Aggregates Manager

September 2013

Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine

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State & Province NEWS To keep up to date with this breakdown of news in the United States and Canada, visit www.AggMan.com for daily updates. by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com California Despite community opposition, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved San Rafael Rock Quarry's plans to recycle asphalt from Marin roads projects. The Marin Independent Journal reports that Supervisor Susan Adams brought the motion forward, but added the permit would not be extended in two years unless the quarry complies with all 173 conditions that regulate its operations. "I know I'm going to make some of my friends not happy," Adams told the newspaper. "If we do not pass this, my fear is that the county will not have the resources" to complete a $3 million local road project. Indiana A neighborhood group, the Americus Area Community Coalition, generated petitions from 400 residents and gathered 125 attendees at a meeting of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as it reviewed a proposal from Rogers Group for a quarry on Old State Road 25 near Americus. According to jconline.com, DNR officials focused on four issues during the meeting: the efficiency and capacity of the floodway once the project is complete; the safety of life and property in the area; the impact on fish, wildlife, and botanical resources; and the cumulative effects of the project. A decision is not expected until fall. A spokesperson for the neighborhood group told WLFI that, if DNR approves the plans, the group will appeal the decision. New Hampshire Mitchell Sand and Gravel LLC recently applied for an operating permit to continue operations of the asphalt plant at its Winchester site. According to SentinelSource.com, the permit would allow operations through 2018. While aggregate has been mined at the site since 1965, the asphalt plant began operations in August 2011 under a temporary permit. Sine then, some minor changes have been made to the proposed final permit, including a reduction in emissions. New Jersey Whitehall Township officials want to impose a tipping fee on every truckload of sand being brought to a local quarry from New Jersey. WFMZ reports that officials discussed negotiating such a fee with the Ciccone family, which owns two local quarries. The family's smaller operation is accepting sand that was pushed into the Newark Bay by Hurricane Sandy. The sand is being dredged to keep the bay's shipping lanes opened. The state Department of Environmental Protection said that the owners have a mining reclamation permit to accept the sand, but the township wants the fee to offset potential damage from tri-axle trucks transporting the sand. New Jersey The borough of Ringwood is set to face off against the Saddle Mountain quarry in Superior Court. NorthJersey. com reports the local government is disputing the depths of extraction at the operation. Two decades ago, the city engaged in two other battles with the operator and was allowed to place limitations such as noise control on its site. A 1996 court order provides guidelines for the depth limits and future reclamation of the site. The borough contends that the order limits excavation to 370 feet above sea level, while the company says no such restriction is included in the order. The borough's lawsuit says the company is digging past 290 feet above sea level. North Carolina Community protest led to the re-opening of the observation area at the Mount Airy quarry. According to mtairynews.com, North Carolina Granite Corp., owner of an operation said to be the world's largest open-faced granite quarry, closed the area a year ago due to safety concerns. Previously, a 6-foot fence separated the observation site from the quarry area, but people were going around the fence to stand near the edge of the highwall, a safety violation. Before re-opening the site, the operation installed an 8-foot fence topped with barbed wire. The observation area is now open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pennsylvania At the end of the year, dredging on the Allegheny River will come to a complete end. Triblive.com reports that only one company currently dredges along the river — Hanson Aggregates. Tom Chizmadia, senior vice president of government affairs for Lehigh Hanson Inc., told the news agency that it will not renew its dredging permit at the end of the year. "Right now, there are not any economically permittable reserves, given the regulatory restrictions on where you can and cannot dredge," he said. Those regulations include buffer zones around riverbanks, islands, locks, and dams. Operators must also search for and avoid endangered mussels in the river. AGGREGATES MANAGER September 2013 StateNews_AGRM0913.indd 7 7 8/16/13 2:15 PM

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