PERMITTING – OCTOBER 2015


Singleton Stone Moving Forward

Approval of the final permit needed by Singleton Stone LLC to operate a stone quarry in Eagle Creek Township, located in south Lake County, Ind., was granted despite mounting opposition from both the states of Illinois and Indiana, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In a letter from Brian Wolff, branch chief of surface water, operations and enforcement in the Indiana Department of Environmental Management office of Water Quality to Gene Yarkie of Rieth Riley Construction Co., Wolff said IDEM staff has determined the permit application as submitted complies with the applicable provisions of the Clean Water Act so long as several conditions are met.

Those conditions include allowing an IDEM commissioner or agent reasonable access to the site and records as well as not changing the scope of work as outlined in the original application, among other conditions.


Company Seeks to Open North Carolina Quarry

According to the Tri-County Business Journal, the Lee County, N.C., Board of Adjustment scheduled a hearing for Oct. 14 to allow the public to weigh in on a proposal for a new aggregates operation owned by three families.

The aggregate rock quarry would be located west of NC Highway 87 South, near the southern connector of the new 421 Bypass around Sanford, N.C.

Ray Covington is acting as the lead contact for Little River LLC, the business entity the families set up in order to apply for the permits the quarry needs from state and local officials. Little River has also filed for permits with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The three families have owned various parcels of land in the area for decades. The 378 acres in question have largely been used for growing timber and raising cattle. But Covington says the idea of opening a quarry on the land has been one the families have considered off and on for the past 20 years. The quarry would occupy about 87 of the 378 acres.


Kentucky Quarry Up for Auction

A 488-acre limestone quarry in Meade County, Ky., will be auctioned by sealed bid. The winner will acquire “this region’s last fully-zoned and nearly fully-permitted quarry for the mining of the valuable, high calcium limestone called scrubber stone,” said Sheldon Good & Co., the auctioneer. “All major permitting hurdles were overcome over the last decade, resulting in a maximized 440 permitted acres, while still enabling operational flexibility of the site for the winning bidder.”


State of Washington Revising Sand and Gravel Permit

The state of Washington Department of Ecology’s “Sand & Gravel General Permit” will expire Oct. 1. The department plans to revise and reissue the new permit in December with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2016.

The Department of Ecology invites public comments on the Formal Draft of the Sand & Gravel General Permit and began accepting them on Sept. 9. “Please submit comments on the Formal Draft by 11:59 p.m. Oct. 23, 2015,” the department said on its website. “Ecology will read and consider the comments when reissuing the final permit. Ecology will respond to comments submitted by the deadline and will post them online.”


Martin Marietta Quarry Faces Fight in Carolina

Groups opposed to a 650-acre mining operation near Blounts Creek, N.C., won a court battle in Beaufort County. Superior Judge Douglas Parsons overturned an administrative law judge’s decision, saying that Sound Rivers and the North Carolina Coastal Federation are considered “person aggrieved” and that there are issues of fact that require a full hearing.

Some 50 Saving Blounts Creek supporters were out in force for the hearing in Washington, holding a pep rally prior to court. Martin Marietta wants to extract limestone, and discharge up to 12-million gpd of water from the operation, according to WITN News. But the groups said that such a discharge could affect the local environment.

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