Southampton to study environmental impact of plan to phase out sand mines near homes

Southampton Town officials have launched an environmental review of their proposal to phase out sand mines near residential areas over a seven-year period.

The legislation, introduced in late October, would give sand mine operators up to seven years to wind down operations. The timeline would depend on how much state-approved excavation has been completed at their sites.

After months of public input, the town started an environmental review to examine what effects the legislation could have on the environment. One point of focus is whether the closures will result in more sand trucked in from other areas — generating traffic, pollution and noise.

“You need the sand for lots of different reasons,” Southampton Town Attorney James Burke told Newsday in an interview. “If [sand mines] close … will more trucks come in?”

The issue has stoked debate among neighbors of mining sites and environmentalists who say the amortization is overdue, and tradespeople who say the measure would devastate their industry.

Sand mining is a lucrative industry on Long Island and a crucial component in concrete, asphalt and other materials.

Environmental advocates say sand mining is akin to removing a protective filter over Long Island's sole source of drinking water. Excavation can expose the groundwater to harmful pollutants, environmental advocates have said. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is in the midst of investigating the impact of sand mining on the quality of Long Island's groundwater. The review is halfway done, the agency said.

Long overdue

Supervisor Maria Moore, a Democrat who took office in 2024, said phasing out sand mines is long overdue.

Sand mines aren’t permitted under town code but existing ones were grandfathered in when Southampton updated its zoning laws in the 1980s. State DEC officials have said there are six mining sites in Southampton, though not all of them are currently active.

“It’s been 40 years since the town said these are nonconforming uses,” Moore said in an interview. “It’s to protect the quality of life in the neighborhoods and the sole source aquifer.”

The town previously removed a caveat requiring evidence of groundwater pollution as a condition for closing mines, which drew criticism.

"Why would we wait until there is contamination before taking action?” Moore said, defending the decision.

Mine operators would be given time to finish excavations under their DEC permits, ranging from up to one to seven years to wrap up operations depending on how much sand is left to be excavated at each site.

Operators could appeal to the town for an extension and the proposal could still evolve, town officials said.

Review underway

Michael Gerrard, an environmental law professor at Columbia Law School, said in an interview amortization is a common tool used to phase out “undesired” uses and impacts must be evaluated under state environmental law.

"If sand can't come in from elsewhere on Long Island, it has to be trucked a long distance," Gerrard told Newsday. That could lead to more energy and fuel use, truck traffic and other issues.

The town is currently preparing an Environmental Assessment Form, a document used to evaluate the proposal's impact. Once complete, the town must determine if the measure warrants what's known as a "positive" declaration, triggering a more comprehensive review process with public input.

Gerrard said a "negative declaration is more vulnerable to litigation."

"The job of the courts is not to decide what’s the best alternative, it’s to decide whether there was an adequate analysis," he said.

Several people spoke in support of the bill before the hearing closed on Feb. 27, including Dai Dayton, president of Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt, a nonprofit that advocates for protecting a nearly 1,900-acre expanse of woods and wetlands in Bridgehampton.

Dayton said the proposal is a “reasonable approach to ultimately remove industrial operations from sensitive areas” that would better protect drinking water.