Wingdale Materials, LLC
Wingdale, NY
In 1985, PII purchased the facility from Colonial Sand and Stone, which owned and operated the site since 1965 with a concrete plant and a sand and gravel pit located on the north side of Pleasant Ridge Road. In 1988, PII started crushing stone on the current site of the Wingdale Quarry. In the mid-1990s, drilling, blasting, and rock extraction operations were taken underground. The site operated as an underground mine until March, 2020 after a long permitting process allowed for an expanded surface quarry and the construction of a 2.97 acre wetland. The wetland was constructed to compensate for an existing wetland that was impacted due to the quarry expansion. Wingdale Materials primarily supplies internal company business, supplying stone products to mainly the southern hot mix asphalt plants within PII.
Wingdale produces everett schist rock. Schist is a foliated metamorphic rock made up of plate-shaped mineral grains that are easily visible to the naked eye. It usually forms on a continental side of a convergent plate boundary where sedimentary rocks, such as shales and mudstones, have been subjected to compressive forces, heat, and chemical activity. It has a variety of industrial uses including construction aggregate, building stone, or decorative stone. It is light grey/grey in color.
Modification of Wingdale Mining Operation
Recent modification to operations at our Wingdale quarry is a prime example of our commitment to Peckham’s sustainability plan, our members, and the surrounding community. For the past 27 years, Wingdale has been operated as an underground mine. Blasting and developing an underground mine is expensive, fraught with challenges, including exposure to ground control issues, low member morale, dark working conditions, ventilation challenges, limited production, and very high energy consumption relative to a traditional surface quarry.
To solve this problem and alleviate challenges related to underground mining, we developed an opening to connect a surface quarry to the underground crushers. The opening is a vertical shaft, 25 feet in diameter and 220 feet deep, connecting the surface mine to the underground mining operation. The stope originated so that the surface mine could be developed, while at the same time addressing concerns of the Town and local residents regarding noise, emissions and potential visual impacts of a surface quarry. The Stope Hole has allowed Peckham to reduce the size of the underground operation to the smallest size possible, making ground control and ventilation much easier to handle. Additionally, 12-14 people used to work underground. Now, since moving above ground, the underground crew has been reduced to about 4 or 5 members. This has resulted in a better home-life balance for members. Members now can work more efficiently in less time, and in safer conditions.
Wingdale Wetland Mitigation
The Wingdale surface quarry impacted 0.97 acres of natural wetlands during the initial stages of development. To mitigate this impact, and in concert with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, we created a 2.97-acre wetland elsewhere on the Wingdale property. The wetland is a combination of upland islands and wet areas surrounding the islands. The wetland was re-vegetated with a specific seed mix determined by a third-party wetland biologist. This wetland is functioning extremely well and is a prime example of Peckham’s commitment to reclamation and development of robust habitats at our industrial operations. We have a similarly constructed wetland at our West Athens, NY liquid asphalt terminal.
