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MINING FOES DOMINATE TOWN PUBLIC HEARING
DAILY FREEMAN Friday, October 12, 2001 (P1) Dawn Letus, Freeman staff
Few oppose a proposal to limit mining operations to industrial
and highway business zones in Saugerties Saugerties - Neighbors of the proposed
Shott Rock mining operation on Morse Road came out in force Thursday to support
a zoning change that would keep mining out of residential areas. The Town Board
is expected to vote on the proposed amendment when it meets at 7p.m. Oct. 24
at the Saugerties Senior Center, Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel said. The board
moved the public hearing to Saugerties High School to accommodate more than
200 residents, most of whom cited noise pollution, truck traffic, water quality
impacts and silt contamination of the Beaverkill in arguing against mining in
residential areas. Two people spoke against the amendment.
"If Democracy means anything in Saugerties, then the measure
before the Town Board will be voted up because that is what the residents of
Saugerties want," said Allen Fischer of Hommelville Road.
Representing residents in favor of the amendment, Paul A.
Rubin, a hydrogeologist formerly of the state Attorney General's Office, said
residents face reductions in water quality and quantity from wells and degradation
of surface water quality if mining is allowed near their homes. Airborne particulates
carried from the site could also cause silicosis, a lung ailment, he said.
"The Atkins' home is 540 feet from the border of the mine,"
Rubin said. "The mine will disrupt vertical fractures wells are sunk into, and
water will flow into a pit of the mine, 50 feet below the water table. The water
table will then drop, causing some residents to lose water quantity."
Gary Bishoff, a Charles Hommel Road resident, urged the board
to adopt the amendment because the town has changed. "Mining in Saugerties is
historical, and I wouldn't mind a mine right next door, if they mined the same
way they did back then. But, now it is all about heavy machinery, noise and
pollution."
Under the proposal, mining would be restricted to industrial
zones by right, and highway business zones by special permit. Those opposed
to the amendment said it would prohibit mining in residential districts where
resources are located, regardless of any considerations.
"If this amendment is passed, it will send a clear message
to businesses attempting to come into the community the town law cannot be relied
upon if the residents in the town are opposed to their business," said Shott
Rock attorney Kevin Bernstein.
"I can't endorse such a drastic change in our zoning laws
without assessing the impact of such a decision,: said Richard Praetorius, a
Saugerties resident who chairs the Ulster County Planning Board. Praetorius,
who admittedly has a financial interest in the proposed mine, said the amendment
would effectively rezone 36,000 acres and more than 50 square miles without
considering the environmental impact of such a decision. He said the current
law, adopted in 1989 when he was a member of the town Planning Board, was based
on the historic relevance of mining and the economic impact of the industry
on the town of Saugerties.