Alexander Mackay, the owner of the county’s largest private water system, has filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the environmental study done for the proposed Saratoga County water system.
The lawsuit, filed late last week in the county clerk’s office in Ballston Spa, states that the environmental study done for a planned county-run water system was inadequate, and that the county failed to take a hard look at several of the project’s potentially significant environmental impacts.
The suit claims the county didn’t sufficiently examine how the water system would increase development pressure.
`A lack of public utilities such as municipal water has been recognized as a factor which can limit growth within a community,` the lawsuit states. `If a new water source becomes available, it can induce growth by removing the scarcity, which had previously limited development in the area.`
The suit states the county also did not adequately consider stormwater runoff or the impact it would have on the view shed, and did not fully consider the possible negative impacts the system would have on public parks, including the Moreau Lake State Park and the Zim Smith recreation trail.
Mackay and his Malta-based water and land development companies seek to annul the county’s environmental review and stop plans to draw water from the Hudson River in Moreau and pipe it to Malta. Mackay’s private water company, Saratoga Water Services, serves thousands of residential and commercial customers in central Malta, and a decade ago fought off a county effort to take over the system by eminent domain. Mackay has spoken out in the past against the county water plan.
County supervisors in August adopted findings that the planned county project won’t have significant negative impacts on the environment, ending a year of environmental studies.
County Water Committee chairman Raymond F. Callanan, R-Ballston, said the lawsuit has not changed the county’s position.
`We’ve had the experts putting this together for us, and I’m very comfortable that we adequately addressed all the issues Mr. Mackay is concerned with,` said Callanan.
Callanan pointed out that the county’s environmental impact statement contends that growth pressure exists in the county regardless of water availability and controlling growth is the local responsibility of towns and cities.
The environmental impact statement was prepared by the Malcolm Pirnie engineering firm at a cost of about $810,000.
Lemery Greisler, a Saratoga Springs law firm, advised the county on environmental review law compliance.
The county water plan calls for tapping the Hudson in Moreau Lake State Park and piping water along a 28-mile route through the Northway corridor that will in part follow the Zim Smith Trail right-of-way. Towns and private buyers along the route will be able to purchase water.
There are currently no customers for the county project, and county officials are trying to figure out how to finance the water system until it has guaranteed future revenues. Initially, the $67 million county project’s primary customer is expected to be Advanced Micro Devices at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta. The state and AMD last week signed an agreement that would see a $3.2 billion plant constructed between 2007 and 2009, but the company hasn’t signed a water purchase contract.
On Dec. 29, the state Department of Environmental Conservation issued two water supply permits the project will require, said Wes Carr, the county water project coordinator.
The lawsuit will be heard in state Supreme Court in Ballston Spa. A tentative court date of Feb. 14 has been set.“