Facts matter in debate over Route 28 project

Dear Editor,

In a recent Freeman article, the attorney for the Catskill Mountainkeeper and Woodstock Land Conservancy, Claudia Braymer, made several false and misleading claims about the project at 850 Route 28, with the apparent intent to confuse the public and animate opposition to the development.

This is just the latest in a series of documented misleading claims by these groups.

In particular, in the last paragraph of the article, Braymer refers to “problems (with the 850 Route 28 proposal) including the use of toxic byproducts.” There are NO toxic byproducts from precast concrete, nor from any other proposed use of the site. Materials used in the fabrication process are: stone, water, sand, recycled crushed glass, cement (brought in, not made on site), and steel (brought in, not made on site). None of these ingredients are toxic, and there will be no fuel storage on site.

Information on this is publicly available (www.850route28.com) making it clear these arguments by the CMK/WLC attorney are merely intended to further delay and obstruct the 850 Route 28 project and confuse the public.

Many other misleading and dissembling claims were made. As clearly noted in the application documents, well water will be used primarily for staff use and some materials fabrication, equivalent of nine residential homes or less at peak usage. The fabrication process will also use captured rainwater from the site. This manufacturing process is not a major user of water. Water trucks will spray down the site to control dust during construction phases. The excavation of site rock/material will be used for the creation of level site “pads” upon which buildings will be built. Additional leftover materials will be used in the concrete fabrication process, and some used in local construction projects.

The developers of 850 Route 28 support reasonable, smart solutions to protect our environment. The project will create necessary materials for local (Ulster/Hudson Valley/ NYS) road and bridge construction and repairs and, with the help from local green architects, incorporate many sustainable features with the goal of Silver LEED certification.

It is a discredit to those with legitimate interest in the 850 Route 28 project to make outright false and misleading claims to further a partisan agenda. Facts matter.

Raleigh Green Hurley, N.Y. The writer is a communications representative for 850 Route 28 LLC.