• Status report 27 July 2007 (MS Word doc)

• Talking points

• SOS experts' technical testimony:

— Sound monitoring

— Air monitoring

• Text of SOS Petition
  And Expert Testimony

   

Study Shows fugitive dust migrating to school & elsewhere

At the public hearing in June of 2007, Schoharie residents, a handful of school teachers, and an individual who had worked on the school’s severely clogged air filtration system all expressed concerns regarding what they viewed as adverse health impacts potentially or actually being caused by fugitive dust escaping from Cobleskill Stone Products’ (CSP) Schoharie quarry.

SOS followed up on these concerns by contacting the Region 4 NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to see if any air quality studies of the quarry had been conducted and, if so, what the findings were. David Picket, of DEC’s Division of Air, indicated that he had indeed recently inspected CSP’s Schoharie quarry. He admits, however, the day of his inspection machinery was shut down for maintenance, so quarry activity was not typical.

Mr. Picket further said that his interpretation of DEC policy is that he should assess emissions only from stationary sources. He explained that mobile sources of fugitive dust coming from heavy truck traffic, drilling, blasting, and earth-moving equipment are not regulated nor inspected by his department. So, in sum, the inspection observed a quarry whose stationary machinery was idle, and ignored some of the largest producers of dust coming from the facility.

Earlier, when CSP first applied for a DEC permit to expand, SOS had requested that air monitoring or modeling be conducted during the Environmental Impact Study, but DEC deemed CSP’s application complete without conducting such assessments.

Since the regional DEC appeared disinclined to further examine the issue of fugitive dust, SOS decided to undertake air quality monitoring on its own. Bob Montione, SOS vice-chairman and an environmental scientist with 27 years experience, under the direction of John Hinckley, of Resource Systems Group’s Environment Division, set up dust monitors around the community for about three weeks.  Mr. Montione also arranged for laboratory analysis of a dust sample previously collected from the school be a former teacher.

Data from these tests indicate the following:

Fugitive dust from the CSP facility is clearly migrating to adjoining properties, including Schoharie Central School and likely the nearby senior citizens apartment complex.

During CSP’s working hours, the concentrations of dust on adjoining properties were sometimes higher than NYS Air Guidance concentrations for fugitive dust when measured as an hourly average.  These guidance values and federal regulations are compared on various time scales (e.g., average for one hour, average for 24 hours, average for one year). Based on reasonable silica percentages of 4-20 percent, the daily average concentrations of dust may be exceeding NYS DEC Air Guidance Concentration (annual average) for silica.

After the single blast event captured during the testing, dust concentrations on an adjacent property increased sevenfold for a low intensity blast located 2,000 feet from the property line.  Logically, the increase in dust distribution from a more typical blast, located closer to the quarry’s property line (25 feet is the minimum setback) would produce even high concentrations of dust.

The increases in dust concentrations measured at adjacent properties were similar to those that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded would be likely to have adverse effects on human health.

SOS recently sent a report detailing the findings of the fugitive dust study to the NYS Department of Health for that agency’s review.

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) held a public hearing on February 20 at Schoharie's Holiday Inn Express. Between 250 and 300 people showed up, at least 80 percent of that total against the quarry. Many Schoharie citizens offered personal testimonials to various negative effects the existing quarry has had on the quality of their lives, and expert witnesses spoke of faulty methodology, untruths, and misstatements rampant in Cobleskill Stone Products' Draft Enviornmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Several days after the meeting, DEC extended the public comment period until March 27th.

The extension gave expert witnesses enlisted by the Town of Schoharie, the Village of Schoharie, and Save Our Schoharie (SOS) time to complete more thorough analyses of components of the Cobleskill Stone' DEIS.

In an unusual display of civic cooperation, the Town and Village of Schoharie share a mutually agreed upon master plan for development that precludes mine expansion on lands other than those previously approved for mining.

Comments on the CSP DEIS or mining practices in Schoharie should be submitted to Kent P. Sanders, Deputy Regional Permit Administrator, NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, 65561 State Highway 10, Suite 1, Stamford, N.Y. 12167-9503.

Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 3 (03/08)

Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2 (11/07)

CSP Application Deemed ‘Complete’

Revised CSP Proposal and SOS Response

More Evidence From the Camera

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24June08