According to WSMV4 News, people who live close to a rock quarry on Highway 12S in Ashland City, Tenn., said their complaints about noise and damage to their homes have been ignored by city officials. Walker’s Trucking and Excavating owns a quarry that homeowners said they have complained about for years as it is permitted in a residential area. Complaints include blasting, wayward shotrock and ongoing MSHA violations. On top of that there is reportedly litigation currently pending against Walker Trucking and Excavating. Three residents have joined in a lawsuit against the company and Ashland City over the whole ordeal.
According to The Winchester Star, Carmeuse Lime and Stone hosted a community meeting to get feedback on its plans for a new mine in northeastern Frederick County, Va., ahead of filing a rezoning application with the county.
The meeting was held in close proximity to Carmeuse’s existing operations in northeastern Frederick County. The following information was shared at the meeting:
- An overview of the company’s current mining operation and its benefits to the community.
- The future mining plan, including a general concept plan showing the location of the future pit, berms, internal roads and temporary stockpile.
- How Carmeuse plans to reduce the height of the current stockpile seen from Martinsburg Pike within two years.
- The 100 acres the company plans to immediately reserve for additional commercial and/or industrial development.
- Plans to repurpose 325 of the 400 acres for future commercial or industrial use once mining is completed.
- A $1.5 million financial and land contribution toward improving the Hopewell Road/Martinsburg Pike intersection.
Carmeuse owns or has under contract 1,200 acres in the Stonewall Magisterial District in northeastern Frederick County.
According to The Pioneer, the Contra Costa, Calif., Planning Commission unanimously approved an amended reclamation plan for Clayton Quarry, despite neighbors’ pleas about health and safety issues. The vote included two land-use permits that reduce the anticipated working lifespan of the quarry by 46 years, projecting that operations at the Mitchell Canyon site will cease by 2055. Cemex’s plan replaces a 1983 agreement with the quarry’s previous owner that called for more restoration of Mt. Zion, leveling the gaping, terraced rock face, landscaping the area and eventually donating the land to Mt. Diablo State Park. The new plan removes the previous backfill requirement – leaving the hole created by the current pit mining operation and letting it fill with storm water. The company projects that 168 years after the cessation of mining, the accumulated rainwater will create a lake.