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Tuckasegee resident seeks county’s help in quarry fight
By Justin Goble
Tuckaseigee native Beverly Turrentine addressed commissioners during their regular meeting Monday night (Sept. 8), speaking out about the state’s procedure for granting mining permits.
Turrentine spoke against Carolina Boulder and Stone, a company that proposed locating a rock quarry in the Tuckaseigee community. The potential quarry site is just east of the N.C. 107/N.C. 281 intersection and is some 700 yards from the Tuckaseigee River’s West Fork.
Turrentine, along with other Tuckaseigee residents, banded together to oppose the quarry, and Carolina Boulder and Stone’s application was denied by state environmental officials. However, she said there is a chance the company might try to apply for a smaller mining operation.
“We succeeded in stopping the rock quarry, but we hear they might try to put something smaller in,” she said.
Turrentine said her biggest concern is that the company could go forward with the application despite the county’s Industrial Development Ordinance, which 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.
That ordinance does not prevent mining companies from moving forward with the permitting process at the state level. According to Assistant State Mining Specialist Judy Wehner, the N.C. Division of Environment and Natural Resources must make decisions on such cases solely on the provisions of the Mining Act of 1971; should a mining permit eventually be issued to Carolina Boulder, it would be up to Jackson County to enforce its ordinance, she said.
Turrentine said she thought the county ordinance should take precedence. If the county wouldn’t allow a rock quarry project to go forward, the applications should never reach the state level, she said.
“Despite our local ordinance, which prevents things like a rock quarry from being built in a residential area, Carolina Boulder and Stone moved forward with the permitting process at the state level. That’s backwards. It makes much more sense to me that a mining operation should prove it would be permissible within a county ordinance before going to the state.”
Trying to find a remedy for the situation, Turrentine said she spoke with state Sen. John Snow, who told her that the state would pay more attention if county officials voiced their support.
“Sen. Snow suggested the county should go on record that they would stand behind their ordinance and bring legal action to anyone trying to put a quarry in,” she said. “He also suggested the commissioners pass a resolution to support amending the mining act while trying to encourage other counties to do the same.”
Commissioner Joe Cowan responded to Turrentine’s request, saying he intended to stand behind the county’s ordinance. Along with putting discussion of the issue on the agenda for commissioners’ Oct. 6 regular meeting, he suggested Turrentine speak with Planning Director Linda Cable to lay out the ideas Snow suggested.
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