Martin Marietta Mine Approved– Again

A five-year fight over a controversial mine proposal in Ohio still has no end in sight, according to Cincinnati.com.

The Anderson Township, Ohio, Board of Zoning Appeals recently voted to re-approve Martin Marietta Materials Inc. request to build and operate an underground limestone mine in northeastern Anderson Township.

It would involve blasting 400 to 800 ft. underground and storing explosives on a 480-acre site.

Since the original township zoning approval in June 2010, the case has gone through a litany of legal battles and history seems on the verge of repeating itself.

In late 2012, the 1st District Court of Appeals kicked the case back to the Anderson Township zoning board after determining it “exceeded its authority in conditioning its decision on the Good Neighbor Fee.” Judges wanted the board to decide whether the mine would still be approved without that fee.

That fee – one of nearly two-dozen conditions for approval – required Martin Marietta to keep a $1 million bond and pay the township 5 cents per ton of material sold and delivered from the site. 

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