Environmental regulators in Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration have given up their fight with Wake Stone Corp. over a proposed quarry next to William B. Umstead State Park, despite objections from Cooper himself and the state agency that oversees the park.
DEQ and Wake Stone have agreed to settle a dispute over a permit that would allow the company to expand its existing quarry operation to 105 acres owned by Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The agency denied the permit last year, saying the new open-pit mine would harm the neighboring park. But the company persuaded an administrative law judge to overturn that decision. DEQ moved in September to appeal the ruling in Wake County Superior Court but announced Monday that it had agreed to abandon that effort.
Read the full story in the News & Observer.