What's the project?

Troy Sand & Gravel is seeking permits to open an industrial hard rock quarry to mine 88 acres of a 214 acre lot. They want to mine an unspecified amount of greywacke sandstone from a large hill located in the center of an area bordered by state routes 43 and 66, Dunham Hollow Road and Gardner Hill Road. The lot is owned by Hankle Realty LLC.

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Several years ago, when the folks who own Hankle Lumber in Hoags Corners purchased a large piece of land in Dunham Hollow., they stated publicly they weren't going to mine it (see the Independent article in "Resources"). They even promised not to clear cut the property! It was supposed to be a "sustainable forestry" operation.

Fast forward to 2004! Hankle is in a partnership with Troy Sand & Gravel to develop a massive hard rock mining operation on the land--a project that, if approved, will lead to the destruction of the quality of life for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of citizens in rural residential Rensselaer County and forever alter the political , economic and environmental landscape for future generations.

To add insult to injury, this ill-advised project is clearly against the law according to local zoning.

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There are a lot of reasons why people who live in a rural residential area wouldn't want a massive mining operation nearby. The potential problems include:

• Traffic. There will be a major increase in the number of large trucks travelling to and from the mine to the Troy Sand & Gravel plant in West Sand Lake. As the quarry grows, so too will traffic. This poses a potential danger to the many school buses that travel on the same route, as well as creating frustrating "rolling roadblocks" during rush hour for folks commuting to work.
• Declining property values. No one wants to live near an industrial quarry. No one wants to deal with heavy truck traffic on a daily basis. As the desireability of an area decreases, so too do property values.
• Visual impacts. The quarry site is visible from many homes in the surrounding area. Many residents moved here because of the beauty of this region. A quarry is the midst of it all will destroy what many people live here for, and forever change the natural landscape.
• Air pollution. Blasting, drilling and rock crushing can produce silica dust--which is harmful to people with asthma and can cause severe lung damage.
• Groundwater contamination. If--as appears to be the case--the proposed mine extends below the water table, it could affect wells in the surrounding area. Residue from explosives, spilled fuel, and other chemicals could seep into the ground water.
• Surface water contamination. In addition to carrying residue from explosives, spilled fuel, and other chemicals, runoff from the site could silt up nearby streams and other bodies of water.
• Noise. Hard rock quarrying involves very loud operations. Drilling in preparation for blasting could go on for 12 hours a day, and would be heard over great distances. The blasting necessary to loosen hard rock would be heard for miles around. And the constant noise of rock crushers, operating up to 12 hours a day, would be heard far from the mine site. Local residents living within miles of the Lebanon Valley Speedway can testify as to how far sound travels in these hills. And the noise wouldn't just bother humans--wildlife would be affected as well.
• Vibration. The enormous explosions associated with hard rock mining are known to crack foundations and destroy drilled wells miles away. Folks living close to a quarry often find dishes and other shelved objects on the floor after a blast.
• Dangerous precedents. Once an area is being mined,. it is no longer pristine. If this proposed industrial mine penetrates local zoning, others will follow close behind.
• Scale-up. As the folks in West Sand Lake who live near Troy Sand & Gravel well know, residents quickly lose control over what happens once an industrial mining operation is under way. There is little to prevent the miner from vastly expanding the scope of a project, adding new operations, processing on-site, and sending trucks in new directions over previously undisclosed routes. This is not idle speculation--Troy Sand & Gravel has repeatedly violated the terms of its permits at existing sites.

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No. The public record shows a history of dishonesty and environmental violations that have made life living hell for those living near by existing operations. In the Towns of West Sand Lake and Stephentown, residents have engaged in litigation against Troy Sand & Gravel for years.

And even if we thought we could trust them, remember the transfer station at the corner of Routes 66 and 351? Started by a local family, it was soon sold to a huge conglomerate. Within a matter of months, what started as a small-scale local business had become the regional hub for a multi-national corporation. And the nightmare began...

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Of course we do! But large-scale industrial mining isn't development. It's exploitation!

Industrial mining brings no significant economic benefits to a community--it's a highly automated industry with virtually no fixed plant, so we can expect few new jobs, little additional tax revenue. But we can expect noise, vibration, dust, traffic, visual impacts, declining property values... and more mines, if this one successfully penetrates our zoning restrictions.

Think about it--if industrial mining comes in, every working person in the area who depends on a stable residential community is going to be in trouble. If people stop building and renovating homes (and who would build or renovate near a quarry, where property values are plunging?), contractors will sit idle. Everyone who depends on consumers for their livelihood--shops, gas stations, restaurants, propane/heating oil/firewood vendors--will lose customers as homeowners abandon the area. The only folks left behind will be those who cannot afford to take a loss on their home to sell it.

And what do we get in exchange for the destruction of our residential tax base? Whatever truck drivers spend on coffee and cigarettes on their way to and from the mine.

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We need development that builds on our strengths--not projects to blow them up and cart them away! This is a beautiful area--a safe, clean environment with good schools and a great quality of life. We have to preserve and build on that! People have lived here for generations because this is a great place to live--and new residents are moving here for the same reason. This area needs a master plan to keep the things we cherish, and keep out the things that will destroy them.

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Sure, to an extent. But the explosion (literally!) of mining in rural Rensselaer County isn't about need--it's about greed. There are plenty of mines in operation already in Rensselaer County--more than 60 covering nearly 1,500 acres (see Ken Dufty's letter in "Resources"). But most of the cost of providing rock, gravel and sand is in transportation, so to maximize their profits these companies want a mine on every corner. At the expense of local homeowners.

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Because what they do with their property affects your property. And your family, friends, neighbors and the environment. If they are allowed to open this mine, property values will plummet (who wants to live next to a hard rock mine?). As assessments drop, so too will tax revenues. Schools and local government will be forced to raise taxes to make up for lost revenue. So the local real estate market will be saddled with under-valued homes burdened with excessive taxes. The recipe for a downward spiral.

The impact of this operation extends far beyond the folks unfortunate enough to live near the mine. Heavy trucks loaded with rock will be barrelling down highways throughout the area, sharing the road with commuters and school buses. And noise, vibration, dust and other environmental problems will blanket the region.

It's not as though local residents haven't been through enough to convince them that one person's property rights stop where their neighbors' begin. For example, the enormous Superfund site on the western boundary of Nassau at the former Dewey Loeffel Landfill has poisoned the groundwater with deadly volatile organic compounds and all of Nassau Lake with PCBs. That was one man exercising his property rights at a remote, swampy location on a back road in Nassau. He made a lot of money. His neighbors and his neighbor's children are still paying for his success, fifty years later. Nassau doesn't need another environmental disaster on its eastern border.

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Oh sure. They paid a reported $500,000 to buy property without checking to see whether industrial mining is a permitted use. Here's what anyone with $4 to spend for the Town of Nassau's "Land Use and Development Regulations" would find out about the Town's "Rural Residential" zoning (under which the proposed quarry site falls):

RURAL RESIDENTIAL. The Rural Residential District is established to maintain and protect the open, rural character, environmental quality and natural habitat of these parts of the Town while allowing for a mixture of housing types, opportunities and home occupations, and to provide for current and future residents the opportunities for a wide range of activities including rural living, agriculture, forestry, recreation and the enjoyment of wildlife.

In other words, no industrial rock quarries allowed on the site. Period.

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Yes, mining is a permitted use. For homeowners who need a few pickup truck loads of gravel for their driveway. For farmers who need some sand for their fields. The intent of the zoning regulations is to allow traditional land uses to support the character of the community--but even then requiring a special use permit for mining. Here's the law regarding special use permits for mining:

Such special use shall be restricted to a total disturbed area of five (5) acres (i.e., an aggregate of no more than three (3) or more stages) and to a maximum time period of no more than three (3) years, with a lesser area and/or period established as deemed necessary by the Town Board to assure a satisfactory program of operations and rehabilitation.

Five acres, three years. In other words, mining 88 acres over 50 years is not allowed. Period.

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Simple. Some unethical business people are trying to exploit what they think is a weak local law. They bought some land knowing full well their intended use of it is not allowed, and are now claiming they didn't understand the established land use restrictions when they purchased it. They will use their lawyers to threaten the Town and intimidate neighbors, attempting to bully their way past laws protecting the community. It's up to us to stop them. We can, and will!

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Sadly, there are some people who will do anything to anyone to make a buck. Even their own neighbors! Their view of life is that from 9 to 5, anything goes. Then they return to their own families, their communities, their church, their Little League. To them, we're just a cost of doing business. So we depend on our elected officials to protect us--but they live on the other side of town, and figure that if something bad is going to happen it might as well happen far from their own homesand families. So we turn to NY State--and find that the agencies charged with regulating industry are dominated by the industries they're supposed to regulate.

And we feel bad about our situation--until we realize that we do have the power to control our own destiny. We can organize, fight, and win. Others have; we can too.

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Employees and contractors of Troy Sand & Gravel attemped to infiltrate early organizing meetings of the Residents Against Mining. They were asked to leave. Do you imagine that Troy Sand & Gravel would allow RAM members into its meetings about how to circumvent local zoning?

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Under the Freedom of Information Law enacted in 1978, you have the right to be informed about the operation of your government. With some exceptions noted below, all meetings of the Town boards and committees are open to the public. Minutes of all meetings are kept and you are entitled to copies.

Decisions made by the Town Board, Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals are made by formal resolution, and are included in the minutes of their meetings. The Open Meetings Law (also called the "sunshine" law) went into effect in 1977. This law gives you the right to hear the deliberations and decisions of public bodies. A "meeting" is defined as "the official convening of a public body for the purpose of conducting public business."

The law only provides for closed or "executive" sessions when the Board must discuss matters which will imperil the public safety if disclosed, would disclose the identity of a law enforcement agency or informer, to discuss information relating to current or future investigations, discussions regarding proposed, pending or current litigation, collective negotiations, the employment history of a particular person, preparation, grading or administration and the proposed acquisition or sale or lease of real property.

In the absence of litigation, it's hard to imagine a circumstance in which the Town of Nassau legally could withhold information about, or restrict access to meetings about, the current controversity over industrial hard rock mining.

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Simple--join the Residents Against Mining email list! It's a non-commercial, very low traffic (announcements only) list to keep you posted on meetings and important developments in the struggle against industrial mining. We promise not to share your email address, and you can remove yourself from the list whenever you wish. Just send an email to subscribe@ResidentsAgainstMining.org and we'll hook you up! You can help us out by sharing our Big Thunder Newsblasts with family, friends and neighbors without email access.

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Thought you'd never ask! There are a number of things you can do to help:

1. Join Residents Against Mining! By becoming part of this group, you strengthen the citizens' movement working to protect this community. It's only $10 a year! Send a check payable to RAM with your name, address, telephone and email information to: Residents Against Mining; PO Box 761; Averill Park, NY 12018
2. Make a contribution to Residents Against Mining! We're prepared to fight for this community by any means necessary, including through the legal system. That's going to take more money than we can raise through $10 membership dues! If you can afford it, consider making a $100 donation. If you can afford more, please send it along; if you can only afford a few dollars, that's fine, too. Do what you can--RAM represents folks of all means. Contact RAM for information on how you can make a tax-deductable contribution (donations@ResidentsAgainstMining.org), or if that's not important to you just send a check payable to RAM with your name, address, telephone and email information to: Residents Against Mining; PO Box 761; Averill Park, NY 12018
3. Contact your elected officials, politely explain your concerns, and ask them to take a public position in opposition to large scale, industrial mining in your community. Remember that they're not necessarily up-to-speed on these issues and may have only heard the mis-information spread by the mining industry, so a calm, respectful explanation of your views could help bring them around. Getting angry at them and name-calling is unlikely to help, and might even be counter-productive!
4. Stop by Troy Sand & Gravel and Hankle Lumber. Tell them (politely!) that they're being unneighborly! Their public record for truthfulness isn't very encouraging, so take what they tell you with a shaker of salt. But let them know that the people in the community with whom they do business are... disappointed.
5. Attend public hearings, town board meetings and the regular meetings of Residents Against Mining to support your neighbors in the struggle for sane public policy in our communities!
6. Tell all your family, friends and neighbors about this fight and ask them to join Residents Against Mining. Together we can protect one another!

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