Where to send your written comment: SEQR / Environmental Impact Statement comments go to the Town of Massena Planning Board — the lead agency — in writing through the Town Clerk (townclerk@massena.us). The NYS DEC is an involved agency, not where you file comments. Records (FOIL) requests are a Town matter and also go to the Town Clerk.
Town Supervisor
Chairs the Town Board, where permitting and any local pause authority sits.
- Ray Lancto
- rlancto@massena.us
- (315) 769-3588 ext. 2
Town Board
Worth asking the board to consider a local pause while the review runs.
- Jared Hollander — jhollander@massena.us
- Sam Carbone Jr. — scarbone@massena.us
- Kristy Baker — kbaker@massena.us
- Adrian Taraska — ataraska@massena.us
Town of Massena — Planning Board
The board currently reviewing the project. Chair: Vance Fleury (members Bogardus, Fregoe, Grant, and Burke).
- Written comment: submit through the Town Clerk — townclerk@massena.us, who routes correspondence to the board.
- Applications / code questions: Code Enforcement Officer Patrick O'Brien — pobrien@massena.us
Zoning Board of Appeals
The board the project may head to next.
- No member emails are published. Reach the board through the Town: (315) 769-3588.
Town Clerk — written comment & FOIL
Accepts public correspondence and records (FOIL) requests. 60 Main Street, Room 3, Massena NY 13662.
- Joni M. Bigness — townclerk@massena.us
- (315) 769-5228 ext. 236
- Deputy Sean Lynch — deputytownclerk@massena.us
St. Lawrence County Planning
County-level review; the office that flagged the 635-vs-200 MW gap.
- Director Jason Pfotenhauer
- (315) 379-2292
- Contact form: stlawco.gov/Departments/Planning/Contact
NYS DEC — Region 6
State environmental agency; an involved agency in the SEQR review. Send SEQR / EIS comments to the Town Planning Board, not here.
- Watertown regional office — (315) 785-2245
St. Regis Mohawk Tribe — Environment Division
A funded environment office with a formal seat at the table; co-manages the St. Lawrence River Area of Concern with NYS DEC.
- (518) 358-5937
- environment@srmt-nsn.gov
- Director Tony David — tony.david@srmt-nsn.gov
Press already covering this
Reporters following the story want to hear from residents.
- North Country Public Radio (NCPR) — news@ncpr.org (CC catherine@ncpr.org) · (315) 229-5356
- North Country Now and WWNY 7 News are also covering it.
Sample message — copy, paste, adjust
First person, because you're sending it as yourself. Swap in the office you're writing to.
Subject: Please require a full environmental review of the Massena data center Dear [Board / official], I am a resident of Massena. I am writing about the proposed NYDIG / NCCS data-center expansion at the former Reynolds / Alcoa East site — roughly 635 megawatts on contaminated former-smelter land along the St. Lawrence River. I am not asking you to reject it today. I am asking you to make sure it gets a complete, public environmental review before any vote. Specifically, I urge the lead agency to issue a Positive Declaration under SEQR and require a full Environmental Impact Statement, and to require the applicant to put real numbers — cooling and water use, worst-case nighttime noise modeling, backup generators and their air permits, and grid/electric-rate impacts — on the record first. A project this large deserves the public's full attention and a complete review. Thank you for your time. [Your name] [Your address, Massena NY]