Maitaki mushroom plant advances

Compromise on all sides dissolves battle

By FRITZ MAYER

TOWN OF MAMAKATING, NY — The struggle to build a high-tech mushroom growing facility along Route 209 in Mamakating may soon be coming to an end. The Yukiguni Maitake Corporation of America announced plans to build the facility as far back as 2000, and has been battling the Basha Kill Area Association (BKAA) and some local residents since 2002 to move the project forward.

Now, after four lawsuits, countless public hearings, meetings and permit applications, it looks as if the facility may soon be breaking ground. For Yukiguni, the next step is a hearing to be held in Trenton, NJ on December 9 by the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) regarding permits to withdraw and discharge water in connection with the operation.

In a move that might be considered surprising, the BKAA does not plan to have its consultants or other representatives present. According to Paula Medley, president of the BKAA, as a result of input from the BKAA, the DRBC revised its dockets, and “They put in almost everything that we asked for, and we feel there are enough measures in place to protect the environment.”

If the DRBC grants the two permits, Yukiguni must then get a permit from the NYS Department of Health. Then, the company will return to the Town of Mamakating Planning Board to have the conditional site plan approval, which was previously issued, converted into an unconditional approval and, finally, the architectural plans must be reviewed by the town building inspector.

For Kazunori Kameyama, president of Yukiguni, the complex process began to move along more smoothly once the company scaled back the operation in March 2008.

Kameyama said, “We listened to the voices of influential people, including Congressman Maurice Hinchey, Legislator Kathy LaBuda, neighbors and the BKAA, and we tried to modify the plan so that Yukiguni could get along with those concerned people.”

The reduction in the operation was considered a victory by BKAA, even if the decision was a voluntary one by the company. Medley said, “Had the BKAA and involved residents not brought their concerns to the forefront early on, this project might well have been built about 2005, and it would have been 1,000,000 square feet, and it would have been consuming about 450,000 gallons of water per day instead of something like 98,000 that will be consumed if it goes to full build out.”

The plant will be built in two phases, with a smaller pilot operation being constructed first. At full build out, the main building will be 429,000 square feet. Other changes made by Yukiguni, in consideration of the concerns of BKAA and area residents, are that the main building will now be 62 feet high, rather than 80, and it will be located further away from Route 209, making it harder to view from the road.

Throughout the seven years, BKAA has paid for three consultants and a lawyer, and Medley sees the outcome as a success of sorts. She said, “Success isn’t always a win/lose situation, black and white. There’s a thing called a measure of success, and we’ve certainly had a measure of success.”

For his part, Kameyama thinks the local media outlets have been doing his company a disservice by constantly referring to the facility as a mushroom plant rather than a maitake mushroom plant, which he says is a clean, high-tech environment that can be compared to a micro-chip manufacturing facility.

He said the process “doesn’t use compost, no animal excrement is used. Temperature, light and moisture are all tightly controlled by computer. No mildew can be present or maitake mushrooms will not grow. The growing area is completely sanitary and clean. Inside the maitake mushroom plant, the air is cleaner than any hospital.”

And now his maitake mushroom plant may soon become a reality.