Letters To The Editor 01.12.23

Say No to Expanded Mining in the Town of Sand Lake!

Mining operations in the Town of Sand Lake are at best a nuisance and at worst an environmental and economic disaster. How many of us have driven down Rte 43 only to catch a stone from a truck that dinged or cracked our windshield? Both times it happened to me I was able to maintain control of my car. Yes, I was insured for glass replacement. But it was a multi-day inconvenience.

But what about the folks in West Sand Lake whose foundations and interior walls have cracked from the blasting? 

What about the people in the neighborhood of the mines whose wells now show unhealthy levels of arsenic?

What about the people who live along Thais Road? It’s illegal for those massive trucks to use this small side road. But they still do.

I understand that we need gravel to build roads and foundations. Geologists tell us that there are miles and miles of minable gravel throughout New York State. So why mine in a residential neighborhood?

The Hoffay/Rifenberg mine has applied for permission to expand its current 143 acres of mines an additional 70 acres. Representatives of the company assured the Sand Lake Town Board that this will not mean additional traffic, blasting, noise, cracked windshields.

Sorry. I don’t buy it. The Sand Lake Town Board should reject their application for expansion.

Bridget Ball Shaw, Averill Park