Connecticut Quarry Enters Into Legal Battle With Town
Farm River Rock, East Haven, Conn., filed a lawsuit claiming the Town of East Haven illegally shut down the business in May and that East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr. had been harassing and bullying it, according to a report on WTNH TV.
The quarry’s corporate owner, One Barbery Real Estate Holding LLC, and its managing member, John Patton, filed a $30 million lawsuit against the town, two months after it filed a $25 million lawsuit against Maturo and three other town officials. The lawsuit also alleges the town was purposely raising the quarry’s taxes.
The quarry has been around for 70 years and since 2013, it has successfully obtained 37 blasting permits from the town. “This case is about an egregious abuse and manipulation of government power,” the plaintiffs wrote in the first paragraph of the lawsuit. “East Haven town officials conspired to destroy plaintiffs’ multimillion dollar quarry business because the mayor personally decided to shut down and terminate plaintiffs’ grandfathered legal right to operate a quarry in town.”
Vermont Sand and Gravel Operation Permit Granted
The District 1 Environmental Commission in Vermont has given the green light to plans by Fuller Sand & Gravel Inc. to expand its Danby operation, according to the Rutland Herald. The Act 250 commission imposed several conditions on the expansion of a nearby inactive quarry in response to issues raised by neighbors. The commission said there would be no increase in truck traffic.
The Griffith-Falzo pit, which will be added to Fuller’s current operation, is expected to be used for about 30 years. Fuller, the Griffith-Falzo pit and a third adjoining operation, the Abbott pit, have been in existence for 60 years, the commission noted. The commission set hours of operation, and the volume of removal of sand and gravel was locked in at 15,000 cu. yd. per year.
The permit states the expansion will not increase the current permitted level of trucks at Fuller Sand & Gravel, which is set at 70 trucks in and 70 trucks out. No crushing or blasting is allowed, although screening of material will occur on the site,” the permit stated
Multiple Quarries Seek Permits in Canadian County
The Rocky View County council in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, gave the green light for a second gravel pit application, made by Summit Aggregates, as well as first and second reading to rezone lands for two more aggregate applications – one by Lafarge Canada and the other by McNair Sand and Gravel, with land owned by Buckley Ranch Aggregate Development.
According to the Cochrane Eagle, if met with approval, all three pits will seek master site-development plans, bringing the total number of gravel pits on the road to four, including the operational Hillstone Aggregates. Concern remains that three pit applications have been moved ahead of the long-anticipated aggregate resource policy (ARP) – which has been met with resident opposition and remains in the draft stage.
Watchdog resident group Rocky View Gravel Watch remains firm on its stance that it is bad business for the county to move applications ahead of an ARP and that the county is not looking out for the human, health and safety concerns that are imposed on those living near gravel pits.
South Carolina Sand and Gravel Proposal Met With Concern
A room full of residents blasted the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) over a mine proposal in Calhoun County. Culclasure Farm is asking for a permit to mine sand and gravel on 68 acres of land for 10 years.
Leaders with Culclasure Farm said they are not commenting on their permit proposal but residents who live near the area are concerned about how the company›s operation would affect the noise, Big Beaver Creek and wildlife. In Culclasure’s permit application it states that the mine will not harm any nearby homes because there is no blasting or chemical contamination. Residents are also upset over the fact that the company would be permitted to withdraw 3 million gal. of groundwater per month. DHEC is currently collecting well survey forms to see how the mine would affect their well water, according to WLTX.