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NYS DEC, NYS AG’s Office, And County Planning Department Detail Significant Obstacles To Databank’s Expansion Plans
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) determined that the planned expansion of Databank’s Orangeburg Data Center on Corporate Drive in Orangeburg is subject to Governor Hochul’s Executive Order establishing a temporary moratorium on data centers statewide.
The Town of Orangetown passed its own six-month town-wide moratorium on new data centers and battery energy storage systems in August. Databank’s expansion was exempt from the town’s moratorium.
According to the DEC, the Governor’s Executive Order describing data centers applies to the expansion because the existing facility “consumes or can consume more than 50 MW based on the energy consumption of the Phase 1 emergency generators. Along with the proposed Phase 2 emergency generators, the facility will continue to be capable of consuming more than 50 MW” — the threshold power consumption implicating the moratorium’s application.
As the moratorium applies, the DEC says that Databank’s application will “remain incomplete until the Department of Public Service (DPS) prepares a Generic Environmental Impact Statement,” as required under the Governor’s Executive Order.
Orangetown’s Planning Board issued a positive declaration under SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) in July by a unanimous vote, triggering the need for scoping and preparation of an Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
The New York State Attorney General’s Office weighed in earlier this month, citing the need for further study of potential significant adverse environmental impacts of the Project. It wrote that the Scoping Document fails to address the effects of thermal pollution; the efficacy of the treatment of cooling system wastewater; and, the reasonable foreseeable effects on the community, including potential health and environmental impacts on Lake Tappan.
The AG’s Office notes that the large amount of “waste heat” into the atmosphere could increase temperatures on neighboring properties “a quarter mile or more away” and alter local climate by increasing local temperatures by several degrees. It also notes sensitive receptors in the area including the baseball fields for the Pearl River little league, outdoor activities of the American Legion Post 1199, and the Brightview Lake Tappan Senior Living facility.
The Rockland County Department Of Planning weighed in strongly objecting to Phase 2 being analyzed without including the environmental impacts from Phase 1. No DEIS was prepared for Phase 1, and the County Planning Department views the limited review of Phase 2 as “unpermitted segmentation,” saying, “segmentation, or the division of the environmental review of an action as though they were independent, unrelated activities, is contrary to the intent of SEQRA.”
County Planning says to avoid segmentation, all completed or reasonably anticipated phases of the project should be incorporated into the DEIS, meaning that Phase 2 cannot be reviewed alone. The Planning Board must look at the cumulative impacts of both phases for potential significant environmental impacts.
Data centers around New York State and the nation are under strict scrutiny and face a growing wave of local pushback and proposed regulations, largely driven by the explosive boom in artificial intelligence (AI) and data processing and storage needs which are putting an unprecedented strain on local resources.
County’s Plans For Conversion Of Sain Building To Affordable Housing Snagged In Clarkstown’s Building Moratorium
Rockland County’s plan to redevelop the county-owned Sain Building as affordable housing has hit a speed bump. The Town of Clarkstown last week passed a local law imposing a development moratorium town-wide, with limited exceptions. The Sain Building is not exempted from the moratorium, which is set to last six months, with the possibility of a six-month extension. During the moratorium, Clarkstown’s land use boards are barred from accepting or hearing new development applications.
In May, Rockland County selected Regan Development and Rockland Housing Action Coalition (RHAC) to redevelop the Sain Building site at 18 New Hempstead Road in New City. The redevelopment plan calls for the construction of a three-story mixed-use building with 23 age restricted affordable senior rental units, 25 non-age restricted affordable rental units.
The plan also provides a preference for 10% of the units for veterans, 5% for first responders/essential workers, and 10% for individuals with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (IDD), and a mix of units affordable to those earning 30%, 50%, 60% and 80% of AMI, or Area Median Income.
Also in May, Rockland County and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) announced a settlement of a lawsuit brought against the county to enforce the terms of a 2018 Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) requiring Rockland County to develop or rehabilitate affordable housing units.
As part of the settlement, the county agreed to ensure the completion of 36 affordable housing units by April 15, 2031. The settlement agreement refers to “a particular development site within the County, which has been identified to HUD by the County but the location of the development site was not revealed.
If the Sain Building is the designated development site, the construction schedule in the settlement agreement would likely be part of the Regan contract. According to the settlement, the building’s foundation work was to be substantially complete by April 15, 2027. The Clarkstown moratorium makes compliance with the deadline impossible.
Under the terms agreed to between the county and HUD, the county has the option to offer an alternate development site should the Sain Building redevelopment not meet the requirements of the settlement agreement.
Chair Factory Brownfield Cleanup Proposal Open For Public Comment
The Haverstraw Community Chair Factory, LLC, the developer of mixed-use residential complex on a former industrial site on the Haverstraw riverfront, has developed and submitted a clean-up plan under New York’s Brownfield Cleanup Program.
The program encourages the voluntary cleanup of contaminated properties known as “brownfields” so that they can be reused and redeveloped.
The site, known locally as the Chair Factory, was originally submerged lands when built up by fill in 1921. From 1921 through 1994, the property housed multiple manufacturing and petroleum storage facilities, including brick manufacturing, petroleum refining, and chair building and finishing. All structures on the site were demolished in 2006 and the site has been vacant since then.
The primary contaminants at the site are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), metals, pesticides, and PFAS. SVOCs and metals have been observed at depths up to 10 feet below the ground surface.
The cleanup encompasses excavating and disposing of any buried equipment and removal of 8,810 cubic yards of contaminated soil. Site coverage is contemplated with the importation of clean fill.
A site management plan, air and other monitoring, along with the recording of an environmental easement are also part of the cleanup proposal.
Public comments on the proposed plan are open until October 31, 2026.
The DEC, in consultation with the NYS Department of Health determined that the site does not pose a significant threat to public health or the environment.
