The Milan Town Board voted Monday, Sept. 21 to ask state environmental regulators when portions of the Roe Jan Quarry will be reclaimed after inspectors found that more than an acre of the mine floor had been excavated as much as 10 feet deeper than its permit allows.
The violation has added urgency to a permit renewal that has been pending before the state Department of Environmental Conservation since 2021. Town officials say they want areas that are no longer being mined restored for farmland or another productive use.
The board authorized Supervisor Bill Jeffway to send DEC an email seeking a timeline for reclamation and raising concerns about the over-excavation, the potential for groundwater contamination and a separate request by the quarry operator to process sand and gravel brought in from elsewhere.
DEC issued a notice of violation Aug. 26 after determining that more than an acre of the quarry floor had been excavated up to 10 feet below the depth allowed under its permit. The notice directed Red Wing Sand and Gravel, which owns and operates the quarry, to submit a plan and work schedule explaining how it would restore the over-excavated area to compliance.
Jeffway told DEC that the town was concerned the additional excavation could increase the risk of groundwater contamination.
The 108-acre quarry, at 801 Spring Lake Road, produces sand and gravel for the construction industry. The material is excavated, washed, crushed and screened at the site.
All 108 acres have been mined at some point, according to DEC, and about 88 acres are currently considered affected by mining.
In 2019 and 2023, DEC approved the reclamation of about 20 acres in the southern portion of the quarry, according to a May 2026 agency email obtained by the Herald. That land has been covered with topsoil and grass.
Ultimately, all land affected by mining must be reclaimed before DEC can give the site final approval. The state does not impose a single deadline for reclaiming an entire mine; instead, permits regulate the acreage and depth of mining and establish reclamation requirements.
Under New York’s Mined Land Reclamation Law, mining operations must have approved mining and reclamation plans as well as financial security to ensure restoration work is completed. Reclamation can include grading slopes, removing stockpiled material and replanting vegetation to control erosion. Former mines in New York have been converted to uses including farmland, wetlands, wildlife habitat, housing and recreation.
The Roe Jan Quarry’s state mining permit was first renewed in 1990, according to DEC records. Its most recent renewal was issued Sept. 14, 2016, and expired Sept. 13, 2021.
Red Wing applied for another renewal in August 2021. Because the application was submitted before the permit expired, the existing permit remains in effect under the State Administrative Procedure Act while DEC reviews the application.
As part of its 2021 application, Red Wing also sought permission to process sand and gravel brought to the quarry from other locations, according to Jeffway.
Milan opposes that request because the town’s zoning law does not allow the processing of imported material at the site, Jeffway told the Herald. The quarry is allowed to continue operating as a pre-existing use, but Milan prohibited new mining operations in 2007.
DEC’s May 2026 email also said the permit renewal and the proposed modification would be considered separately and asked Red Wing to submit a revised application covering only the renewal.
“Nothing can be done to compensate for the great deal of valuable farmland that was removed from the town,” Jeffway said in an email to the Herald. “But what the residents and town expect now is that the rules and laws laid out by NYS DEC will be followed for the health and safety of residents.”
Jeffway said his primary concern is whether reclamation will ultimately occur.
“The vast acreage of open gravel and dirt causes dust for residents in a large area around the mine. The natural habitat is completely devastated,” he said. “If I were asked what my biggest concern is, I would say that it is that the reclamation process will not happen, and residents will continue to be exposed to dust, and wildlife will not return to what looks like a big wound in the landscape along the Roeliff Jansen Kill.”
Some nearby residents, however, said the quarry has caused them few problems.
A married couple who live near the northern end of the quarry on County Route 19, close to active mining operations, said large pine trees along the property help block much of the dust.
“Without gravel and sand, how are you going to build any houses or roads?” they said, arguing that bringing construction materials from farther away could raise costs for local governments and contractors.
The couple, both 74, asked not to be identified. They said they grew up in Milan and are related to a previous owner of the quarry.
Brian Goth, who lives near the quarry’s Spring Lake Road entrance and said he has lived there for 44 years, also said dust has not been a significant problem.
“Dust is not really an issue,” Goth said. “It gets a little noisy sometimes, but I’m used to it.”
Red Wing Sand and Gravel did not respond to questions from the Herald about the over-excavation or its plans for reclamation.