WHY STUDY GRAVEL MINING?
Gravel mining became an issue and never went away. The following events also reinforced the sense among county officials that gravel mining needed further study: • Our County has sponsored many meetings on the future of Route 16 communities since 1987, and people have brought up the topic of gravel mining again and again even when it was not on meeting agendas. • Our County Planning Board has also attended state mining permit hearings since the late 1980s to express its many concerns. While the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is following its statutory mandates in how it conducts these hearings, the outcome is that local land use concerns are neglected in state decisions because NYSDEC does not get involved in land use issues. NYSDEC continues to approve gravel mining permits regardless. Finally, on April 14, 1999, the Cattaraugus County Legislature asked the Cattaraugus County Planning Board to study the impacts that the mining of aggregates may be hav
