*Please be advised: I do not accept any monetary contributions. Any money paid toward this petition or any other Change.org petition gets sent directly to the website owners. This is not a fundraiser, and this petition has been created on behalf of the members of the Pleasant Valley community to help their cause.*

SAVE THE WILDLIFE

There is abundant wildlife occupying the Pleasant Valley, New York space that is proposed to be destroyed by Peckham Materials. The forest will be wiped out along with many animals that roam the natural habitat that they call home. What is now green and densely populated by these wildlife families, is proposed to be mowed down and obliterated. One such victim is a massive, rare Coywolf who has been spotted roaming the area. "Goliath" quickly became adored by the community due to his majestic and mysterious attributes. He was seen on a Trail Cam in the vicinity of Bower Park, which will border the proposed entension for quarry blasts. He is one of many beautiful animals roaming the landscape, including families of coyotes, fox, black bears, bobcats, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, birds, and the like. While the townspeople fight this proposed re-zoning on behalf of the people and properties, we stand together in the same fight to protect the wildlife victims who will be forced out of the place they call home. 

WHO PROPOSES THE PROJECT

Peckham Materials, a Westchester company utilizing Dutchess County (Pleasant Valley) land for quarry mining, has approached the town of Pleasant Valley, NY with the intent to expand their current operations at the Pleasant Valley quarry plant, formerly known as Dutchess Quarry. 

CHRISTMAS EVE SURPRISE

Peckham has attempted before to proceed in obtaining permissions to expand the quarry, and were met with fierce opposition from residents. There have since been even more residents, both new and existing, who oppose any proposed expansion for various reasons.

On Christmas Eve 2020, Peckham again submitted paperwork to the town to expand. It is presumed by many that Peckham believed "no one would notice" as most residents would be spending time with loved ones for the holiday. The public meeting was just 2 business days away, not including Christmas. "They're just trying to tire out the community," one resident said. "They think people will eventually get tired of fighting them."

PECKHAM'S CLAIM: LOSS & COMPROMISE

Peckham has suggested that they will place 295 acres of their allegedly developable land into Conservation, which would imply at first glance that they're concerned for land preservation. However, Peckham would be well aware that likely no such "development" would ever be pursued due to the high risk of losses in building beside a blasting zone. Very few would choose to live across from a mining facility that would shake their walls and fill the home or businesses with dust, leaving debris to land on vehicles and rooftops. This erroneous suggestion that they are "sacrificing" this alleged "right to develop" is an insult to the intelligence of the residents. In fact, we believe Peckham is attempting to manipulate residents into believing that their company is "losing" potential development profit, but would compromise and engage in a "tradeoff" if permitted to resume quarry expansion and rezoning. In fact, Peckham would likely benefit from tax savings & incentives should they place land into a conservation easement, along with increased profits for their mining operation. The only ones who stand to suffer or take any losses are the residents of the town of Pleasant Valley, NY.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Lawyer Rebecca Seaman is Chairman of the Pleasant Valley Planning Board, and also Board Chairman at Dutchess Land Conservancy. Due to her interest in securing additional land for DLC, she was forced in November 2019 to recuse herself from any matters or discussions pertaining to quarry expansion. It is known that she supports the quarry expansion, as DLC will benefit from Peckham. She requested private meetings and conversations with several parties, with clear intent of gaining resident supporters for Peckham. As both a Planning Board member, a member of Dutchess Land Conservancy, and an Attorney in the state of New York, this was a conflict of interest and potentially unethical. We demand that Rebecca Seaman take absolutely no part in tipping the scales in favor of Peckham in any manner or capacity, as a representative of Dutchess Land Conservancy and the Pleasant Valley Planning Board. This includes privately held meetings and/or discussions with the Pleasant Valley board members wherein she may employ commonly used legal tactics meant to sway opinions of the board members with the intent to further advance Peckham's goals. 

RE-ZONE TO THE NEW "QUARRY TOWN"

Peckham, who already owns approximately 450 acres (19,600,000 sqft) in the vicinity of the quarry, wants to rezone part of their land that does not currently allow mining. The land is over 22 acres, equating to approximately 20 football fields, (over 950,000 sq feet.) The closer to the village that the quarry moves, the more streets, neighborhoods and homes will be negatively impacted by the expansion. Peckham states they will retain a buffer, however, that buffer has nothing to do with the plans to effectively destroy even more land in Pleasant Valley for the benefit of Peckham's profit. Out of the 45 jobs that Peckham boasts that they provide to the community, only 14 people are stated to live in Pleasant Valley. The rest would not be negatively affected by the expansion, and therefore have no reason to object to the destruction of the town's land. 

Peckham, who's headquarters is in Westchester, New York, still continues using the name "Dutchess Quarry and Supply Co" on Google, though the entity known as "Dutchess Quarry & Supply" became Inactive January 2016. 

SERIOUS RESIDENT CONCERNS

Some major concerns of the residents who oppose the expansion are as follows:

1. HEALTH: Increasing health risk concerns to more residents including: lung diseases and breathing issues (COPD, asthma, allergies, etc,); Possibility of increased radon exposure; Sleep disturbances; Conditions made worse by excess stress including high blood pressure leading to strokes and heart attacks, diabetes, Alzheimers, gastrointestinal illnesses, headaches & migraines and any other health conditions made worse by stress.
2. DISORDERS: Potentially increased or worsened symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, sleep disorders or other disorders caused by repeated stress, explosive blasts, and peace disturbances.
3. POOR QUALITY OF LIFE: The above mentioned issues can and do lead to poor quality of life. Peckham's repeated attempts to request re-zoning has caused excessive and unnecessary stress to countless community members. Residents are affected not only by weekly noise and blasting, truck traffic and road debris caused by the quarry, but also by ongoing quarry complaints, staying informed as to their next "midnight petitions," research of potential health affects, and repeated discussions and arguments in proposed expansion plans. This is unconscionable to witness a company, who's Owners do not even live in Dutchess County but indeed profit from blowing holes in it, to subject residents to such upsetment and unsettling, endless stress. Many town residents, especially the elderly and high risk, are fearful of attending town meetings due to Covid, as the occupancy of the small building is limited. Peckham has used the pandemic to their advantage with full knowledge that CDC's "stay at home" recommendations eliminate the opportunity for most residents to show up and make objections.
4. AIR: Further contamination of air and reduction of air quality.
5. WATER: Further potential contamination of water & adjacent Wappingers creek.
6. WELLS: Damage and destruction to nearby wells from blasting.
7. REAL ESTATE: Potentially decreased property values resulting in financial losses to residents, against their will. Peckham states they will pay for damage within a certain radius, acknowledging that the damage exists.
8. NOISE & TRAFFIC: Ongoing further noise pollution now affecting even more residents; (heavy equipment operation, truck noise, traffic, etc.) Currently, residents complain that Peckham's property is producing unnecessary noise prior to legally permitted hours of operation. 
9. PETS: Negative effects on significantly more domestic pets such as dogs & cats or farm animals such as horses, etc. with health conditions. Potential increase in health problems related to anxiety, phobias, & high stress-related behaviors caused by loud noises, vibrations, and sensory overload.
10. WILDLIFE: Potentially severe negative impact on Biodiversity including fish, insects, reptiles, birds, mammals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms. Permanent stripping away of nature and landscape leading to loss of wildlife habitat, which affects population of deer, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, coyote, bears, fox, bobcats, and numerous other animals.
11. DAMAGE TO HOMES: Damage to the integrity of the home is a common major concern for homeowners near quarries. More now face potential concerns for shifting and movement of their homes caused by blasting vibrations. Issues that may arise include interior wall cracks in sheetrock, exterior wall cracks, basement wall "stairway" cracks allowing ground water into the basement, compromised roofs & chimneys, doors and windows out of alignment, cracked windows, leaning walls, sagging floors, and more.
12. LEGAL BATTLES: Potential for lawsuits which places further burden on the Town of Pleasant Valley and court system. If homeowners sue the town, there will be costs incurred by the town for defense. Peckham has a history of lawsuits in years past, including this one involving bid rigging in Westchester County and also this one in Greene County .
13. PRESERVATION: Further degradation of the historic Town of Pleasant Valley, which has already become densely populated and suffered ill effects to it's historic preservation and green space.
14. APARTMENT COMPLEXES: If the quarry moves closer to the village, more tenants may feel the effects of quarry blasting, affecting building desirability and habitability, and costing apartment complex owners greater expenses in repairs and stress in tenant complaints.
15. BUSINESSES: Local businesses are alarmed at the proposed expansion which may affect their business. As the quarry attempts to creep closer to the village, more local businesses may suffer losses while this Westchester County company enjoys financial gains.

URGENT:

Please sign the URGENT petition to oppose the quarry expansion if you have concerns for any of the above which may be of major detriment to quality of life in the town. Whether or not you live in Pleasant Valley, as long as you are a Dutchess County resident, please see it as your moral obligation to stand with your community and help protect the residents, properties, and integrity of your county from out-of-area companies who having nothing to lose and much to gain by destroying Dutchess County land.