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July 1, 2025 - Tell USACE: Intervene NOW to protect Tonawanda Seneca Nation's drinking water
Dear allies,
Last Friday, we came to you with an urgent request to help protect the drinking water of Tonawanda Seneca Nation citizens from contamination with hydraulic drilling fluid. Today, we must escalate our demands.
Late last Friday afternoon, STAMP developer GCEDC denied the Tonawanda Seneca Nation’s request to pause its planned construction of the STAMP wastewater pipeline to allow for sufficient soils testing. Not only did GCEDC state that they could not “accommodate this request” to protect Nation citizens’ health and safety - they also provided 100 new pages of technical information - including information that confirms the risk of frac out from the use of horizontal directional drilling in the planned location.
As the Nation wrote today in a letter sent yesterday, “This matter is of the highest importance; the health of Nation citizens is at stake. GCEDC's planned actions could potentially cause irreparable damage to Nation wetlands and waters and compromise Nation citizens' capacity to safely exercise their treaty-protected rights to hunt, fish, and gather medicines on the Territory…[GCEDC’s] expedience must not take priority over the health, safety, and treaty-protected rights of Tonawanda Seneca Nation citizens.”
We call on you as allies to stand with the Nation’s Council of Chiefs in escalating their demands. Click here to join the Nation in demanding that USACE and NYSDC immediately prevent the GCEDC from using horizontal directional drilling (HDD) under Nation waterways.
Then, call the USACE Buffalo District Office at 716-879-4330. Tell them, “I am calling with a message for Lieutenant Colonel Robert Burnham. USACE must uphold its mandate to engage on a government-to-government basis with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and immediately take action to prevent the Genesee County Economic Development Center from using horizontal directional drilling on the WNY STAMP site to drill under Nation waterways.”
For additional context, read our original action alert below.
In solidarity,
Allies of TSN
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June 27, 2025
Dear Allies,
Today we’re coming to you with an urgent request. NYSDEC must intervene NOW to protect the drinking water of Tonawanda Seneca Nation citizens and prevent STAMP developer GCEDC from repeating their environmental disaster of summer 2023.
Nearly two years ago, GCEDC’s first attempt at constructing a STAMP Wastewater Treatment Pipeline resulted in ‘frac outs’ that spilled 500-700 gallons of hydraulic drilling fluid into wetlands of the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Now, GCEDC is trying again. They plan to install the first section of a rerouted pipeline on the STAMP site using horizontal directional drilling (HDD) - the method that proved disastrous in 2023. Even worse, GCEDC intends to use this controversial method under waterways that flow directly onto the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.
As in summer 2023, not only does GCEDC intend to begin construction of the STAMP Wastewater Treatment Pipeline without carrying out adequate soils testing, they are also barreling ahead despite lacking necessary permits and agreements for construction of this pipeline. The stakes of this planned construction are high - USDA has deemed soils in this area “poorly drained” and thus poorly suited to HDD. Fracouts in this location would pollute Nation waters and threaten the health of Nation citizens, who use Nation waterways for subsistence and who rely on well water.
Moreover, a damning review by third-party experts raises serious concerns about impacts from the proposed pipeline to local public health and the environment. For these reasons, the Nation has called upon GCEDC to pause construction and has asked NYSDEC to support the Nation’s request that further geotechnical analysis be conducted prior to allowing HDD.
Take action today! GCEDC must carry out geotechnical analysis at the location of the proposed STAMP wastewater pipeline HDD installation, including test boring at the specific location to determine whether soils there can support HDD without risk of frac-out. Moreover, GCEDC must not move forward with construction of the STAMP WWTP before ALL necessary permits and agreements are in place.
The mission of NYSDEC is to protect our shared environment and natural resources. While the environmental harms that have already occurred in the development at STAMP can never be fully remediated, the agency can and must prevent further environmental harm - to local communities and to the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.
In solidarity,
Allies of TSN
PS - The campaign to Rethink STAMP has been busy these last few months! In case you missed them, here are a few of the most important developments: 1) A front page story in the Buffalo News covered the Nation’s opposition to a data center at STAMP; 2) A recent Town Hall provided an opportunity for local residents and Nation citizens to share concerns and questions about the impact of STAMP on local quality of life; 3) Local residents have authored numerous opinion pieces documenting the negative impacts of STAMP PILOT payments on local school funding and STAMP wastewater on the Oak Orchard River; 4) The Nation submitted formal comments on proposed changes to the Environmental Justice Siting Law: take action here to uplift Indigenous priorities in the rewrite of this policy; and 5) in response to the Nation’s letter to NYSDEC demanding jurisdictional delineation of wetlands at STAMP, the agency sent this highly disappointing letter which affirmed a GCEDC’s bogus assertions. The Nation has responded here.
Dear allies,
Last Friday, we came to you with an urgent request to help protect the drinking water of Tonawanda Seneca Nation citizens from contamination with hydraulic drilling fluid. Today, we must escalate our demands.
Late last Friday afternoon, STAMP developer GCEDC denied the Tonawanda Seneca Nation’s request to pause its planned construction of the STAMP wastewater pipeline to allow for sufficient soils testing. Not only did GCEDC state that they could not “accommodate this request” to protect Nation citizens’ health and safety - they also provided 100 new pages of technical information - including information that confirms the risk of frac out from the use of horizontal directional drilling in the planned location.
As the Nation wrote today in a letter sent yesterday, “This matter is of the highest importance; the health of Nation citizens is at stake. GCEDC's planned actions could potentially cause irreparable damage to Nation wetlands and waters and compromise Nation citizens' capacity to safely exercise their treaty-protected rights to hunt, fish, and gather medicines on the Territory…[GCEDC’s] expedience must not take priority over the health, safety, and treaty-protected rights of Tonawanda Seneca Nation citizens.”
We call on you as allies to stand with the Nation’s Council of Chiefs in escalating their demands. Click here to join the Nation in demanding that USACE and NYSDC immediately prevent the GCEDC from using horizontal directional drilling (HDD) under Nation waterways.
Then, call the USACE Buffalo District Office at 716-879-4330. Tell them, “I am calling with a message for Lieutenant Colonel Robert Burnham. USACE must uphold its mandate to engage on a government-to-government basis with the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and immediately take action to prevent the Genesee County Economic Development Center from using horizontal directional drilling on the WNY STAMP site to drill under Nation waterways.”
For additional context, read our original action alert below.
In solidarity,
Allies of TSN
-----------------------
June 27, 2025
Dear Allies,
Today we’re coming to you with an urgent request. NYSDEC must intervene NOW to protect the drinking water of Tonawanda Seneca Nation citizens and prevent STAMP developer GCEDC from repeating their environmental disaster of summer 2023.
Nearly two years ago, GCEDC’s first attempt at constructing a STAMP Wastewater Treatment Pipeline resulted in ‘frac outs’ that spilled 500-700 gallons of hydraulic drilling fluid into wetlands of the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Now, GCEDC is trying again. They plan to install the first section of a rerouted pipeline on the STAMP site using horizontal directional drilling (HDD) - the method that proved disastrous in 2023. Even worse, GCEDC intends to use this controversial method under waterways that flow directly onto the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.
As in summer 2023, not only does GCEDC intend to begin construction of the STAMP Wastewater Treatment Pipeline without carrying out adequate soils testing, they are also barreling ahead despite lacking necessary permits and agreements for construction of this pipeline. The stakes of this planned construction are high - USDA has deemed soils in this area “poorly drained” and thus poorly suited to HDD. Fracouts in this location would pollute Nation waters and threaten the health of Nation citizens, who use Nation waterways for subsistence and who rely on well water.
Moreover, a damning review by third-party experts raises serious concerns about impacts from the proposed pipeline to local public health and the environment. For these reasons, the Nation has called upon GCEDC to pause construction and has asked NYSDEC to support the Nation’s request that further geotechnical analysis be conducted prior to allowing HDD.
Take action today! GCEDC must carry out geotechnical analysis at the location of the proposed STAMP wastewater pipeline HDD installation, including test boring at the specific location to determine whether soils there can support HDD without risk of frac-out. Moreover, GCEDC must not move forward with construction of the STAMP WWTP before ALL necessary permits and agreements are in place.
The mission of NYSDEC is to protect our shared environment and natural resources. While the environmental harms that have already occurred in the development at STAMP can never be fully remediated, the agency can and must prevent further environmental harm - to local communities and to the Tonawanda Seneca Nation.
In solidarity,
Allies of TSN
PS - The campaign to Rethink STAMP has been busy these last few months! In case you missed them, here are a few of the most important developments: 1) A front page story in the Buffalo News covered the Nation’s opposition to a data center at STAMP; 2) A recent Town Hall provided an opportunity for local residents and Nation citizens to share concerns and questions about the impact of STAMP on local quality of life; 3) Local residents have authored numerous opinion pieces documenting the negative impacts of STAMP PILOT payments on local school funding and STAMP wastewater on the Oak Orchard River; 4) The Nation submitted formal comments on proposed changes to the Environmental Justice Siting Law: take action here to uplift Indigenous priorities in the rewrite of this policy; and 5) in response to the Nation’s letter to NYSDEC demanding jurisdictional delineation of wetlands at STAMP, the agency sent this highly disappointing letter which affirmed a GCEDC’s bogus assertions. The Nation has responded here.
