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Tompkins County Legislature asks DEC to require new water‑permit review for proposed Terra Wolf data center
Summary
After hours of public comment, the Tompkins County Legislature voted to ask the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to treat Cayuga Operating Company LLC's water‑withdrawal filing as a new permit application and require a full environmental review; the resolution passed 12–1 with one recusal.
The Tompkins County Legislature on Jan. 20 passed a resolution urging the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to reject a modified water withdrawal permit filing from Cayuga Operating Company LLC and instead require a new application and environmental review for the site at Milliken Station.
Legislator Deborah Dawson moved the amended resolution, and Legislator Adam Vincent seconded. After extended public comment and a round of statements from members, the legislature approved the measure by roll call: 12 yes, 1 no (Legislator Mike Sigler), and 1 recusal (Legislator Dan Wakeman). The motion urges the DEC to assess the filing as a new permit because the site's proposed use has changed from a retired coal-fired power plant to an intensive computing (data center) operation.
"That application was evaluated in the context of a coal-fired power plant," said Legislator Adam Vincent, arguing the operational profile and risks of a data center are materially different and require modern review. Supporters cited the site's long permit history and gaps in monitoring. Legislator Irene Weiser noted that the "existing permit dates back to 1955" and lacks modern safeguards such as metered withdrawal data, which she said undercuts the case for treating the filing as a routine renewal.
The resolution requests that, if the DEC accepts the filing as a renewal, the agency nonetheless require a transparent, technically supported accounting of maximum expected withdrawals, intake and discharge configurations, monitoring plans, and cumulative impacts on water quantity and quality. The text also asks that state representatives be copied and urged to support oversight where appropriate.
The vote followed more than a dozen public commenters who asked the legislature to press the DEC for an environmental impact process. Legislator Wakeman recused himself from debate and vote because of an employment conflict; his recusal was granted under the county code. The chair announced the resolution passed and said the county would forward it to the DEC and relevant state officials.
What happens next: The resolution is an advisory action asking the DEC to exercise its permitting discretion; it does not itself change permit status. The DEC retains authority to decide whether to treat the submission as a renewal or a new application under its rules.
