Company seeks to pivot as mining ends

MILAN, N.Y. » Red Wing Sand and Gravel is seeking to keep operations alive at its Roe-Jan facility on county Route 55 by converting it to a full-time processing plant now that mining operations are ending.

The application is being reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation officials, who are seeking to take the lead agency role in advance of making a determination of significance for a project that would import 15,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel per month.

“The stated reason for the offsite importation is because the reserves at the mine are nearing depletion and additional material is required for aggregate blending,” state officials wrote. “The action will entail the transport of sand and gravel to the RoeJan facility from permitted mines, where it will either be processed immediately or stockpiled for later processing. Finished products are to be stored in the existing finished stockpile area, before sale.”

Over the past 45 years, Red Wing has used 91 acres of its 140 acres for mining, with the permit scheduled to expire next year. Under the new application, the company would use one acre for processing and stockpiles that are expected to be about 15-feet tall.

Project engineering firm Griggs-Lang Consulting noted that previous Red Wing plans to import material from its property in Livingston was changed after the Columbia County town changed its zoning to prohibit mining at that site.

“Red Wing is negotiating with MCR Sand and Gravel regarding purchasing sand and gravel from their site located approximately four miles north of Red Wing’s Livingston mine,” company Vice President Jeffrey Lang wrote.

Officials are still waiting to get some information from Red Wing about the application, including a response to a question about how much of an increase in traffic the new operation will have. A state note that the environmental assessment form “indicates the proposed action will result in a substantial increase in traffic” but in the response, the company wrote only that there would be “28 to 30 loads” per day without stating the current number of vehicles coming and going from the site.

In 2010, Red Wing lost an eight-year court battle to open a nearby mine in Milan, which had blocked the plan by updating its zoning regulations. The company initially won its challenge in state Supreme Court but that ruling was overturned by the state Appellate Division and not taken up by the state Court of Appeals.