Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/403276
State & Province NEWS by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief AGGREGATES MANAGER November 2014 4 State & Province NEWS by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com To keep up to date with this breakdown of news in the United States and Canada, visit www.AggMan.com for daily updates. Maine At Aggregates Manager's press time, a town meeting was being held in Eddington to determine if a six-month moratorium on mining would be extended. e Bangor Daily News reports that the moratorium was approved in April by voters and intended to give town leaders time to develop new regulations. Town Manager Russell Smith said the regulations were "almost done, but not quite." He talked about the possibility of a three- to six-month extension so the rules could be fi nalized and reviewed by the town a orney. e planning board would then hold public hearings and vote on them. New Jersey In late September, visitors to a Mantua quarry got to play paleontologists and see a new dinosaur species, the Dreadnoughtus schrani. According to the Courier-Post, more than 1,200 people a ended the event. A Drexel University paleontologist and his team have scoured the site for years to fi nd evidence that ties fossils in a 6-inch layer of dirt to when an asteroid struck the planet and sent dinosaurs toward extinction. e professor noted that a high proportion of articulated specimens in the quarry point to a mass death event. New York A pair of neighbors have spent four years trying to block the Department of Environmental Conservation from approving a permit that would triple the size of the 25-acre Kinsella gravel quarry near Highland Forest in Fabius. CNYCentral.com reports that they have collected hundreds of documents, including one noting that the town banned gravel mines in 2007. e mine owner, Tom Kinsella, told the news agency that he understood their concerns, but the operation is grandfathered since the quarry began in the 1950s. He also pointed out that gravel from his quarry is needed for bridges and roads throughout the region. Pennsylvania In mid-September, emergency responders from Eastern Berks Fire, Boyertown Area Fire and Rescue, and Gilbertsville Fire and Rescue, as well as EMS personnel from Boyertown, Bally, and Gilbertsville, took a guided tour of the Martin Stone Quarry in Colebrookdale Township. According to e Berks-Mont News, the tour was organized by Bruce Hoff man, an employee who has served with EMS and fi re units. He showed responders the layout, potential hazards, and safety features of the mine. Safety Director Anne Kelhart provided an overview of emergency procedures in case of an incident at the quarry. California The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors straw voted through the draft General Plan's Mineral Resources section during a review meet- ing, discussed the environmental impacts of mining on riverbeds, and laid the groundwork for extending the time period between mining permit renewals. The Redwood Times reports that there was some discussion from the County Planning and Building Department staff to include specifi c information on in-stream mining operations' environmental impact on endangered and threatened species, but an attorney for local mining companies pointed out that they already work with the County of Humboldt Extraction Review Team (CHERT) on these issues. The board approved the addition of language that would allow mines that extract consistent volumes of materials to be extended beyond the current 15-year limit. Louisiana The Livingston Parish Council's ordinance committee voted 4-0 to recommend the Parish Council table proposed sand and gravel regulations following pushback from the mining industry that said compliance costs could put them out of business. According to The Advocate, the proposed regulations — drafted by a councilman who lives next to a 238-acre planned mining operation — in- cluded a $3,000 annual permit, 8-foot perimeter fence, increased buffer zones, and restricted hours of operation, among other requirements. The committee chairman noted that, by the council- man's own estimates, the regulations would increase a mine's start-up costs by $300,000 to $400,000. Other council members noted that the ordinances were "drafted too hastily, amended too late in the process, and were causing considerable confusion."