State says no to plant
Cement project appears dead

By Dan Shapley Poughkeepsie Journal April 20 , 2005

HUDSON -- St. Lawrence Cement Co. can't build a new plant in Columbia County because its proposal is inconsistent with New York's vision for residential, commercial and recreational uses of the Hudson River waterfront.
The apparent death knell for the controversial project came from the Department of State's Division of Coastal Resources in a decision late Tuesday.
The agency is charged with enforcing the Coastal Zone Management Act. The act requires all coastal projects to be consistent with a state's coastal policies, or else no federal agency can grant it permits.
St. Lawrence would need permits from the Army Corps of Engineers for its docking facility and navigational channel in the Hudson River.
St. Lawrence Cement had proposed building a $353 million plant -- the largest in New York, and one of the largest in the nation -- in the Town of Greenport, with docking facilities in the City of Hudson. It would have closed its 40-year-old plant across the river in Catskill.
Ruling takes 21 pages
''This objection rests with the unique nature of the proposal. It does not stand for the proposition that the effects caused by a different siting, configuration and design of a manufacturing facility with a lesser visual impact and a riverfront shipping facility with a reduced level of activity and located so as not to compete and conflict with adjacent uses, would result in a similar finding,'' reads the ruling, a 21-page document signed by Secretary of State Randy A. Daniels.
An electronic copy of the decision was forwarded to the Poughkeepsie Journal by Scenic Hudson attorney Warren Reiss. The Poughkeepsie-based environmental group has long opposed the project with Friends of Hudson and the Olana Partnership.
The Department of State would not verify that the decision had been made, but St. Lawrence did.
''Obviously, we're disappointed in the decision,'' company spokesman Dan Odescalchi said. ''This is a good project. It replaces an older plant with a cleaner, more environmentally friendly plant. It's a project that will retain hundreds of jobs and create many more. It will improve viewsheds, especially the main viewshed from Olana (state historic site).''
St. Lawrence is considering its options, Odescalchi said.
Opponents rejoiced.
''We're hopeful that St. Lawrence will take this decision, study it and come to the inevitable conclusion that this plant is not to be built here,'' Reiss said.
Dan Shapley can be reached at dshapley@poughkeepsiejournal.com
Alternatives
St. Lawrence Cement has 30 days to appeal the decision to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. It also could alter its plans and reapply.

Copyright © 2005, Poughkeepsie Journal .

AREA NEWSPAPER
CONTACT INFORMATION

ULSTER/ DUTCHESS

Poughkeepsie Journal
PO Box 1231
Poughkeepsie, NY 12602
(845) 454-2000
For an on line letter to the editor. Fill out this form

ULSTER COUNTY

Saugerties Times
Monday deadline
P.O.Box
Phone:334- 8200
FAX your letter 334-8202
saugertiestimes@ulsterpublishing
(Attention Erica Freudenberger, editor)
P.O.Box 3329
Kingston, NY 12402

Albany Times Union
Times Union
90 State Street
Albany, NY 12207
(518) 454-5091
For an on line letter to the editor. Fill out this form

COLUMBIA COUNTY
The Independent
Indenews (online)

P.O. Box 360
Hillsdale, NY 12529
Phone (518) 325-4400
FAX (518) 325-4497
Parry Teasdale, editor

letters to editor require form through website

***NOTE: Our websites make an effort to glean info for our readers from local papers. This is no way a substitute for subscribing or picking up a local paper. We gratefully acknowledge the efforts local newspapers and publications make to our community