GENESEE COUNTY, N.Y. — Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part package.
In the drive to build a massive industrial park in rural Genesee County, the offices of Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer pressured regulators to issue approvals for the project that ran afoul of environmental laws and policies, ignoring an indigenous nation’s legal rights along the way.
Investigative Post found that:
Aides to Hochul pushed top officials at the state Department of Environmental Conservation to work more quickly.
Schumer aides intervened with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
And a string of state lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, as well as local and state development officials, urged the governor, senator and regulators to move faster on permits for the industrial park.