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Save Onteora Lake & Bluestone Wild Forest.

For All of Us

Onteora Lake and the Bluestone Wild Forest could soon be places that you may not want to visit. Blasting of rock, crushing of rock, the sound of massive trucks arriving and leaving all day and late into the evening could make visiting, hiking, swimming, and fishing a thing of the past. Creatures that inhabit these woods will feel these affects as well. Let’s stop this from happening. Let’s protect this valuable resource for our children and grandchildren.

Photo credit: Greg Miller, Open Space Institute.

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Please note: Your donation will only be used for the Save Onteora Lake effort. All donations are processed by Woodstock Land Conservancy and are considered TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

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WILDLIFE

Unlike natural borders, human disturbances often create “harder” edges with greater detrimental impacts on wildlife. … Landscape disturbance caused by development can also serve to introduce invasive species into natural habitats, further degrading the quality of remaining habitat areas. Many species are highly sensitive to both persistent loud noise, noise frequencies and vibration. According to noise specifications, a rock crusher causes sounds of up to 96 decibels at a distance of 100 feet, a distance well within range of the Bluestone Wild Forest recreational trails.

RECREATION

Located at one of the most popular gateways to the Catskill Forest Preserve, the Bluestone Wild Forest has an extensive multi-recreational trail system, used by hikers, cross country skiers and mountain bikers alike. Its Onteora Lake is one of the few publicly-accessible lakes in the area and it affords opportunities for swimming, boating, ice skating and fishing. It also has an accessible trail between the parking area and Onteora Lake, and its picnic tables. Many people enjoy its quiet forested, marshy, rocky habitat that is home to varied wildlife. Recreational users are made up of locals, as well as visitors to the Catskill Park.

POLLUTION

The production of cement concrete releases greenhouse gas emissions both directly and indirectly: the heating of limestone releases CO2 directly, while the burning of fossil fuels to heat the kiln indirectly results in CO2 emissions. Construction of the Project will be phased over several years and will potentially include significant amounts of blasting, rock crushing, idling trucks and their traffic, other noisy activities and significant harmful dust that does not respect borders. Visitors will breathe in dust that the NYS Bluestone Association says has: ” Health hazards; acute and chronic: Dust may irritate the eyes and/or skin, expected to be non-toxic. Chronic exposure to breathing in rock dust in excess of TLV can cause pneumoconiosis or silicosis.

COMMUNITY CHARACTER

This project will have a profound effect on the public’s enjoyment of and the character of the quiet, natural Bluestone Wild Forest which surrounds it. It is inconsistent in character to the existing natural landscape. Nowhere in the application documents is this addressed. In fact, in part II of the Environmental Assessment Form (EAF), the applicant states that the project will have no impact on the aesthetic, visual, or scenic resources, or diminish the public’s enjoyment, of the lands which surround it.

WATER QUALITY

There is great concern that the stormwater pollution prevention plan (“SWPPP”) provided by Applicant fails to fully address potential stormwater and other water quality impacts to the Bluestone Wild Forest’s wetlands, Onteora Lake and Pickerel Pond. Additional concerns relate to the availability and the amount of water that the applicant will use in its manufacturing process and whether the aquifer can support this. More data is needed.

AESTHETIC IMPACT

The Environmental Assessment Form analyzed the aesthetic impacts of the Project primarily from the nearby residential subdivision; as a result, no visual mitigation other than maintenance of the existing trees along the property line has been proposed. A recent tree clearing in 2019 removed some visual buffer near to Pickerel Pond. Under SEQR there should be proper analysis of the visual impacts of a 240,000 square foot warehouse complex and supporting infrastructure on neighboring land used extensively for public recreational trails. A study of night lighting also should be delineated as this would greatly impact the neighbors and the species which inhabit the Bluestone Wild Forest.

EXCESSIVE NOISE

Construction of the Project will be phased over several years and will potentially include significant amounts of blasting, rock crushing, and numerous tractor trailer trucks in and out of the site and idling. Applicant commissioned H2H Associates to conduct a noise study to identify and evaluate potential impacts from the Project. According to the study, a rock crusher causes sounds of up to 96 decibels at a distance of 100 feet, a distance well within range of the proposed recreational trails on the Addition property. In addition, the developer wants to have rock blasting approved for four years.

ROAD HAZARDS

According to the analysis submitted by Applicant’s consultant, Creighton Manning Engineering, the proposed plant will receive numerous truckloads in steel and concrete deliveries per day. Outbound loads with finished product will generate another 20 truck trips per day. When employee transportation is accounted for, approximately 121 new vehicles will enter and exit the property on an already busy stretch of Route 28 during peak traffic hours in the morning and evening.

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