Permitting April 2014

Kentucky Permit Disputed

According to the Bowling Green, Ky., Daily News, the battle over the proposed site for a rock quarry continues. Franklin, Ky., residents David and Ronda Carver, who have helped lead the Neighbors Against the Quarry group opposing the rock and limestone quarry site proposed for 169 acres of land on Ditmore Ford Road by Charles Deweese Construction, filed a petition late last year seeking an injunction against Charles and Penny Deweese and Drakes Creek Holding Co.

The Carvers, represented by Franklin attorney Tim Mefford, claim the Deweeses and Drakes Creek are operating outside the scope of a conditional use permit for the land that was issued in 2012 by the Franklin-Simpson County Board of Zoning Adjustment. Deweese Construction has been developing the site while two cases regarding the quarry have been pending in Simpson Circuit Court.

The conditional use permit, which is being appealed in circuit court, was granted to the Deweeses, and the state has issued a non-coal mining permit to Drakes Creek Holding Co., which later applied for an amended state permit to allow for the use of a haul road that crosses private property before coming out at Ky. 585.

Mefford argued in his petition that Drakes Creek has not obtained and does not hold a conditional use permit to operate a quarry on the property, and that the permit secured by the Deweeses does not provide for the construction or use of the haul road included in the amended mining permit application submitted to the State Department for Natural Resources Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet.


White Rock Seeks Alabama Operation
According to Alabama.com, President Jim Hurley of White Rock Quarries said a new limestone operation in Vincent, Ala., would provide an exhaustive list of benefits to the community. The Florida-based, family-owned business has operated one of the largest producing quarries in the country in Miami “without a single water quality violation,” Hurley told people gathered inside a local school gymnasium for a public hearing.

The company said it would invest more than $100 million in the proposed Vincent operation that will create about 120 high-paying jobs for the area that includes neighboring Harpersville, Ala., and the surrounding rural communities. White Rock Quarries expects to bring five individuals who have expertise from outside the area to fill management jobs. “It’s all about creating new jobs for Vincent,” Hurley said.

He also expects a host of ancillary jobs created as a result of the mining operation. That could mean upwards of five new jobs in the related industry created for each mining position in Vincent.


Proposal Could Hamper Permits for Quarries
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the Dane County Towns Association has enough votes to veto a proposal that attempts to force most quarry operators in Dane County, Wis., to follow the same rules. The proposal is in the form of a zoning ordinance amendment that would fix a loophole in the county permit process that allows quarries that existed before the county started regulating them in 1968 to operate without county-imposed restrictions regarding blasting, truck traffic, times of operation and other regulations. The proposal calls for all older quarries that are inactive for more than a year to lose their non-conforming status.

The towns association has veto power on the ordinance amendment if a majority, or 18, of the county’s towns vote against it during a 30-day period that began Feb. 25 at the conclusion of the county’s Zone and Lane Regulation Committee public hearing. Instead of voting, the towns that oppose the proposal would like to see the county set up a committee including quarry operators, realtors, citizens and public officials and hash out a compromise.


New Limestone Plant to Open in Wyoming
A new limestone quarry and fine grind plant in Albany County, Wyo., may be operational by the year’s end. Incentives have helped build a road to the site, located seven miles north of Laramie. The mine, being built by Pete Lien and Sons of Rapid City, S.D., will sit on 640 acres near the Laramie Range foothills.

The company’s environmental and safety manager Danielle Wiebers said the mine should open by Dec. 31 and employ 26 people. Albany County has used more than $4.5 million in state grants for the road. The Wyoming Business Council contributed $3 million, and the state transportation department allocated nearly $1.9 million.

Albany County owns the new road and leases it to the mine company. The development will help diversify the area’s economy, said County Commissioner Tim Chesnut.

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