A petition by Orleans County to prevent sewage pipeline work at the Western New York Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park has been denied after a judge in Orleans County Supreme Court ruled the filing’s timing fell outside the statute of limitations.
Work shouldn’t be allowed to resume because the sewer line would cross through land Genesee County Economic Development Center doesn’t own, said Alex Eaton, who is part of the legal counsel for Orleans County.
“That's what we said in the courtroom there," he said. "As we sit here today, even if, hypothetically, there's no litigation, there's no lawsuits about this, there's no issues with permitting, which is, you know, all of that's happening, they still don't have the land rights to go into everywhere they need to go to build this.”
Jim Krencik, Genesee County EDC Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, offered a prepared statement but had no additional comment on the topic.
“We are still reviewing with our counsel, the ruling made by the judge this morning. We have no comment on the ruling, nor any litigation matters at this time in Genesee County," he said. "We will continue to work with all of our partners to bring good jobs and economic growth to our region.”
Orleans County is likely to appeal, and there is an ongoing appellate case scheduled for April in Rochester, Eaton said.
The neighboring Tonowanda-Seneca Nation also has an active legal case against Genesee County EDC over environmental effects the STAMP location could have.
