APA confirms permit application is complete and under review
By Megan Plete Postol
The Forestport Planning board meeting July 14 was well attended by property owners eager to share concerns about the proposed pink granite quarry near White Lake in the town of Forestport.
All who spoke expressed opposition to the proposed quarry. Many residents referenced a letter that permit applicant Tom Sunderlin had sent to area newspapers. There were discrepancies between the letter and the official permit application, they said.
“I’m extremely concerned with the amount of misinformation,” White Lake property owner Ralph Cossa said. “Either he does not know what’s in his own permit or he is downgrading it to make it seem like less than it is.”
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APPLICATION: The most recent version of the quarry’s application can be found here.
Danielle Mazui, owner of White Lake Lodges, expressed frustration about what a nearby mining operation would do to her business. She read from a prepared statement.
“I understand we’re all eager to build growth and jobs within the park,” she said. “It’s my opinion that a placing an industrial mining operation in the middle of a tourist area will have a detrimental impact on jobs, tax revenue, and growth.”
Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks, attended the meeting. He pointed out that the area is not zoned for industrial use. It is zoned for “Moderate Intensity Use.”
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“We think this project raises a lot of issues. There are a lot of unknowns. The application has a lot of internal contradictions,” he said. “We are concerned that this may be on the fast track with the APA. We hope that the APA will send this project to an official adjudicatory public hearing where groups like the White Lake Association, Protect the Adirondacks, and others could intervene and bring in independent expert information.”
In addition to those concerns, Bauer is worried about the water. Bauer said that White Lake and nearby Little Long Lake have been part of the organization’s Adirondack Lake Assessment Program (ALAP), a collaborative program with Paul Smith’s College, for more than two decades.
“We are concerned about the long term impacts on water quality, possible fracturing or changing the hydrology of the area,” he said.
Peter Tamburro of South Shore Road has been a vocal opponent of the project since news first broke about it and is one of many local residents that has penned letters to the APA stating his resistance.
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“I am opposed to this quarry project,” he said. “First of all it does not fit into the nature of a rural, lake-side residential area. Secondly, I am very concerned about a new level of pollution effecting noise, air, water and plant life. Lastly, the movement of trucks loaded with tons of gravel will restrict and pose a safety issue on a very busy, curving, narrow highway with a 55 mph speed limit.”
APA status update
At of July 7, the Adirondack Park Agency determined that the permit application is complete. APA Public Information Officer Keith McKeever said that the APA is currently reviewing the project and the earliest the agency anticipates that the project would come before the board would be September.
Public comments are being accepted until July 29 and can be directed to Devan Korn at [email protected] or by using this form. Reference APA Project Number 2021-0075.
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Devan Korn’s first name.
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