Permitting – May 2014

Company Seeks Permit for Pennsylvania Quarry
Geryville Materials is seeking to mine rock in Lower Milford Township, Pa., and has reapplied to the state for a permit to start an operation that could eventually encompass more than 400 acres. According to the Morning Call, it is asking for a surface mining permit for its 628.5-acre property, with initial plans for an operation of about 180 acres. The application seeks permission to mine two of six proposed mining sites on the property. The company plans to eventually operate asphalt and concrete plants at the site. Geryville estimates that mining could be done at the site for 75 to 100 years. The quarry proposal will be in the hands of the township’s Zoning Hearing Board, which must decide whether to grant a special exception.

Anti-Quarry Groups Seeks Stop to N.Y. Quarry
A group that arose eight years ago to oppose the permitting of a quarry not far from the Orleans-Genesee, N.Y., county line gathered recently to block the project, according to the Daily News. More than 50 people attended a briefing and question-and-answer session held by Citizens for Shelby Preservation to discuss their efforts to oppose Frontier Stone’s permit application for a 215.5-acre dolomite-limestone quarry. Frontier’s application was originally filed to the State Department of Environmental Conservation in 2006 and has been held up in a series of information reviews and requests from federal, state and local regulatory groups over the environmental impacts of the project. The project is estimated to make use of 75 years-worth of stone using drill and blast technology, with front-end loaders and excavators feeding a primary crusher with shot rock. The rock would be conveyed to an on-site processing plant. It is estimated that the project would result in 480 truck passes and more than 1 million gal. of water pumped out of the ground daily.

York Hill Seeks Stormwater Permit
York Hill Trap Rock Quarry Co., Meriden, Conn., is proposing to discharge stormwater runoff from its mining activities into Harbor Brook, as well as groundwater in the Quinnipiac River watershed, according to the Record-Journal. York Hill is a branch of the L. Suzio Cos. In October 2011, an industrial stormwater general permit was reissued for the site and other mining operations, but mine dewatering discharges were left out of the regulations. Mining operations, including York Hill, were required to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, which is what the company has been tentatively approved for. The permit states that there is no anticipated increase in discharge to “high quality” water, nor is there an increase in “volume or concentration” of pollutants.

Knife River Seeks Plan Text Amendment
Linn County, Ore., commissioners recently went on-site at a Knife River quarry east of Corvallis, Ore., according to the Prairie Star. At issue is a request by Knife River to open about 67 acres of property to aggregate mining through a comprehensive plan text amendment. Other portions of the property have already been quarried. Knife River estimates the new property will yield about 2.9 million tons of rock. Nearby Stahlbush Island Farms is concerned that opening up the additional area could lead to increased flooding of their property and in a worst case scenario, help create change in the Willamette River channel in the event of a historic flooding event. The public comment period for the proposal was extended.

Proposed Wisconsin Quarry Has Neighbors Concerned
According to news sources in Madison, Wis., a proposed quarry in Fitchburg, Wis., has neighbors trying to stop it before it ever starts. The possible 45-acre limestone quarry would be run by Yahara Materials out of Waunakee, Wis., on property owned by Bob Wolf off of Grandview Road in Fitchburg. Yahara Materials has yet to officially apply for a conditional use permit for the property to the City of Fitchburg, and they likely won’t do that until June when their studies are completed, according to channel3000.com.

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