Aggregates Manager

May 2016

Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine

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by Therese Dunphy | Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com 6 AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2016 To keep up to date with news from the United States and Canada, visit www.AggMan.com for daily updates. STATE & PROVINCE NEWS CALIFORNIA After more than six hours of presentations about the proposed expansion of Syar Industry's 497-acre basalt quarry, Napa County supervisor con- tinued discussion on the matter until their April 26 meeting. According to the Napa Valley Register, the county planning commission approved the operator's bid to expand its quarry by 106 acres in a 3-2 vote. Two grassroots groups, Stop Syar Expansion and Skyline Park Citizens Asso- ciation, then appealed the issue to the board of supervisors. County staff and consultants defended the environmental impact report while oppo- nents voiced concerns about air pollution and the environmental impact of the operation on local headwaters and creeks. Syar Industries will be able to address the appeals presentations at a later date. ILLINOIS At the beginning of April, Lake County officials said that commer- cial stone production at Singleton Stone LLC's quarry in Eagle Creek Township was imminent. According to The Chicago Tribune, the com- pany had submitted as-built drawings for the project and needed only to resolve "some more or less housekeeping things on the drawings." While some residents had expressed concerns that stone was already being shipped from the site, the county official clarified that the oper- ator was allowed to mine stone to calibrate machinery and construct the site. A scale had not yet been built on the quarry site. IOWA An employee at Martin Marietta's Earlham Quarry was killed in an accident on March 22. The Newton Daily News reports that 42-year- old Tracy Hockmeier was apparently struck by debris following a routine blast at the site and pronounced dead at the scene. OHIO Miami County Commissioners approved a truck haul route for a proposed quarry. According to the Daily Call, Piqua Materials purchased a 93-acre property and has submitted a proposal for a surface mine there. The county engineer is required by law to devise a route for ingress, egress, and hauling to the proposed operation. The company told the county it anticipates annual sales of 500,000 tons of mate- rial. Several neighbors spoke against the proposed operation, but commissioners noted that approval of mining will go before the Board of Zoning Appeals. GEORGIA In early April, blasting began the Bellwood Quarry as the city begins to redevelop the site as a water storage facility. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, construction will begin with a five-mile, 10-foot diameter tunnel system that will link the quarry to the Chattahoochee River. One tunnel will run from the quarry to the city's water treatment plant, while the second will connect the plant with the city's water in- take on the river. The $280 million project is expected to extend Atlan- ta's water supply reserves from three to more than 30 days. KANSAS NEW YORK ILLINOIS CONNECTICUT Demand for aggregates for local construction projects was among the topics of discussion at a recent Neosho County Commissioners meeting. According to the Chanute Tribune, quarry foreman Chris Hoagland requested authority and funding to blast at the county's Neely quarry. The opera- tion had last blasted in November 2015. The foreman told commissioners he had enough rock for 50 miles of road- work, but anticipated high demand for rock on a gravel road that would serve as a detour around bridge construc- tion on K-39 this summer. Frontier Stone media consultants sat down with The Daily News to explain how its proposed Shelby quarry would op- erate, as well as how it would benefit the community. The proposed operation would involve mining dolomite on 215 acres of a 269-acre property, in four phases over 75 years. When addressing the issue of blasting, the consultant made a savvy comparison between the sound level of a permit- ted blast (133 decibels) and that of a .357 revolver (172 decibels) or a .22 caliber rifle (144 decibels). Both guns are commonly used during the hunting season in the same area. Mode, Ill.-based Brush Creek Quarry was recognized for its commitment to safety by the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers (IAAP), the Effingham Daily News reports. The quarry received the Rock Solid Safety Gold award from the association. "By rewarding our indus- try's health and safety leaders, these programs encour- age other IAAP members to adopt more proactive safety practices and systems designed to prevent job-related injuries or illnesses," IAAP's Shawn McKinney said in a press release. Area residents seem to be in favor of plans to develop a clean water reservoir at the Tilcon quarry in New Britain. The com- munity's plan is to lease Tilcon a 131-acre quarry site for min- ing while also producing 239 acres of watershed property and 327 acres of open space through the 40-year agreement. The New Britain Herald reports that neighbors are responding well to the plans, which would move blasting further away from nearby homes. Local officials, concerned by intermittent peri- ods of drought, are looking to tap the potential of an additional 4.75 billion gallons of water reserves.

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