The latest plan to quintuple the size of the Padua Ridge gravel mine is inadequate to protect its neighbor, the Watkins Glen State Park, from a host of potentially severe environmental risks, the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation declared last week. The developer’s 784-page draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) fails to fully address multiple threats, including stormwater…
Read MoreCategory: Key Issues
Planting Mustard Seeds
Earlier this year, Jessica Palmer, executive director of the South Carolina Aggregates Association, shared an association LinkedIn post, simply titling it “Mustard Seeds.” The post highlights the importance of engaging the next generation and exposing them to the opportunities that exist in the trades. It noted that “change starts with us, and often times, making the greatest impact is as…
Read MoreA Breedon Apart
The news was not totally unexpected, it had been rumored for a while, but it just got real real: Breedon has entered the U.S. construction materials market. Breedon Group plc, in case you are not aware, is a leading vertically integrated construction materials group in Great Britain and Ireland. Breedon holds “1 billion tonnes of mineral reserves and resources with…
Read MoreFirst Look – April 2024
TOP NEWS Breedon GroupBreedon Group plc, a vertically integrated construction materials group in Great Britain and Ireland, announced the acquisition of BMC Enterprises Inc. The price was $300 million. BMC is a supplier of ready-mixed concrete, aggregates and building products headquartered in St Louis, with a strong track record of both organic and transactional growth. Rogers GroupRogers Group Inc. (RGI)…
Read MorePermitting Update: North Carolina
Wake Stone Corp. plans to create a rock quarry on 105 acres it has leased from Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Now opponents of the quarry say they’ve discovered a 48-year-old surveying error that reduces the airport’s property by as much as 14 acres. They say that land was purchased by the National Park Service in 1937 and turned over to the…
Read MorePermitting Update: Colorado
An application for a proposed gravel mine at Dotsero may return, but it will be a while, and any new application will be changed from the one heard Monday by the Eagle County Board of Commissioners. After nearly four hours of public hearing Monday, the developer of the proposed mine withdrew the application. In deliberations, all three commissioners said they’d…
Read MoreMSHA Launches Tool to Help Miners, Mining Communities
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has unveiled an online platform to help miners and their families navigate the process of finding healthcare providers, facilities and related resources.
Read MorePermitting Update: Arizona
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, Fain Signature Group released drone footage of the proposed remote sand and gravel site for public consumption. The video has been provided to allow the general public to view the remote site being zoned and the surrounding area.
Read MorePermitting Update: Virginia
The Rockingham County Board of Supervisors discussed whether or not to allow the Frazier Quarry to expand operations to its land on Buttermilk Creek Road, according to WHSV.
Read MoreConstruction Spending Dips in January; Up Year Over Year
Construction spending during January 2024 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,102.4 billion, 0.2% (±0.8%) below the revised December estimate of $2,105.8 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The January figure is 11.7% (±1.5%) above the January 2023 estimate of $1,882.2 billion. In January, the estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of public construction spending was $479.0…
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