AMERICUS QUARRY SEEKING APPROVAL • GIBRALTER ROCK QUARRY MOVING FORWARD • CALIFORNIA QUARRY FACES NOISE QUESTIONS • SOUTH CAROLINA QUARRY NEEDS SITE-DEVELOPMENT PLANS
AMERICUS QUARRY SEEKING APPROVAL
Rogers Group Inc. filed paperwork indicating it intends to go through with plans for a new quarry a mile north of Americus, Tenn., according to the Lafayette Journal-Courier.
Rogers Group completed its land use request for property at 8032 Old Indiana 25 N. that has been on file with the Tippecanoe County Board of Zoning Appeals since July 2014, said Andy Williams, Rogers Group vice president.
The move sets up a potential showdown between the Rogers Group, Americus-area neighbors who have been fighting the proposed quarry for more than a year and county commissioners who crafted a quarry ban specifically to stop the 524-acre plan along the Wabash River.
Williams said the company will attempt to get approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals, a seven-member panel appointed by the Lafayette and West Lafayette city councils, the Tippecanoe County commissioners and the Area Plan Commission.
If Rogers wins there, Williams said the company is ready for any legal questions that come up with the county’s quarry ban. In July, the commissioners approved an ordinance that prohibits stone quarries within a two-mile radius of 100 homes.
Gibralter Rock Quarry Moving Forward
Constructural Dynamics Inc. tried to quell public concerns about the revitalization of the Gibraltar Rock quarry in Montgomery, N.J., according to the Princeton Packet.
For the past several years the quarry has reportedly been operating under a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Administrative Consent Order, which has leveled fines against the quarry owners when pollution runoff in streams has exceeded permitted standards. The last fine paid reportedly exceeded $62,000.
The quarry owners asked NJDEP for relief from fines and a “Force Majeure,” which was granted in October 2013. The quarry was given 15 months to come up with a solution.
The proposed solution is a closed-loop system that washes crushed stone and then carries the polluted water to a large process basin, where a chemical flocculent polyacrylamide would help coagulate and settle the remaining sediment and carry clean water back up the hill to be used again.
The coagulated sediment would be dredged up and then mixed with quarry stone for use as road covering. The process water basin would be an 11-acre, 16-ft. deep pond situated on a steep hill at the end of their property, overlooking Somerset County wetlands.
Residents opposed to the quarry operation believe that polyacrylamide is a cancer-causing agent and should not be used.
California Quarry Faces Noise Questions
Explosives that would be used to blast rock from a proposed 3M quarry near Mountain Gate, Calif., would not be the most significant source of noise, according to studies analyzing its impacts.
While the draft environmental impact report for the 1,850-acre Moody Flats Quarry released in October 2014 notes that some booms would briefly exceed acceptable county noise levels, it said the short-lived explosions would not have substantial impacts on surrounding areas, according to the Record Searchlight.
The 2,200-page report analyzed potential noise levels from a variety of activities that could take place on the lot just north of Shasta Lake, Calif., city limits, including sound and vibrations from excavation work, two processing facilities, train and truck loading and rock crushing. It also outlined steps owner 3M plans to take to address those concerns and others, though some effects would be unavoidable.
The most substantial and unavoidable source of noise would come from rock being loaded into Pacific Union railcars, which could happen any time of the day, the report predicted.
South Carolina Quarry Needs Site-Development Plans
The Fairfield, S.C., County Council recently provided an update regarding draft air and intent to mine permits for Winnsboro Crushed Stone LLC, and a proposed quarry in Winnsboro, S.C.
There has been no significant change, but the situation is being monitored, according to the Herald Independent.
County officials said that before the quarry could be built, site-development plans would need to be presented to Fairfield County, which has not happened yet, and that any action taken by the county is contingent on state Department of Health & Environmental Control’s decision regarding Winnsboro Crushed Stone’s applications.
Any official action of the county will have to be done on the submission or completion of a mining or draft air permit, according to the county.