Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/485104
State & Province NEWS To keep up to date with news from the United States and Canada, visit www.AggMan.com for daily updates. by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com AGGREGATES MANAGER April 2015 4 California Las Pilitas Resources is appealing a decision from the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission, which rejected its proposed project for a 41-acre mine near Santa Margarita, The Tribune reports. According to the newspaper, the operator contends the "planning commission's reasons for rejecting the project were not supported by the facts in evidence." It also says that the commission did not consider the importance of the mine's aggregate supplies to the region. The appeal will be heard by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors. The county environmental coordinator told the newspaper that it would take the planning staff several weeks to respond to the issues raised in the appeal. A hearing date had not been set at Aggregates Manager's press time. Indiana The Indiana Mineral Aggregates Association (IMAA) named Brad Powell, of VCNA Prairie, Inc., as its 2014 recipient of the "Miner of the Year" award, it reports. IMAA Executive Director Robert Jones presented the award during the association's Winter Workshops. Powell joined the aggregates industry in 1976 as a laborer for Rogers Group and is currently the Indiana area manager for Prairie Aggregate. He has served on the association's Plant Operators Committee, where he organizes and teaches about equipment safety and employee relations. Two of his operations have gone more than 12 years without a lost-time accident, while two more have been without lost-time accidents since they opened. Illinois In observance of National Flood Awareness Week, DuPage County Stormwater Management planned tours of the Elmhurst Quarry Flood Control Facility on March 21, The Elmhurst Patch reports. Residents were expected to be able to tour the quarry to learn how the county uses it to manage fl oodwater. The quarry is the largest of four mechanically operated fl ood control facilities in the county. The tours were sponsored by DuPage County Stormwater Management, Elmhurst Historical Museum, and Elmhurst Park District. Massachusetts All States Materials Group hopes to develop a solar farm on 20 to 30 acres of its Trew Stone property, The Recorder reports. Chicago-based Lake Street Development would lease land from the operator and retain ownership of the 6-megawatt solar farm, if built. Local offi cials appear to support the project. Department of Energy Resources, Selectmen's Chair Carolyn Shores wrote that the town supports the project. She notes the land on which it would be built is not zoned or suitable for residential development, and it is not a particularly attractive site for commercial or industrial use. Kansas Perry-based Hamm, Inc. received the 2014 Governor's Mine Land Reclamation Award for its efforts at the Overbrook Quarry in Osage County, the Kansas Aggregate Producers Association (KAPA) announced. The award, which is administered through the Kansas Department of Agriculture, is presented to a company that demonstrates excellence in executing a reclamation project and sharing a positive image of mining in the state. Hamm's reclamation project included the construction of several ponds, including a fi sh habitat. In addition, the land was graded and fenced for future hay production. The award was presented at a KAPA meeting. Kansas Finding the right greenfi eld site isn't just a challenge for aggregates producers; government agencies that own their own sites go through some of the same challenges when fi nding the right location. According to The Fort Scott Tribune, the Bourbon County Public Works Department is currently trying to locate an appropriate site for a new quarry. After taking core samples at two locations, however, it has not found consistent enough rock quality to merit development. Unlike operators, the county government has a relatively low budget for the project. It has $50,000 budgeted to open a new quarry and has spent between $2,000 and $3,000 on exploration. Illinois Northwestern University researchers resumed monitor- ing of blasting at the Hanson Material Service's quarry in McCook. According to The Chicago Tribune, data collec- tion stems from a 2013 event when a quarry blast was followed seven seconds later by a 3.2-magnitude seismic event. Analysis by Northwestern, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources did not determine a causal relationship between the two events. Despite the results of that research, area residents, including U.S. Rep. Daniel Lipinski, called for more research. The data collection and analysis contin- ues to explore the cause of the 2013 events and whether geologic or weather factors could infl uence future events.