For Immediate Release: May 19, 2009
Contact:
Keith P. McKeever | Public Relations | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 891-4050
ADIRONDACK PARK AGENCY APPROVES WOOD PELLET FACILITY,
MINE EXPANSION AND AUTHORIZES STAFF TO HOLD PUBLIC HEARINGS
ON STATE LAND CLASSIFICATION/RECLASSIFICATION PROPOSAL
RAY BROOK, NY – During its deliberations on Thursday, May 14, 2009, the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) approved two permits which resulted in the expansion of an existing business in the Keeseville Industrial Park and allowed a sand and gravel operation to expand in the Town of Ephratah, Fulton County. The Agency also authorized staff to hold public hearings on the classification and reclassification of State lands and waters in the vicinity of Lows Lake and the Five Ponds Wilderness Area in St. Lawrence and Hamilton Counties.
Essex Box and Pellet Company – Chesterfield, Essex County
The Agency unanimously approved the first wood-pellet manufacturing facility built in the Adirondack region. The Essex Box and Pellet Company is owned by Michael Lemza and located in the Keeseville Industrial Park in the Town of Chesterfield, Essex County. Mr. Lemza and the Essex County Industrial Development Agency were granted a permit to add a 2000± square foot addition onto the north end of the existing building to house the new wood-pellet manufacturing operation. This operation will process wood chips into wood pellets for use in wood burning furnaces.
The pellet manufacturing operation will ultimately produce up to 8 tons of pellets per hour, with the initial operation producing up to 4 tons per hour. As product demand increases and additional raw materials become available, production will increase and the operation may eventually include three shifts (24-hour operation).
At peak operations, the existing wood-pallet manufacturing plant employs 16 people on a full-time basis. This expansion is expected to create 4 additional full-time jobs and one part-time job for day shift operations. If orders and raw material availability warrant additional shift operations, it is expected that an additional 2-4 full-time employees and one part-time employee will be added per shift.
The wood-pellet manufacturing operation will also increase regional sales opportunity for local producers of clean, bark-free wood chips and sawdust. These raw products are currently shipped to Vermont and other locations beyond the Adirondack Park.
Including this facility, the Agency has approved a wholesale product and grocery distribution center; a liquid propane gas distribution facility; a manufacturing and packaging facility for cleaning products; a semi-public day treatment center; and a garnet processing operation in the Keeseville Industrial Park.
More information on the Keeseville Industrial Park is available at the Essex County Industrial Development Agency’s website - http://www.essexcountyida.com.
Carver Sand and Gravel, LLC - Ephratah, Fulton County
In a vote of 8 – 3, the Agency approved the expansion of Carver Sand and Gravel’s existing operation in the Town of Ephratah, Fulton County. The approved permit also establishes a new granite quarry on the site. The Agency’s approval authorized a life of mine area of 153± acres. This includes the expansion of the 13.4-acre existing commercial sand and gravel extraction to 93± acres and creates a new 35±-acre granite area. The total disturbed area within the life of mine area will total 128± acres.
During the five-year permit term, Carver Sand and Gravel is authorized to extract a maximum of 500,000 cubic yards of sand, gravel and consolidated mineral with a yearly average of 75,000 to 150,000 cubic yards.
The Agency conditioned the permit to address public concerns raised related to water quality, off-site sedimentation, noise, air quality (dust), traffic, and blasting vibration impacts to structures, wells and nearby dams.
The permit requires Carver Sand and Gravel use vegetative berms to screen the operation as well as maintain 100-foot undisturbed areas between extraction areas and any streams.
Carver Sand and Gravel is limited to a maximum of 18 blasts a year with no more than two blasts per month. Blasting will only occur between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from March 1 through November 30. Air blast and ground vibration must be monitored and conform to United States Bureau of Mines blasting guidelines. In addition, to resolve complaints from landowners Carver Sand and Gravel must offer pre-blast surveys to landowners to ensure the integrity of their foundations, walls and wells on structures within a half-mile of the mine site’s property boundaries.
All mining and associated activities will be limited to Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Saturdays between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. The extraction will not operate on Sundays and the following legal holidays: New Years Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Agency staff coordinated closely with Department of Environmental Conservation staff to ensure public concerns and environmental impacts were addressed.
State Land Reclassification/Classification Proposed
The Agency authorized staff to hold public hearings on proposals to classify state land and water in the vicinity of Lows Lake and the Five Pond Wilderness Areas in St. Lawrence and Hamilton Counties. The components of this action include:
· Reclassification of the Lows Lake and Hitchins Pond Primitive Areas to Wilderness for inclusion in the Five Ponds and Round Lake Wilderness Areas
· Creation of a new “Eastern Five Ponds Access” Primitive Area
· Classification of newly acquired lands south of Lows Lake from Pending Classification to Wilderness and adding these lands to the Five Ponds Wilderness Area
· Classification of the lake bed and waters of the Bog River and Lows Lake to Wilderness classification and adding them to the Five Ponds Wilderness Area
· Classification of the lake bed and waters of Bog Lake to Wilderness classification and adding them to the Five Ponds Wilderness Area.
Once the time and location of the public hearings are scheduled, the Agency will notify the public.
The New York State Adirondack Park Agency was created in 1971 by the State Legislature to develop long-range land use plans for both public and private lands within the boundary of the Adirondack Park. With its headquarters located in Ray Brook, the Agency also operates two Visitor Interpretive Centers, in Newcomb and Paul Smiths. For more information, call the APA at (518) 891-4050 or visit www.apa.state.ny.us.
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