ROMULUS, N.Y. — A packed Romulus High School auditorium was the scene for the Seneca County town's planning board meeting Monday Evening where dozens of concerned residents, and environmentalists from Seneca Lake Guardian attended, attended with hopes for answers on long-lingering question.

On Friday, Circular EnerG LLC withdrew their request for a special use permit to build a $365 million electricity generating, trash incinerator on part of the former Seneca Army Depot in the town of Romulus, but that doesn't mean that the company has given up.

Alan Knauf, an attorney for the energy company, said that the special use permit was not necessary, and that the company could pursue the project under New York State's "power plant siting law", which states: "No state agency, municipality or any agency thereof may, except as expressly authorized under this article by the board, require any approval, consent, permit, certificate or other condition for the construction or operation of a major electric generating facility."

This comes as a concern to the neighbors of Romulus, since the authority to reject the proposal now seemingly rests in the hands of the state, rather than the town planning board.

"You know there hasn't been a new incinerator built in the United States in over 17 years,” said Joseph Campbell, Seneca lake Guardians president. “30 years ago, there were 200 of these things and nowadays there are less than 70."

However, while residents and advocates concerns are for the potential environmental impact, representatives for Circular EnerG say technology has changed, and that this particular plant's effect would be negligible.

"So what we are doing with a normal landfill, we are putting good fuel in a pile, letting it rot, causing huge problems with odor, huge emissions, problems for the local people including greenhouse gas emissions, when we could just take that material, burn it and make power, very clean," Knauf said. "Technology has changed, my computer wasn't so good in the 80s, my computer is a lot better right now, and so is the air pollution control technology."

This development comes a day after the Romulus Town Board announced it was considering a six month moratorium on granting zoning board of appeals approvals in the town.