State Assemblyman Fred Thiele today reported that the Appellate Division, Third Department has rejected the motions of the State Department of Environmental Conservation for leave to appeal the recent decision by the Court annulling the mining permit for the Sand Land mine in Noyac. Further, the Court also rejected the State DEC’s motion to stay the court decision pending an appeal. The vote of the Court was 3-2.

The Appellate Division had ruled on May 27, 2021 that the State DEC had broken the law by granting a permit to Sand Land to expand its mine in violation of State Environmental Conservation Law, Section 23-2703(3). That provision, in order to protect Long Island’s water quality, prohibits the DEC from even processing a mining permit where the local zoning code prohibits mining at the site. The Southampton Town Zoning Code prohibits mining in the zone where Sand Land is located.

The State DEC refused to abide by the decision and alleged that the decision was stayed. The DEC made a motion to the Appellate Division for leave to appeal to the State Court of Appeals. Today, the Appellate Division rejected the State DEC’s contentions by denying leave to appeal to the State Court of Appeals and ordering that there is no stay in effect.

Thiele called upon the State DEC to abandon further litigation in this matter and to close the mine, “It is now time for the State DEC to respect the rule of law. Instead of wasting time and money on continued litigation, the more prudent course of action would be to enforce the law, protect water quality and the environment, and close the mine.”