Take Action: Mushroom Plant
Local citizens and groups in and round Mamakating are working to stop the approval of the Mushroom Plant, a major development proposal currently before the Town of Mamakating Planning Board that will have very serious environmental impacts on the Basha Kill watershed and the Ridge if they go forward.
Yukiguni Maitake Manufacturing Corporation has returned to Mamakating guided by the Sullivan County Economic Partnership with a proposal for a mushroom production and processing plant. Although scant information has been provided thus far to the Planning Board, we do know that the proposed 825,000+ square foot facility would be located on a 47 acre lot at the intersection of Rt. 209 and McDonald Road. The property adjoins both the upper reaches of the Basha Kill and the historic D& H Canal Linear Park.
The applicant proposes to build a facility that will be approximately 83 feet high in part of the structure (four stories - almost double the height limit specified in the recently adopted zoning ordinance) and 62 feet high in the remainder in order to eventually produce 30 tons of mushrooms per day. If a variance is allowed for this 83 foot structure, it will completely disrupt the viewshed of Mamakating's rural valley and the magnificent Shawangunk Ridge.
Yukiguni Maitake Corporation anticipates that its facility will produce 3.3 tons of solid waste per day, as well as 67 tons of saw dust and waste mushrooms per day.
Now that you begin to understand the vast scope of this proposal, consider also the very serious water issues that are involved. The applicant is proposing to pull 621,000 gallons of water per day from the aquifer to support its operations. At the same time, the Company mentions returning only 50,000 gallons per day of wastewater to on-site infiltration basins.
In a recent meeting, a water expert from the US Geological Survey's Troy office told representatives of the Basha Kill Area Association that a withdrawal of this amount would inevitably lower water levels in the Basha Kill, possibly drying up some of the smaller wetlands bordering the Basha Kill.
Please write immediately to the Planning Board. Ask the Planning Board to require that the applicant submit a detailed, independently conducted water resource investigation report of the aquifer underlying the Town so that water supply for the village of Wurtsboro, local private wells and the Basha Kill and other water resources will be assured of protection from depletion due to excessive water withdrawals by any party.
Send Letters to:
| John Piazza, Chair Town of Mamakating Planning Board 2948 Rt. 209 Wurtsboro, NY 12790 |
Congressman Maurice Hinchey City Hall, 3rd Floor 16 James Street Middletown, NY 10940 |
For More information contact the Basha Kill Area Association (BKAA): Paula Medley- 845-754-0743
(11/06/2003)