Increased demand and a new permitting process have changed the way bluestone quarries operate in New York, The NY Times reports. The State Department of Environmental Conservation began experimenting with mining permits in 2002 with the hope that it could assert some control over the bluestone industry, curb renegade out-of-state miners, and change the environmental habits of the quarrymen. State officials now consider the program to be so economically and environmentally successful that they want to extend the two-year measure, which expires at the end of July. The State Senate passed legislation to make it permanent and it is expected to come up for a vote in the Assembly this month.Photo: NY Times. Slabs of bluestone rest against a wall at the Hennessey Quarry in Hancock, N.Y.

Under the new procedures, the state allows quarries to work on areas less than one acre for up to a year to determine if the mining will be profitable. After that, they must either be converted to a full five-year mining permit, or surrendered, and the one-acre site restored. The process informs state officials of the location and existence of the quarries, with review allowing for better cleanup practices and regulation.

There are now 85 fully permitted bluestone quarries in operation, excavating the sandstone for patios, and for New York City's older sidewalks. The boom in demand has created $100 million-a-year industry, good news in economically depressed areas like the Catskills, where scores of new mines have opened in the past six years.