VOLNEY, NY – New York State and Oswego County officials recently met to create a plan to deal with the slow-burning silo fire at the Attis ethanol plant which has been the subject of complaints for Volney and Fulton residents due to an unpleasant odor.
After discussions, the Department of Environmental Conservation installed air monitors near the site which as of Friday, July 1 have shown that the fumes are not dangerous to the community. While that is the case, local agencies will continue to monitor the situation and take action if it becomes necessary. Monitoring the situation and waiting to act is congruent with the recommendations of the CDC.
“We will continue to monitor the silo and if the data provided by the DEC determines the air quality is harmful to the community, fire officials will move forward in making the appropriate request(s) for assistance to mitigate this concern properly and safely,” Fulton Fire Chief Adam Howard said in a press release.
In addition, there are no perceived concerns to the environment or air.
“My understanding is that right now they’ve got three or four quality monitors, and there is nothing hazardous with the smoke,” said Town of Volney Supervisor Greg Hartranft. “It is more of an annoyance.”
The first call on the fire came back in the fall, around October, according to Hartranft. Despite this, the smell was not noticeable until more recently when “[the fire] burned a hole into the silo,” U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer said in a press release.
Because the silo, containing corn materials, is not an emergency situation, the Volney Volunteer Fire Department will not attempt to put out the fire for several reasons.
“There’s people out there saying there’s a potential for an explosion [if tampered with,]” Hartranft said. “Oh jeez, you don’t want to have someone up there on a ladder with a fire hose, and this thing all of a sudden generates a lot of steam and there is some sort of explosion.”
Beyond that, the logistics of putting out the fire make it incredibly difficult. The silo is massive at 64-feet tall and 110-feet across. Because of that, it is nearly impossible to fill the silo with water to extinguish the smoldering corn, according to Oswego County Chairman James Weatherup.
The second reason is a legal one. Since Attis owns the silo, and it is not an emergency, the fire department wants to make sure it is not liable for potential damages to the site. And while the department is willing to work with Attis, agencies have not been able to reach the company.
“The problem with this whole situation is nobody can get ahold of Attis to get permission to go in there and do something about it,” Hartranft said. “The liability part of it, if they damage something, is the fire department going to be held accountable for it?”
Weatherup added that it could be seen as trespassing, as, “there has to be an imminent threat for the fire department to get in there.”
Although the silo is within the Volney jurisdiction, the city of Fulton has offered its fire department and additional support if needed, according to Mayor Deana Michaels. Wind has carried the odor to Fulton, resulting in complaints from city residents similar to those from Volney, which is only one portion of the Attis-silo problem.
The other prong to the issue is what to do with Attis and the plant. With Attis leaving the area, there is the potential for a lawsuit after the county gave the company incentives to set up shop in 2019, but it does not seem beneficial to the county.
“Anybody can sue anybody if you can prove financial harm, so we could, in theory, sue Attis, but if they have got no money, they have got no money,” Weatherup said. “So what do you do? You waste a lot of money on lawyers and suits, and you still don’t have money.”
Despite the legal uncertainty, there are “viable offers to bring back manufacturing” to the area, according to Michaels. Hartranft agreed, noting at least one potential buyer, and added that the potential damage to the site by extinguishing the fire could scare off purchasers.
“If there was for some reason an explosion and it takes out part of a building, that is not going to make it very [valuable,]” Hartranft said. “It’s like if you went to buy a car and it was damaged.”
As the summer progresses, the county will continue to work with the DEC and other agencies to ensure the safety of the community.
“This is not a forever plan, but the county is monitoring and working with the DEC and actually Senator Schumer’s office came and brought the weight of the [Environmental Protection Agency] there,” Weatherup said. “We are looking at options and will continue to look everyday … But at this point we are still going with DEC recommendations.”
missing or outdated ad config
Linde (Air GAS) Can put a end to the Silo problem with a load of Liquid Nitrogen to quickly smother it. They used the same thing on a silo fire at Nestle in the Seventies.