A Proposed Plan of Action for Cornell

Since Cornell faces a looming deadline to solve its CFC refrigerant problem and since Lake Source Cooling cannot eliminate that problem without imperiling Cayuga Lake, the Cayuga Lake Defense Fund believes that the public interest would be best served by Cornell's efforts to:

1. immediately halt all efforts to construct the Lake Source Cooling Project;

2. comprehensively investigate and remediate all toxic chemical hazards at the site of the proposed Heat Exchange Facility. Contaminants present at the site should be managed as hazardous waste to insure maximum protection of Cayuga Lake, the environment-at-large and the public health;

3. replace or retrofit its existing CFC chillers with non-CFC refrigerants and/or investigate and adopt superior co-generation, ground-source cooling or other energy- efficient air conditioning alternatives;

4. participate in all appropriate efforts to alleviate and eliminate Cayuga Lake's extensive water quality problems; and

5. utilize Lake Source Cooling only as a last resort after superior alternatives have been adopted and after the project's full environmental and economic impacts have been investigated by non-partisan researchers.

The Cayuga Lake Defense Fund stands ready to work cooperatively with Cornell University and government authorities to implement this plan of action. It urges all citizens concerned about the future of Cayuga Lake to participate as well.

CLDF 1998