The ongoing controversy over the proposed Midland sewage treatment plant has attracted the attention of both of New York’s U.S. senators, who have requested formally the Environmental Protection Agency review the racially charged case.

Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) wrote letters to the EPA over the past two weeks requesting that the claim, which was filed last April under the Civil Rights Act by a public interest law firm run by Syracuse University faculty and students, be given prompt and serious consideration.

‘I am strongly committed to ensuring environmental justice,’ Clinton wrote. ‘I ask that (the EPA) give full and speedy consideration to this claim.’

The claim alleges that the county’s plan to build an above-ground sewage plant violates the civil rights of people living in the Midland neighborhood, which is predominantly black, by harming the quality of life in the area when other, less detrimental options are available.

‘We didn’t want (the EPA) to just throw it on the pile: We want them to take a serious look at this and now with these people’s signatures, they’ll have to,’ said Louise Poindexter, spokeswoman for the Partnership for Onondaga Creek. ‘What we want now is (Gov. George Pataki’s support for the claim review). He helped negotiate this plan, and now he has to stand up and be accountable.’

Schumer, who serves on the judiciary committee, and Clinton, who sits on the environmental committee, joined New York Assemblywoman Joan Christensen in formally requesting that the plan be examined.

Plans for the plant were conceived by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation during the 1990s and were presented to the area residents in 1998. Since then, the Partnership for Onondaga Creek has protested the construction.

‘We’re looking for Governor Pataki to respond to the civil rights complaint because the state is named in it as one of the parties that caused these violations,’ said Zach Moore, a member of the partnership. ‘Clearly this is an important state and federal issue, and state and federal legislators need to weigh in.’

The claim was filed by the Syracuse University Public Interest Law Firm, which allows College of Law students to receive practical experience by participating in real legal cases.

‘The hope is that attention from people like senators will ensure the Environmental Protection Agency acts promptly on the complaints,’ said Alma Lowry, director of the SU Public Interest Law Firm. ‘The partnership itself is not able to put a lot of pressure on the EPA, but it may feel it needs to be a little bit more responsive if the senators put pressure on them.’

Lowry was quick to add that these letters simply suggest that the EPA act promptly and fairly in reviewing the claim: They do not take a stand on what the claim’s outcome should be.

The backbone of the claim was that the partnership provided alternative plans that would minimize the effect of a sewage plant in the area, which were turned down by the DEC, Lowry said.

‘When it’s not selected, that’s very strong evidence you have a violation,’ Lowry said. ‘What the partnership is asking for is not unreasonable at all.’

Steven Eidt, the regional water engineer for the DEC, said that because the project is the focus of a legal claim the agency cannot comment on the situation.

The EPA could not be reached for comment.