On August 8th, Crestwood announced that it has voluntarily modified its propane storage proposal in direct response to extensive and honest discussions with residents, officials and stakeholders – including winery owners and environmentalists.

Read a factsheet about the plan:  

See a presentation about the plan:

Read our filing with the DEC

In response to our notification, on August 22nd, technical experts at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) voiced their support for our plan, writing:

"[Crestwood's proposed changes] reduce the proposed project's scale, and thereby reduce any possible environmental impacts from the project. Further, Department staff continues to assert that the project meets all applicable environmental statutory and regulatory standards."

Click the image below to download the whole letter: 

The DEC is the state agency responsible for protecting our natural resources and environment. Department staff also oversees the twenty-nine underground gas storage projects in New York every day. They are professionals with real experience and scientific training. The DEC’s technical experts have rejected every claim by Gas Free Seneca. 

Dr. John Halfman of the Finger Lakes Institute, a leading authority on Seneca Lake, also recently said that theories about gas storage increasing the salinity of Seneca Lake are “wrong”.  The DEC professionals made similar statements last year, explaining that there’s no evidence to support the claim that propane storage caused the lake’s elevated chloride levels or that Crestwood’s project would hurt water quality.  In fact, in dismissing water quality claims by Gas Free Seneca, the DEC staff said that the group’s claims are based on “a principle that no one else in the scientific community has ever heard of."

Due to the amount of misinformation being spread by opponents to our project, we are encouraging anyone interested in our plans to listen to the DEC.

Download a fact sheet of statements by DEC staff rejecting Gas Free Seneca’s arguments.

Local unions are ready to go to work – and even though our project is smaller than before, New Yorkers will still save money from having a strategic reserve of propane nearby. With more than 150 employees at US Salt and our existing storage facilities nearby, Crestwood is in Schuyler County for the long haul. We’ve invested tens of millions of dollars to modernize the salt plant and make it more sustainable for our employees. We’ve created jobs at US Salt, with plans to add more. We’re ready to invest here and our plan is shovel-ready, but we need your support.

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Click here to send an email asking Governor Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Seggos to approve Crestwood’s propane storage plan.

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See what local residents, community leaders and public officials are saying about our modified storage plan in the "In The News" section on our resources page.