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Letter to the DEC Re: Mining Permits FISHKILL
RIDGE COMMUNITY HERITAGE TO:
DATE:
FROM:
RE: PROJECT APPLICATION # 3-1330-00049-02001, APPLICANT: THALLE INDUSTRIES Your Honor: Context matters. If, after cleaning a stable, you were to dump a truckload of manure in the middle of the street in downtown Poughkeepsie, you might be arrested. You might also be billed for the cost of clean up and proper disposal and perhaps be fined as well. But if you were to take that same truckload into the countryside, farmers may welcome you and might possibly pay you to dump it on their fields for use as fertilizer. In this, as in so many other aspects of life, it's all in how you look at the problem. One's frame of reference can make the difference between a community asset and a community liability. In the case of the Thalle Mine, we may be looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Instead of beginning from a point of view that gives priority to private interest and individual right, suppose we were to begin instead from a perspective that gives priority to the common good and the public's right, especially to the protection of the public's interests. What would change? The truckload of manure in the opening illustration never changed. It always remained what it was at the beginning. The reality of the manure was not transformed in any way, but the context surrounding the manure did change. With the change of context, the contents of the truck changed in essence from a potential health hazard to something of utility and value. When the Thalle mine first opened, both the miners and the general public, including most elected officials, had yet to become aware of essential issues involving the mine. The intricate system of the Clove Creek aquifer that is the sole source water supply for several communities has only recently come to the public's attention. When Thalle opened, the importance of species preservation was imperfectly understood by most. It seemed silly to worry about the plight of the "spotted owl". Now, at this dawn of the twenty-first century no one laughs anymore as species follow one another into permanent extinction. Thalle opened at a time when we as a Nation were just beginning to understand the vital role our ancestors played over long years in the defense of Freedom, right here in the shadow of the Wiccopee Pass. A
few short weeks from now on October 10th, we will celebrate the 201st
anniversary of the birth of George Pope Morris who resided in nearby Cold
Spring . Morris was the editor of The New York Mirror who wrote the famous
lines: "Woodsman, spare that tree, Touch not a single bough, In youth
it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now." How very much these lines
parallel our present situation! Our Nation's infancy was sheltered and
preserved from British attack by these mountains and the heroes who defended
them, and it would be to our eternal shame and discredit if we Since the Thalle mine opened, there has been unprecedented population growth in the area. Suburban sprawl and all its attendant congestion has flooded over the Fishkills, taxing our infrastructure and natural systems. When Thalle mine opened, our local economy was dependent on a single major employer. That is no longer the case. But perhaps the biggest and most important change since Thalle mine first opened is this: We now live in a time when ignorance is truly a matter of choice. It is beyond doubt that nearly all the concerned parties have reasonable access to all the information necessary to act in a manner consistent with the "good" as nearly as that can be determined. The principle question remaining before us is how shall we turn mere knowledge into wisdom? What is that "good" to be? What "good" would be good for all parties involved? Though many factors come into consideration, one fact is certain: Context matters! The mine has not moved. It remains more or less as it was when it began. But the context surrounding the mine has changed. As a result, the mine is essentially different from what it was when it began. Its value is different. Its potential for use is different. Any plan for the Thalle mine needs to be consistent with the mine's essential character as redefined within its present context. What had once been considered essentially a throw away property of little value for any purpose other than mining has, over the years of its existence, acquired a very different essence. At this moment, Thalle mine is essentially a center of a mining activity inappropriately located in the midst of a community of historic significance to the county, state and nation; an activity that threatens the extremely finite public air and water supply; an activity that stresses and burdens a densely populated area; an activity that deprives the public of recreation possibilities for tourists and residents alike; an activity that poses a threat to an endangered species as well as a sole source aquifer and an important trout stream, unique for the presence of wild trout. A few decades ago, a rock climber was considered to be an eccentric loner; now rock climbing has become a popular sport. It would be an easy matter to carve hand and foot holds enough into the existing scar to turn it into a tourist attraction that would divert many climbers away from the "Gunks" and bring them here. Another question to consider might be this: How can the present owner of property that has become of critical interest for its possibilities as a public common be properly compensated in return for public ownership and control of that property? Note that when Route I-84 was constructed, a Dutchess County archeological site where archaic Indians camped in 1,000 B.C. at East Fishkill, near Luddingtonville, was bulldozed after a brief delay, in spite of the fact the site was under archeological study and considered unique (as reported in the August 7, 1966 Sunday News, New Yorkﾒs Picture Newspaper).
"However, when the issues to be adjudicated ... are defined at a hearing ... the public will be excluded. ... Accordingly, Fishkill Ridge Community Heritage will not attend the issues conference." Fishkill Ridge Community Heritage will not attend the issues conference concerning the Thalle Mine on September 30th, 2003, for the same reasons. From the same letter: "The acceptance by the DEC of negative findings in the historic surveys is simply obnoxious, especially in this time of war." The same applies to the findings in the case of the Thalle mine. The fact that these negative findings appear to be disingenuous is especially unacceptable to us. From the same correspondence: " Truly ethical leadership will view Thalle Mine and the Southern Dutchess Sand and Gravel (Montfort) mine equally. Monfort has complained (see June 19th, 1998, Poughkeepsie Journal) about being singled out, and in some ways he's right.... The massive scar on the mountain face at Thalle Mine continues to climb... . The pollution at Thalle Mine is no less than it would be at a Monfort mine. The traffic is just as troubling. The threats to the aquifer from the Thalle Mine are under assessed . ..." Much of what started here in the Hudson Valley has, in the fullness of time, become our national heritage. Among other things, that heritage includes a three part legacy derived from English common law and observed by us since colonial times: The first part consists of free choice, within which one is free to choose as one will, as in whom to marry, what religion to follow and the like. The third part of that legacy consists of positive law. This is law you must obey, like stopping for a red light and observing speed limits. Between free choice and positive law there is the second and largest part of our legacy that determines most of our conduct. This consists of a large body of unenforceable law, sometimes called "manners" or "ethics." The area of unenforcable law consists of choices we make guided by our sense of the "right" thing to do. "Obedience to the unenforceable" is vital to a healthy civic life. For any authority to obtain legitimacy, including the Department of Environmental Conservation, obedience to written, positive law alone is not enough. It is absolutely necessary to respect the unenforcable manners and customs we call "ethics." With
all due respect, Fishkill Ridge Community Heritage challenges the A review of the DEC by an outside agency is in order. Respectfully submitted, Anthony Henry Smith, (for Fishkill Ridge Community Heritage) |