BY PAUL MITCHELL
North Country This Week

CANTON - Canton Deputy Town Supervisor James T. Smith told fellow board members that he got a first-hand look at an anaerobic digester and it’s quite an operation.

At the town board’s monthly board meeting on Jan. 11, elected officials opted to extend the town’s anaerobic digester moratorium law six months or until the end of June. A 6-month moratorium put in place in August was set to expire at the end of February.

“We are working on the local law but are still getting a handle on what it will mean to Canton,” stated town attorney Eric Gustafson. “It’s a difficult process primarily because they are regulated by state DEC.”

Smith pointed out the moratorium centers around a $25 million project proposed for the Town of Canton by an out-of-state developer.

“They will be operating 365 days of the year with manure coming from five different farms,” Smith said.

He estimated that five tractor trailer loads will be traveling along county roads per day.

Anaerobic digesters are a mature, proven technology that takes sludge, manure, and other organic waste materials and produces methane (natural gas) fuel.

The town will hold a public hearing on the anaerobic digester moratorium law at its next month meeting on Feb. 8 at 6:15 p.m. at the Canton Municipal Building.

Proposed digesters projects are reportedly planned in the Town of Lawrence, Town of DeKalb, Town of Lisbon and a couple in Franklin County.

In August when the initial moratorium was issued, the proposed Local Law read:

“An Anaerobic Digesters shall mean a facility the main purpose of which is to use anaerobic digestion to convert livestock and poultry manure (primary catalyst) and feedstock into biogas, which is burned off site to produce electricity, heat and water as well as to manage livestock and poultry manure. Anaerobic digesters may include co-digestion in which the livestock and poultry manure may be mixed with other organic materials (secondary catalysts).”

“Nothing herein shall prohibit a licensed load serving entity from conducting its regular and usual business of providing electrical distribution within its service territory as defined by its tariff with the New York State Department of Public Service.”

Current grandfathered operations are excepted from the moratorium.