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Company says new drum plant at 5466 Genesee Street will be cleaner and quieter; board asks about height, permits and night work
Summary
New Enterprise Stone & Lime presented plans to replace a batch asphalt plant with a counterflow drum plant at 5466 Genesee Street. Presenters described emission controls, a 91‑foot storage silo and preliminary noise modeling; the board was told construction cannot begin until a DEC air permit is issued.
New Enterprise Stone & Lime presented a site‑plan application to the Town of Lancaster planning board to replace an existing hot‑mix batch plant with a modern counterflow drum plant at 5466 Genesee Street.
Chris Winkler, a civil engineer with LaBelle Associates, said the equipment will be placed in the existing facility footprint and the company is pursuing a property‑line adjustment so the plant sits entirely in a light‑industrial parcel. "We are in the process of doing the property line adjustment," Winkler said.
Why it matters: The new drum plant introduces taller equipment (company representatives said the tallest silo will reach about 91 feet) and different operational characteristics (the plant will allow onsite storage and loading that can support night hauling for large DOT jobs). Those changes prompted questions from board members about visibility, noise and whether construction must wait for state air‑permit approvals.
Technical and environmental controls: Catherine Sutton Choad, director of product compliance for Aztec Industries, described the plant’s pollution controls — fiber‑bed mist collectors and a high‑efficiency bag house — and noise‑reduction features such as variable frequency drives and trunnion drum supports. "This is gonna be extremely well controlled," Sutton Choad said, adding the equipment was designed to meet New York’s 2024 emissions controls and that captured dust is recycled into the mix rather than released to the atmosphere.
Operations and community effects: Dave Calarusso, vice president and general manager for New Enterprise Stone & Lime, told the board the company plans to replace the current batch plant with the new drum plant and eventually close two older plants to the east once the new unit is reliable. He described typical operating hours and truck loading: "We probably start loading trucks at 6 or 7 in the morning and usually shut off by 03:30 normally," Calarusso said, and added the new silos would let the company manufacture material during the day and load at night when customers (for example, state DOT paving projects) require night work.
Permits and next steps: Staff and board members emphasized that the company cannot construct until it obtains a state DEC air permit. Presenters said the disturbed area for the equipment insertion is under one acre and that DEC will review air‑permit applications; the board did not vote and expected the project to return once permitting and required paperwork are complete.
Community follow‑up: Board members requested more detail on where trucks would enter and exit, how demolition and dust would be managed during construction, and the exact elevation differences between the plant and nearby residences; the company said it runs a water truck for dust mitigation and would provide tour access for board members who requested it.
Next steps: The planning board will track permit status and expect the applicant to return with required DEC permits and any revised plans addressing board comments.
