Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/732024
by Therese Dunphy | Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com 6 AGGREGATES MANAGER / October 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 In early September, approximately 100 protesters turned out near the site of the proposed Austin Quarry in Madera County. According to The Fresno Bee, the protest- ers were organized by the Madera Oversight Commission, a group opposed to plans to open a greenfield quarry there. The proposed operation received preliminary ap- proval from the Madera County Planning Commission in July, but was up for a final vote by the Board of Supervisors at Aggregates Manager's press time. GEORGIA Members of the Georgia Crushed Stone Association (GCSA) hosted politicians in three separate events this summer. According to the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) visited Vulcan Materials Co.'s Norcross Quarry. During a roundtable luncheon, Hice — who did not support the FAST Act — was encouraged to look for ways to support long-term highway funding. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and state Sen. Brandon Beach, both Republicans, toured the Argos Ready Mix Cement Plant in an event organized by Bluegrass Materials. Earlier in the summer, the state association and several members co-hosted an event to honor Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.), who served on the House Trans- portation and Infrastructure Committee and was an advocate of the FAST Act. INDIANA ARKANSAS FLORIDA On Sept. 1, the Indiana Supreme Court refused to hear an appeals court decision that struck down a last-minute ordinance passed by the Tippecanoe County Board of Commissioners, the Lafayette Journal & Courier reports. The court did, however, uphold the county's requirement for a special exception to mine on a flood plain. Rogers Group, which sued the county and various county authorities after the last-minute ordinance was passed in 2014, has not yet filed for the exception. The operator will be required to file a detailed reclamation plan with the Area Board of Zon- ing Appeals to get the exception. Martin Marietta announced its first Diamond Award winners. The new program honors teams from across the company that model its core pillars of success: world-class safety, operational excellence, ethical conduct, sustainability, cost-discipline, customer service, and employee commitment to continuous improvement. "These diamonds represent the value of the people at the center of Martin Marietta," said Martin Marietta President and CEO Ward Nye in a press release. More than 150 operations received the Diamond Achievement Award in the program's first tier. Ten of those operations received the Diamond Honor Award — the program's second tier — for having maintained excellence for the past three years. Nye, with recommendations from an awards panel, then selected Jones Mill Quarry, in Malvern, Ark., for the program's top tier award: The Diamond Elite Award. Miramar commissioners in Broward County voted unanimously on an ordinance to direct the city's legal staff to investigate the effects of blasting on residences, as well as to explore its legal options, including a lawsuit. The city attorney is expected to present his report this month, The Sun Sentinel reports. Complaints relate to blasting at a limestone quarry just south of the Broward County line in Miami-Dade County, where blasting is permitted. The quarry has been located there for 30 years — well before homes were built near it. No claims of damage due to blasting have been substantiated. Jim Hurley, president of White Rock Quarries, told the newspaper he was surprised to learn of the ordinance and noted that blasting at the quarry is well below state limits. ILLINOIS Unimin Specialty Minerals and its Tamms and Elco plants were recognized with a Community Relations Award and Rock Solid Safety Awards during the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers (IAAP) annual meeting. In its newsletter, Update, IAAP reports that Unimin employees participated in community events such as a Bat Craft sta- tion at "Critter Night" where they taught residents about bats and the company's efforts to protect their habitats. Unimin also donated aggregate for Alexander County public works projects and funds to support conservation efforts of an organization that rehabilitates and releases injured wildlife. The plants sponsored a local teacher to attend IAAP's Rocks, Minerals, and Mining workshop. ILLINOIS Material Service Corp.'s lawsuit against La Grange Village was expected to enter mediation at Ag- gregates Manager's press time. According to The Chicago Tribune, the company filed the lawsuit to block a village's storm sewer and emergency flood barrier project, which would direct stormwater from heavy rain storms into its Federal Quarry. Ma- terial Service Corp. alleges that the "village of La Grange brazenly intends to proceed with its plan to unilaterally and without right expand the location, output, and/or size of a 53-inch diameter storm sewer that has, since at least 1992, deposited wa- ter into Material Service Corp.'s quarry in McCook." The operator adds that the village's changes would quadruple the amount of water sent to the quarry floor as it is moving toward underground mining. The village contends that the reason the quarry accepts water is because it removed a section of pipe the village previously used to divert storm- water when it expanded operations in 1992. The village has put the project on hold until the lawsuit is resolved.