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E'vlle Blasting?
Mining Permit Is Still In The Works

ELLENVILLE – It's been two years since the mining operation located behind and above the McDonald's on Route 209 in Ellenville initially applied for an amendment to their sand and gravel permit issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation...and that application is still being processed, said H. Osterhoudt Excavating owner Karen Osterhoudt.

"It is a long, methodical process, obtaining a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation permit for blasting," Osterhoudt said, adding that the mining operations consultant is equally taking his time, slowly making sure to take everything into consideration.

Back in 2014, letters started streaming in to our mailbox regarding the Osterhoudt gravel mine when news broke that blasting would be required to break through bedrock. Residents turned out to a village trustees' meeting, questioning the operation of such blasting and sharing concerns about potential structural damage to their residences nearest the mine, as well as safety concerns for the nearby Ellenville school campus.

As initially reported, that mining would occur Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., once approval was granted, although Osterhoudt now questions the specificity of that schedule as reported. A more probable scenario, she continued, would involve an initial blast with six months to a year of excavating during which secondary blasts would occur as necessary. She could not elaborate as to how many blasts it would take to clear the bedrock standing in the way of the site becoming a housing development.

Right now, Osterhoudt added, the company has approval to crush... and that's what they're doing. Going on, she added that a permit for building a housing development such as Ellenridge would include approval for blasting; it's only by having applied for a separate mining permit that an added amendment, and its more complex review process, has become necessary.

Which has made all the talk about safety concerns a moot point.

"It is so highly regulated and highly watched," Osterhoudt said of mining blasts and their permit process.

In a humorous finish, Osterhoudt added that it simply isn't like scenes of Wile E. Coyote blasting off ACME TNT and leveling a roadrunner... or any part of a village at all.



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