PHARSALIA – Whether or not a public hearing will be held before a sandstone quarry is permitted to be sited along Center Road in the town depends on a number of factors, a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation specialist said.
Lucan Mahoney of the DEC’s Division of Mineral Resources said not all environmental quality reviews require public hearings, something that doesn’t site well with a neighbor of the proposed site.
“This would be on all three sides of my property,” said Laura Price. “It’s a dirt road, traffic would increase, and I’m not even sure whether there will be a public hearing.”
Mahoney said the SEQR process was still underway, and it was too early to tell whether the project’s design would require a public hearing.
“We have had one call. It’s appears to be controversial. During the comment period, if the town reports a number of valid complaints, then we would hold a public hearing,” he said.
At this point, Mahoney said he wasn’t even certain whether the Pharsalia Town Board had agreed to appoint the DEC as lead agency in the SEQR process. Communications between the DEC’s Cortland office, which represents Pharsalia, have been slow. Supervisor Dennis Brown confirmed last month that the town would hand over the lead agency status to the DEC.
There were several concerns raised about the potential quarry during a meeting of the town board last month. Brown said concerns were raised about water quality issues, road traffic and the dust.
Brown said he didn’t understand how a SEQR is conducted without a public hearing. “We always have to. I’ve been trying to get an answer about that,” he said.
Harvey Materials Corp. of Rome and property-owner Derek Smith have applied for a mining permit. The stone would be available on site or shipped out, either for a variety of landscaping applications, or crushed onsite for road surfacing and other purposes.