Coeymans, N.Y.-based Carver Sand & Gravel is closer to expanding its 320-acre mining operation in Fulton County and changing the terms of its permit.
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) on Thursday issued it a conditioned permit to increase its truck loading hours and blasting numbers, among other changes, in the town of Ephratah.
The agency, charged with overseeing public and private development in the 6-million-acre park, had delayed voting on the permit last month to address some town and local residents’ concerns. The mine still needs a state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) permit. The DEC had delayed its issuance, APA staff said, until the APA board passed its permit.
The board voted unanimously authorizing the expansion with board member Arthur Lussi absent. He had expressed concerns over the early morning hours of the mine’s operations at last month’s meeting. Also at that meeting, questions were raised over a 2021 enforcement case with the APA. In a November 2021 settlement agreement, the APA found Carver had blasted more than twice a month without an amended permit in 2021, and in 2020 and 2021 had trucked outside the hours of the permit. Records show the APA fined the company $1,500.
Read the full story in the Adirondack Explorer.