ALABAMA, N.Y. — The state has cited the developers of the STAMP industrial park for violations involving a spill of drilling fluids in a wetland through which it is constructing a sewage pipeline.
Earlier this month, crews conducting horizontal drilling to construct the pipeline through the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge encountered sinkholes, causing 100 gallons of drilling fluid to spill into a half-acre area. The drilling fluid consisted of water and clay slurry, made from Wyoming sodium bentonite clay, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
It’s the second such spill since mid-August.
The DEC, in a notice issued Monday, said the spill violated the terms of two permits it had issued to Genesee County Economic Development Center, one for the pipeline and one to dig in sensitive wetlands in the refuge. The agency said it is contemplating fines against the Genesee County EDC. Fines could be as much as $86,000 per day.