-cycle cooling” technology is significantly more effective than the “wedgewire” screens being installed. The Seneca lake advocates continue to point to other problems with the plant including those revealed in Greenidge’s own study showing that heated water returned to the lake has violated state laws and overheated as much as 227.5 acres of the lake’s surface. Read more at Waterfront Online. Find a link to analysis of that study at WRFI.ORG.

County Urges Sign Ups for SIREN

Next week, users of Tompkins County’s SIREN emergency alert notification system may need to re-enroll. Any user who signed up for the county’s previous system—Swift911—and was later migrated to the new system, will have to sign up again. According to 14850.com migrated accounts will be purged from the system next week. The Department of Emergency Response is encouraging people to enroll in SIREN and set your notification preferences. A link to sign up is at WRFI.ORG