Fowler residents concerned about new mining roads

Published: Dec. 15, 2021 at 6:11 AM EST by Brendan Straub, WWNY-TV​

FOWLER, New York (WWNY) - Empire State Mines in the town of Fowler is expanding its operation.

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It was a packed house in the town of Fowler on Tuesday evening (December 14, 2021) with dozens filing into the town hall to hear more about Titan Mining’s next project at Empire State Mines. The company is planning to begin open-pit mining in two locations near its number two mine, an opportunity for more job growth “Roughly 10 more jobs directly and a couple more indirect,” Titan Mines general manager Joel Rheault said.

 

In doing so, an access road is needed to help transport zinc ore to its main plant on the other side of Sylvia Lake. That road will cross over East Shore Road and Pump House Road. Both are in residential areas, which has some locals concerned. “They didn’t tell us they were starting,” Alan Hopper said. “We just happened to begin to see construction vehicles, the logging operation going on.” Hopper is one of a handful of year-round residents on Pump House Road. He says early work on creating the access road has left parts of their road a mess. “With the muck and the saltation, the erosion that was going on, it became nearly impassable at times,” Hopper said.

 

Titan Mining has since cleared the road but it’s problems like these that Hopper and others are concerned about moving forward. They raised concerns about safety at these intersections and questioned who will have the right of way. Titan general manager Rheault did address that. “The road traffic on Pump House Road and East Shore Road trying to access either the boat launch or the residences along Sylvia Lake would have priority,” he said.

 

Rheault says they are also evaluating different traffic patterns that would make the intersections as safe as possible. He says mining at the new sites isn’t expected to begin until early spring of 2022 and would last at least a couple years.

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