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State grants request for hearing on planned quarry
By Lynn Hotaling
Tuckasegee residents who oppose a proposed mining operation will have an opportunity to tell state officials why they don’t think a rock quarry belongs in their community.
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Division of Land Resources’ Land Quality Section has scheduled a public hearing for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22, in Courtroom 2 at the Justice Center.
During the hearing, state environmental officials will take comment on Carolina Boulder and Stone LLC’s application for a mining permit for a crushed stone mining operation off N.C. 281 (Canada Road).
According to the notice from Assistant State Mining Specialist Judy Wehner, comments will be limited to those that relate to the seven denial criteria listed under G.S. 74-51 of The Mining Act of 1971. These are the rules NCDENR considers in making its decision to grant or deny a new mining permit application, Wehner said.
The provisions that allow state officials to deny a permit are:
1) That any requirement of this Article or any rule promulgated hereunder will be violated by the proposed operation;
2) That the operation will have unduly adverse effects on potable ground water supplies, wildlife, or fresh water, estuarine, or marine fisheries;
3) That the operation will violate standards of air quality, surface water quality, or ground water quality which have been promulgated by NCDENR;
4) That the operation will constitute a direct and substantial physical hazard to public health and safety or to a neighboring dwelling house, school, church, hospital, commercial or industrial building, public road or other public property, excluding matters relating to use of a public road;
5) That the operation will have a significantly adverse effect on the purposes of a publicly owned park, forest or recreation area;
6) That previous experience with similar operations indicates a substantial possibility that the operation will result in substantial deposits of sediment in stream beds or lakes, landslides, or acid water pollution; or
7) That the applicant or any affiliate has not been in substantial compliance with the mining act, rules adopted under the mining act, or other laws or rules of North Carolina for the protection of the environment or has not corrected all violations that the applicant or affiliate may have committed that resulted in revocation of a permit, forfeiture of a bond or conviction of a misdemeanor under G.S. 74-64.
“In the absence of any findings set out above, or if adverse effects are mitigated by the applicant as determined necessary by the Department, a permit shall be granted,” Wehner’s notice states.
The Aug. 22 hearing will open with an explanation of the proposed mining operation and explanation of the provisions of the mining act by the hearing officer. Comments from members of the public will then be accepted.
Comments, data and other information may be submitted in writing prior to or during the hearing or may be presented orally at the hearing, Wehner said. Those wishing to speak will be asked to register prior to the hearing, and the time allocated to each speaker will be determined by the hearing officer based on the number of people who sign up to speak. Any oral presentation that exceeds three minutes must be accompanied by three written copies, which will be filed with the hearing officer at the beginning of the oral presentation.
Cross examination of persons presenting testimony will not be allowed; however, the hearing officer may ask questions for clarification, the notice said.
It was not known at press time whether Carolina Boulder will participate in the Aug. 22 hearing. L.C. Jones of Tuckasegee, who filed the mining application on behalf of the corporation, said Tuesday that he hadn’t decided if he would attend.
Additional written comments will be accepted for a period of 10 days following the hearing, according to the legal notice that announces the Aug. 22 hearing.
Tuckasegee residents, on the other hand, appear likely to turn out in force to show their opposition.
More than 125 people packed Tuckasegee Baptist Church July 29 to hear what they could do to convince state environmental officials to deny Carolina Boulder a permit to mine “unconsolidated material and crushed stone” from a 56-acre tract just east of the N.C. 107/N.C. 281 intersection. Carolina Boulder, a limited liability corporation fronted by Jones of Canada community and Leland Ryske (Jones Tuesday declined to give a hometown for Ryske), has leased the property from Jim Vander Woude of Franklin, who purchased it in January for $450,000. Tuckasegee residents think Ryske is Vander Woude’s son-in-law.
The July 29 meeting was sponsored by United Neighbors of Tuckasegee, a grassroots group formed two weeks ago to fight the planned quarry. UNOT thus far has collected more than 500 signatures on a petition opposing the proposed mine.
Community residents indicated their approval of state officials’ prompt decision to hold a hearing on Carolina Boulder’s application.
Local businessman Hugh Thompson, whose home adjoins the planned quarry site, said he’s grateful there will be a hearing.
“The planned mining operation would border my yard,” he said. “I’m displeased at the idea that someone would want to put something like that in a residential neighborhood.”
“We’re glad they’ve listened to our concerns,” said Nola Brown, who addressed county commissioners about the possibility of a rock quarry on the site in April. “I hope that after they hear what community residents have to say they’ll realize that our peaceful community by the river should be spared the noise and pollution of a mining operation.”
Writer Thomas Crowe, who lives next door to the proposed quarry site and spoke at the July 29 session, expressed a similar view.
“The outpouring of opposition against a mining operation in ‘downtown’ Tuckasegee has been tremendous,” Crowe said. “I’d like to thank all of the people who wrote letters to state and local officials in support of our work to stop the mining operation. We must convince the state that they must not grant a permit to Carolina Boulder and Stone.”
According to Crowe, the outcome of the quarry fight will affect everyone in the county.
“This will not be the last such issue to appear during this influx of developers and invasive industry from the outside,” he said.
Carolina Boulder’s Jones said last week that his intent is only to remove loose boulders and said the company has not applied for a blasting permit.
“Carolina Boulder and Stone is required by the state of North Carolina, the N.C. Wildlife Commission and the Division of Water Quality to apply for a mining permit for any rock removal in the state,” Jones said in a prepared statement. “This is required even for loose boulders or loose surface material. Carolina Boulder intends only to remove loose material. We will not be blasting. When the loose material is all removed, then a re-vegetation plan will be implemented.”
Jones declined comment on how exactly he planned to crush and sort the rock at his proposed mine.
“We plan on processing material,” he said. “I’d rather not comment further.”
Despite the fact that a quarry operation on the site would require both county and NCDENR permits, Carolina Boulder chose to apply to the state first. According to Jackson County planner Linda Cable, who received notice from Assistant State Mining Specialist Wehner that Carolina Boulder had made the application, a local ordinance would disallow a quarry on the Vander Woude tract. Such “heavy” industrial uses are regulated under Jackson County’s 2002 Industrial Development Ordinance, Cable said. That law prevents any such industry from locating within a quarter-mile (1,320 feet) of a commercial lot or residential structure. The ordinance is geared toward controlling polluting industries, including asphalt plants and mining operations, which include quarries.
Cable said she reviewed the site this past spring when rumors of a planned quarry first surfaced. In her opinion, a quarry there would not be permitted by the county because it fails to meet the setback requirements, she said.
“Regardless of state action, as far as I can tell right now, Jackson County’s ordinance would not allow (a quarry) on that site,” Cable said.
NCDENR’s Wehner told The Herald two weeks ago that a state permit could be issued regardless of any county ordinance. A local law would not preclude state officials from granting a mining permit because NCDENR’s decision will be governed solely on the provisions of the Mining Act of 1971; should a mining permit be issued to Carolina Boulder, it would be up to Jackson County to enforce its ordinance, she said.
State law requires Carolina Boulder to notify adjacent landowners by registered letter of its intent to extract stone; those letters, dated July 18, were received by property owners around July 21.
UNOT members say they plan to keep the pressure on both state and local officials because of the effect a rock quarry would have on their community. They have secured a place on the agenda at next Thursday’s (Aug. 17) county commissioners meeting and plan to ask county leaders to pass a resolution in opposition to the mining operation and informing state officials of the county’s existing ordinance, Brown said.
A copy of Carolina Boulder’s mining permit application and maps are on file with NCDENR’s Asheville office (828-296-4500) and Raleigh office (919-733-4574) for public review prior to the hearing. Additional information may be obtained from Wehner at (919) 733-4574.
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