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Tuckasegee residents unite to fight quarry
By Lynn Hotaling
When state officials came to Jackson County last week (Aug. 22) to take comment on a proposed Tuckasegee rock quarry, they only heard one side of the story.
That’s because every one of the two dozen or so speakers made it clear to the representatives of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources that they did not want a mining operation in their community.
State officials, who said at the outset there would be no decision made that evening, listened for almost two hours to Tuckasegee residents, some wheelchair bound, who said a quarry in their community would endanger their health, the environment and the area’s significant archaeological heritage. More than 100 people packed a Justice Center courtroom to listen to the proceedings. Based on the applause that followed each speaker’s anti-quarry comments, it seemed clear that the vast majority were there to oppose the planned mine.
When the hearing officer invited a presentation from Carolina Boulder and Stone LLC of Franklin, the company headed by L.C. Jones of Tuckasegee that triggered the controversy through its application for a permit for a crushed-stone mining operation off N.C. 281 (Canada Road), no one stepped forward.
Carolina Boulder’s permit application indicates the company plans 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 two weeks ago declined to give a hometown for Ryske), has leased the property from Jim Vander Woude of Franklin, who purchased it in January for some $450,000. Tuckasegee residents think Ryske is Vander Woude’s son-in-law.
Many who spoke indicated they are members of United Neighbors of Tuckasegee, a grassroots group formed in mid-July to fight the planned quarry. UNOT thus far has collected more than 1,500 signatures on petitions opposing the proposed mine; Tuckasegee resident Beverly Turrentine presented copies to NCDENR officials at the hearing. UNOT members have more information available on their website at www.unot.org.
NCDENR’s Judy Wehner, assistant state mining specialist, reminded the crowd that her agency is bound by the provisions of North Carolina’s mining act. According to Wehner, the General Assembly has determined that mining is “basic and essential” and, while it is possible to conduct mining so as to minimize its effects, it is not possible to extract minerals without disturbing the surface and producing waste.
Because legislators have determined that mining allows the extraction of valuable minerals, which helps the economy, NCDENR can only deny a permit for the following reasons, which are listed under G.S. 74-51 of The Mining Act of 1971, she said.
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 wrote in a legal notice announcing the hearing.
The hearing record will remain open through Friday, Sept. 1, and a decision to grant or deny the permit will be made within 60 days, hearing officer Ken Taylor said.
Speakers at the hearing included:
– Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan, who told state officials that Jackson County leaders oppose a quarry in Tuckasegee.
– Lifetime Tuckasegee resident Cherrie Moses, who described significant archaeological sites in the area and cited several studies during the 1950s that documented early Cherokee settlements in the Tuckaseigee River valley.
– Mark Jamison of Cullowhee, who told state officials he had researched court records and found several citations of Jones or companies he represented. These include failure to pay for environmental services, sediment and erosion violations in Macon County, and bankruptcy proceedings.
– Lifetime Tuckasegee resident Buck Stewart, who lives directly across from the proposed site, said the tract has had historical drainage problems and that two culverts discharge into the Tuckasegee River. Stewart expressed concern about the environmental effects of oil that leaks from mining equipment finding its way into the river.
– Michael Milligan, a disabled veteran who lives adjacent to the proposed quarry site, asked officials to consider the harmful effects of the dust and particulate matter that would be generated by the mine on Tuckasegee’s air quality. As a paraplegic, respiratory problems are a grave threat to his health, he said.
– Dr. Matt Mahar, a Sylva family practice physician, spoke on behalf of his patients, including wheelchair-bound Harold Hooper. “His life hangs in the balance,” Mahar told state officials, adding that a quarry would represent a direct physical hazard to public health.
– Nola Brown, a UNOT organizer who first spoke publicly against a mining operation in April, when the planned quarry was only a rumor, asked officials to consider that Vander Woude and Carolina Boulder have not been straightforward about their plans.
“Do you think their intent is only to remove boulders?” she asked, referring to a statement Jones made during the Aug. 17 Jackson County commissioners meeting.
– Retired Western Carolina University geology professor Tom Wilcox, who lives adjacent to the planned mine location, said that a crushing operation requires large quantities of water, and that the application doesn’t indicate a source for that water.
“If it’s wells, it could impact my well and other wells,” he said.
Wilcox also raised the issue of slope failure and said he thinks a “debris avalanche” has occurred on the Vander Woude property within the past 30 years.
– N.C. Sen. John Snow said he had visited the property and “there is no question that this mining operation will result in sediment in the river and will affect fishing and trout water.”
Those wishing to submit written comments before tomorrow’s deadline may do so to Ken Taylor, hearing officer, 1601 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC, 27699-1601.
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