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(source) KINGSTON FREEMAN, KINGSTON, NY Saugerties residents blast mining proposal By Ariel Zangla, Correspondent July 19, 2001 SAUGERTIES - A company's application for a special permit to continue an aggregate mining operation in a residential area in the hamlet of Veteran drew more than 200 people to a Planning Board meeting this week. The operation involves a 45-acre lot north of state Route 212 and east of Blue Mountain Road, which was purchased by Gilbert Shott of Shott Rock Inc. At the time the property was purchased, area residents said they were told Shott was going to subdivide the property into lots for an upscale housing development. In 1998, neighbors said they saw trucks loaded with stone leaving the site and heard the sounds of a stone crusher. They filed the first of several complaints about a mining operation on the property with the town building inspector. Stop work orders were issued to Shott and now he must apply for a special use permit to continue mining operations on the property, officials said. At a Planning Board meeting Tuesday night, a geologist and an engineer representing Shott said the project is considered a small blasting and excavating operation that produces 100,000 tons of aggregate material per year and employs two to three workers. They said access through the site would be through a private road off Morse Road, and that a study showed there would be no significant traffic impact. It is anticipated that nine to 45 trucks would go to the site each day, they said. Company representatives said the project meets state Department of Environmental Conservation setback requirements and that the operation would not be visible from any local roads. They also said a reclamation plan has been developed. The representatives said there would be no industrial wastewater from the operation and that all storm water would be retained in a lake on site where solids would settle out. That water will also be used to keep down dust on the site or will be released into the Beaverkill Creek, they said. The representatives said there would be no threat to wildlife or plant life in the area. A majority of the people in the audience were unhappy with the plans and accused Shott's representatives of lying and misleading the public. Resident Mike Catalinotto told Shott's representatives that the people of Saugerties did not want them here. "Save your money, pack your bags and go home," he said. Other residents questioned how the operation was going to affect their homes and their wells and how noise and increased traffic would affect the area. One said the Beaverkill Creek is so small that it may not be able to handle release of water from the mining site. Planning Board Chairman William Creen told the audience that Tuesday's meeting was just the first step in a lengthy process. "This is an informational meeting for the public," Creen said. "We are not making any decisions or taking any actions tonight." Creen said the state Department of Environmental Conservation has requested lead agency status on the project, which would allow it to lead the review and request additional information on the project from the applicant. A local group, Citizens Action for Residential Environments in Saugerties, has raised concerns over the Planning Board allowing the Department of Environmental Conservation to assume lead agency status in the permitting process without allowing the group to present information it says shows how difficult it is to fight the state agency on mining projects. Creen said the Planning Board does not have the resources nor the expertise in mining to properly review the project. While it is the state agency's right to assume lead agency status, he added, it will be the Planning Board that makes the final decision whether to grant a special use permit. Mike Moriello, a lawyer for Shott, said an application has been submitted to the Department of Environmental Conservation and the town and that all agencies that have an interest in the project would be notified.
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