It's a project that's been in the works since 2010, but the proposed sand and gravel mine in the Oswego County town of New Haven is still meeting resistance. A public hearing was held Friday to discuss the issue. Our Katie Gibas was there and tells us how and why residents are fighting back.

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OSWEGO COUNTY, N.Y. -- Most people who live in New Haven moved there for the quiet, peaceful feel of the rural town.

"It's just a gorgeous beautiful area to be and unless you live there and see it day by day, you really don't realize it. But we do. And we love it and we hate to see anything happen to it," said Fred Kuepper, a New Haven resident.

But that tranquility is under threat. W.D Malone Excavating and Trucking Incorporated submitted a proposal in 2010 to develop a mine on the site between Johnson and Hanson roads. Since the town doesn't have any zoning laws, they don't have the authority to accept or reject the proposal. They can only review and rule on the site plan. Ultimately, the DEC has the final say.

"We have a site plan review ordinance. So the planning board is kind tied by that. If we had zoning, we could actually eliminate mines in general if we felt that that was appropriate, especially in a residential area," said Joseph Maryak, the New Haven Planning Board Facilitator.

Keupper added, "We're very hopeful that we can talk sense into an organization that we entrust with our fish, wildlife, air and conservation."

Town officials held a public hearing on the site plan Friday night to discuss the issue. And neighbors overwhelmingly opposed the idea, citing everything from noise and traffic concerns to public health issues.

"My concerns are not only drying up the wells, but contaminating drinking water, devaluing property values, noise, dust, any type of pollution. The traffic is a big issue. The road itself, the condition is another issue. Just the quality of life is degraded," said Christine Christaldi, a New Haven resident.

George Bennett Jr., another New Haven resident, added, "My son was recently diagnosed with asthma and he's been having some issues, especially in pollen season and things like that. My concern with this is the dust this is going to create. I'm told that the mining activities and the trucking are going to create different kind of dust particles, which could aggravate the asthma."

Neighbors say they've hired outside consultants and contacted a number of organizations to help lead the charge against the idea because they're not going down without a fight.

The New Haven Planning Board will be discussing the issue at their next meeting February 15th at 7 p.m.