BUFFALO, N.Y. -- National environmental advocacy group Beyond Plastics is asking the New York State Authorities Budget Office to investigate a strange set of circumstance before the Town of Lockport Industrial Development Agency.

An Indian company, SRI CV Plastics, wants to build a factory in the town with the help of more than $500,000 in state and local subsidies. Beyond Plastics and dozens of other advocates have opposed the project due to the potential environmental and health impacts of the manufacturing process and the final products, PVC pipes and disposable food containers.

The owner submitted a supposed peer-reviewed article claiming that PVC pipes have a lower environmental impact than other types of pipes. But just prior to a public hearing last week, a University at Buffalo professor claimed the article was fradulent and produced by an artificial intelligence generator.

"It's critically important that the public have confidence that taxpayer subsidies only are awarded based on a transparent, fact-based process," Beyond Plastics President Judith Enck wrote Wednesday.

In the letter the former Environmental Protection Agency regional director asked the Authorities Budget Office director to investigate and advise the IDA on what to do moving forward.