Diane Valden reports in the Columbia Paper that the decision on whether or not to approve a gas station at the northwest corner of State Route 23, County Route 7 and Craryville Road intersection may come down to a battle of the experts. Previously, opponents of the proposed GRJH gas station in Craryville had hydrologist/hydrogeologist Paul A. Rubin speak about the dangers to the aquifer under the land there. Now GRJH hired hydrogeologist Jean M. Patota, to speak on their behalf. At an April 13 special workshop meeting of the Copake Planning Board Patota said the risk to groundwater from a gas station was minimal. In a separate letter to the planning board she wrote, "Regulations stipulate tank registrations and outline the requirements for practices and equipment to handle, store, monitor and manage inventory, prevent and detect spills, and provide for training and record-keeping.... The requirements include containment and leak monitoring throughout the underground tank and piping systems, overfill prevention, shut off devices, monitoring equipment and testing, and verifying inventory. Petroleum facilities are subject to scheduled and unscheduled compliance inspections.” After hearing from two conflicting experts, Planning Board Chairman Bob Haight said hiring a consultant/engineer to assist the board has been delayed. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.