State tries to sneak in asphalt plant

From the Daily News:

Local leaders are calling on the state to revoke permits it issued to a new asphalt plant poised to open in Long Island City.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris and others said the community was never properly notified that Green Asphalt Co. LLC was applying for permits from the Department of Environmental Conservation to operate the plant on Railroad Ave.

"Not only is this plant ill-conceived based on its merits and location, but the process through which it came to fruition was utterly flawed," Gianaris (D-Astoria) wrote in a letter fired off to DEC Commissioner Joseph Martens on Friday.

In addition, Gianaris said, the public was not given a chance to publicly comment on the proposal. The company applied for - and received - air and tidal wetland permits. City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Ridgewood) also have called on the state DEC to revoke the permit.

The plant will produce 75,000 to 150,000 tons a year of hot mix asphalt for local paving projects, according to the permit.

"The state is not telling the city what's going on," said Joseph Conley, chairman of Community Board 2.

He said the state should have realized something was amiss when it received no public comments on the permit application.