MAMAKATING – The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has issued a water discharge permit to Yukiguni Maitake Corporation of American (YM). This permit — known as a State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES), or "speedies," permit — will allow the company to discharge the water associated with the operation of the pilot plant the mushroom-growing company plans to build at its McDonald Road site in the Town of Mamakating.

The permit, which was issued on September 16, sets a number of conditions for the company to follow, including the installation of four groundwater quality monitoring wells; electronic meters to determine the plant's effects on local groundwater levels; and interim limits on the discharge of waste water, which is to be set at 4,000 per day of process water directly associated with the growing operation, and 51,000 gallons per day of water for the geothermal cooling system the plant will employ.

The permit will also require the company to submit a formal "Evaluation Report" to the DEC "within 60 days after the end of the first year of operation," which will include the data collected from the various monitoring devices, as well as a laundry list of other data related to the health and well-being of wetlands in the surrounding area. This permit will also allow the company to build the larger, permanent plant it intends to erect on the site, providing YM meets all the criteria contained within the permit. This includes a two-month review window in between the two phases, which will allow the public to weigh in on any issues related to the final build-out.

While the issuance of this permit clears a major hurdle for YM, it does not give the company the go-ahead to begin construction. First, YM will be required to satisfy the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), a multi-state agency tasked with the monitoring of the Delaware River Watershed. The DRBC was originally set to hold a public hearing on the matter during the month of November. But due to intense lobbying by the Basha Kill Area Association (BKAA), the hearing was rescheduled for Wednesday, December 9, at 1 p.m., in order to give BKAA professionals and the public time to review the details of information YM had recently submitted to DRBC. This hearing will be held at DRBC offices in West Trenton.