To: Fort Edward NY Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA)
Fort Edward NY - Code determination support
We urge the Fort Edward Village ZBA to uphold the Village Code Enforcement Officer's decision about ESMI/Clean Earth's land use permit.
In his determination letter written on December 15, 2025, Dave Armando wrote
"Until any applicable approvals under Village Zoning Ordinance/Zoning Law are obtained, no uses other than a plant to accept soil which has been contaminated with fuel oil/petroleum and process said soil to strip the petroleum from the soil, leaving a sterile and clean recycled soil may be conducted at the facility at 304 Towpath Road in the Village."
Why is this important?
The original permit specifying that the facility will process petroleum soil was issued more than 35 years ago. We agree with Dave Armando that this does not reflect the full scope of ESMI/Clean Earth's current business. Therefore, it is logical that the company needs to either apply for a new permit or return to the original scope of work.
We disagree with the letter that the company's lawyers submitted to the ZBA in February demanding that this determination be revoked. The letter describes how the ESM facility has gradually increased their scope to include the treatment of various materials including paper pulp, PCBs, and sewage sludge. The letter asserts that all of these were reasonable extensions to the existing permit and have been allowed up to this point. They state that the original permit allows them to operate without restriction and ask why things should change now that the company is planning to add PFAS to the list of contaminants? The letter theorizes that the decision to suddenly impose a strict interpretation of the code is politically motivated and was prompted by "out of state environmental activists." This is not correct.
We, the people who live here, pay taxes here, and raise our families here, agree with the Code Enforcement Officer's opinion and reject the reasoning of ESMI/Clean Earth. We request that the ZBA keep Fort Edward safe by denying this appeal. We believe that failing to do so would set dangerous precedent, undermine the authority of the village, and lead to possible harm.
We disagree with the letter that the company's lawyers submitted to the ZBA in February demanding that this determination be revoked. The letter describes how the ESM facility has gradually increased their scope to include the treatment of various materials including paper pulp, PCBs, and sewage sludge. The letter asserts that all of these were reasonable extensions to the existing permit and have been allowed up to this point. They state that the original permit allows them to operate without restriction and ask why things should change now that the company is planning to add PFAS to the list of contaminants? The letter theorizes that the decision to suddenly impose a strict interpretation of the code is politically motivated and was prompted by "out of state environmental activists." This is not correct.
We, the people who live here, pay taxes here, and raise our families here, agree with the Code Enforcement Officer's opinion and reject the reasoning of ESMI/Clean Earth. We request that the ZBA keep Fort Edward safe by denying this appeal. We believe that failing to do so would set dangerous precedent, undermine the authority of the village, and lead to possible harm.