Over a decade ago the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) began buying up land for a major new industrial complex, adjacent to the sovereign Reservation Territory of the federally recognized Tonawanda Seneca Nation, which is part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The plan was to create "shovel-ready" sites for companies that would locate there to capitalize on anticipated federal and state subsidies for microchip, green energy and climate resilience projects. It would be called STAMP--a "Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park." With backing from former Governor Andrew Cuomo, former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and current Governor Kathy Hochul, STAMP has received over $400M in public subsidies for the mega-industrial site the GCEDC envisioned.
GCEDC’s attempts to build infrastructure to service their imaginary advanced manufacturing tenants have been environmentally disastrous failures. 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. Following these spills and litigation by the Tonawanda Seneca Nation the US Fish and Wildlife Servicepulled a critical permit for the wastewater pipeline in June 2024. At this point, GCEDC is trying once again to build a wastewater treatment pipeline, at a vastly scaled down volume.
As of August 2025, there are only two fully confirmed tenants at STAMP: Edwards Vacuum, a dry pump vacuum manufacturer and Plug Power, a green-hydrogen manufacturer which suspended construction in 2023 and may never resume. Despite receiving more than $300M in taxpayer subsidies on the promise of 68 jobs, Plug reports "substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern." In terms of nearby workforce, supply chains and markets, a State smart growth analysis failed STAMP, calling it "a poster child of location inefficiency."
In March 2025, GCEDC approved an additional $472 million in taxpayer subsidies for a 900,000 square-foot data center code-named “Project Double Reed.” The Nation and the Sierra Club are currently litigating to challenge GCEDC’s environmental review process of the data center.
. The STAMP site is surrounded by a complex of protected lands, including the 10,000-acre Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (INWR), 10,000 acres of state wildlife management areas, and the 7,500-acre Tonawanda Seneca Nation Reservation Territory. The remarkable ecological quality and biodiversity of this place reflect centuries of caretaking by Tonawanda Seneca people. The Nation’s Big Woods provides food and medicine both to the Nation and to the Haudenosaunee People from across the Confederacy who continue to travel there to hunt and gather plants. A DEC wildlife manager who was a principal force in creating the INWR called this area "the most productive inland wetland complex in the eastern half of the United States." Land use planners, considering the growing need for viable wildlife habitat and connectivity, have designated it as part of an Eastern Wildway--a critical link in a corridor of protected land from the Gulf of Mexico to Maine.
The Western New York Environmental Alliance along with 28 affiliate groups and 160 individuals sent a "Rethink STAMP" letter to federal, state and local decision-makers who have a role in this project. The letter asked them to consider the value of this site in an age of species extinctions, biodiversity loss, climate change, and the particular importance of this area to our natural and cultural heritage. We are also active participants in the Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation group and are supporting the Sierra Club lobbying taking legal action against GCEDC.
Our "Rethink STAMP" campaign is about all of us working together to help our local, regional, state and federal decision makers understand the value of these existing land uses in Western New York--uses that truly support green energy, climate resilience and biodiversity. When biologists like Douglas Tallamy and E.O. Wilson tell us that only 5% of the lower 48 states remains natural land and that biodiversity is plummeting for lack of viable habitat, we the people need to speak up. We must talk with our public officials, publish editorials in local news outlets, defend the places where we live, and offer another way forward.
Here are some things you can do:
GCEDC’s attempts to build infrastructure to service their imaginary advanced manufacturing tenants have been environmentally disastrous failures. 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. Following these spills and litigation by the Tonawanda Seneca Nation the US Fish and Wildlife Servicepulled a critical permit for the wastewater pipeline in June 2024. At this point, GCEDC is trying once again to build a wastewater treatment pipeline, at a vastly scaled down volume.
As of August 2025, there are only two fully confirmed tenants at STAMP: Edwards Vacuum, a dry pump vacuum manufacturer and Plug Power, a green-hydrogen manufacturer which suspended construction in 2023 and may never resume. Despite receiving more than $300M in taxpayer subsidies on the promise of 68 jobs, Plug reports "substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern." In terms of nearby workforce, supply chains and markets, a State smart growth analysis failed STAMP, calling it "a poster child of location inefficiency."
In March 2025, GCEDC approved an additional $472 million in taxpayer subsidies for a 900,000 square-foot data center code-named “Project Double Reed.” The Nation and the Sierra Club are currently litigating to challenge GCEDC’s environmental review process of the data center.
. The STAMP site is surrounded by a complex of protected lands, including the 10,000-acre Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (INWR), 10,000 acres of state wildlife management areas, and the 7,500-acre Tonawanda Seneca Nation Reservation Territory. The remarkable ecological quality and biodiversity of this place reflect centuries of caretaking by Tonawanda Seneca people. The Nation’s Big Woods provides food and medicine both to the Nation and to the Haudenosaunee People from across the Confederacy who continue to travel there to hunt and gather plants. A DEC wildlife manager who was a principal force in creating the INWR called this area "the most productive inland wetland complex in the eastern half of the United States." Land use planners, considering the growing need for viable wildlife habitat and connectivity, have designated it as part of an Eastern Wildway--a critical link in a corridor of protected land from the Gulf of Mexico to Maine.
The Western New York Environmental Alliance along with 28 affiliate groups and 160 individuals sent a "Rethink STAMP" letter to federal, state and local decision-makers who have a role in this project. The letter asked them to consider the value of this site in an age of species extinctions, biodiversity loss, climate change, and the particular importance of this area to our natural and cultural heritage. We are also active participants in the Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation group and are supporting the Sierra Club lobbying taking legal action against GCEDC.
Our "Rethink STAMP" campaign is about all of us working together to help our local, regional, state and federal decision makers understand the value of these existing land uses in Western New York--uses that truly support green energy, climate resilience and biodiversity. When biologists like Douglas Tallamy and E.O. Wilson tell us that only 5% of the lower 48 states remains natural land and that biodiversity is plummeting for lack of viable habitat, we the people need to speak up. We must talk with our public officials, publish editorials in local news outlets, defend the places where we live, and offer another way forward.
Here are some things you can do:
- Support Sierra Club in their legal action against GCEDC
- Check out the Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca campaign demands
- Share our flyer! Contact the WNYEA ([email protected]) and the Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca ([email protected]) to receive email alerts and help us keep track of progress
- Share the Allies of TSN video about the proposed data center
- Use the contacts below to access background materials and to contact media and political groups.
- Contacts for State Senate Native American Relations Sub-Committee (list vetted April 2024)
- Local news outlet:
- Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
- Lockport Union-Sun Journal
- Batavia Daily News
- Orleans Hub (guidelines), then email letter to [email protected]
- Albany Times Union (guidelines), then email letter to [email protected]
- The Buffalo News (guidelines: for Opinion Submissions you have 3 choices. The first two--My View (600 words) and Another Voice (460 words)--both require some expertise or special relation to the issue. Email to [email protected]. The third choice (most likely to be published promptly) is a simple letter to the editor for Everybody's Column (250 words). Email to [email protected] or snail mail to Everybody's Column, The Buffalo News, PO Box 100, Buffalo, NY14240.)
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