The latest plan to quintuple the size of the Padua Ridge gravel mine is inadequate to protect its neighbor, the Watkins Glen State Park, from a host of potentially severe environmental risks, the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation declared last week.
The developer’s 784-page draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) fails to fully address multiple threats, including stormwater runoff, disruption of the water table and truck traffic, Fred Bonn, OPRHP’s regional director for the Finger Lakes wrote in an April 9 letter.
Martin Wojcik, who runs the mine under the name It’s Greener Now Inc. (IGN), produced the voluminous document as part of his application for a permit to expand the mine from 14.33 acres to 75.28 acres.
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