State & Province News

September 2007

State & Province News

by , Executive Editor
 

Alaska

A new gravel operation on the outskirts of the Athabascan village near Anchorage recently began producing much-needed materials for the area. The Anchorage Daily News reports that the operation — owned by Eklutna Inc., the village’s Native corporation — will ship up to 200 trucks per day worth of material for area construction projects. The greater Anchorage area is estimated to consume more than 3 million tons of gravel per year. The operation is strategically located along the Glenn Highway near a high-growth area and is already feeding major commercial and residential construction projects.

Arizona

The 10-member Maricopa County District Recommendation Committee, made up of five industry and five resident members, voted to send a proposal to the state mine inspector and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors that would require aggregates trucks to be equipped with a quieter backup alarm. According to The Arizona Republic, all onsite/in-house vehicles would have alternative backup alarms where required. Alternative alarms could include broadband, low-pitch, or strobe. Due to costs and availability, alternative backup alarms would be phased in for on-site fleets, including mixers, loaders, and haulers within six months of approval by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Alternative backup alarms would be recommended for third-party vehicles, brokers, and out-of-state contractors.

California

The U.S. Department of Interior’s U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that it has proposed a revision of its designation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for the endangered San Bernadino kangaroo rat. It added that approximately 9,079 acres of federal, local, and privately owned land in portions of Riverside and San Bernadino counties included in the revised critical habitat proposal. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s statement, the “San Bernadino kangaroo rat is threatened by continued loss, degradation, and fragmentation of its habitat due to sand and gravel mining operations, flood control projects, and urban development. Three of the largest remaining habitat for the species are actively mined for sand and gravel, and mining activity in these areas is expected to increase.”

Colorado

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a Colorado Court of Appeals’ decision (Animas Valley Sand & Gravel Inc. v. La Plata County Board of Commissioners) that a county land use plan which diminished the value of a landowner’s property did not affect a compensable taking. According to Municipal Litigation Reporter, the appeals court noted that the landowner is not entitled to compensation for the diminution in value of the land’s highest and best use. It also noted that the property retained its substantial value as a home site.

Idaho

Work is expected to be completed this fall on the reconstruction of a section of Interstate 84 between the Sand Hollow and Notus interchanges. The project will address rutting and deterioration and is expected to increase the longevity of the roadway. U.S. States News reports that pavement in the project was originally built with the interstate in the 1960s and received minor maintenance in 1985 and 1997. Idaho Sand & Gravel is the contractor on the $14 million project.

Illinois

Troy Kutz, vice president of Rockford Sand and Gravel, was elected president of the board of directors of the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers. According to the Rockford Register Star, Kutz manages the daily operations of the company’s aggregate operations as well as the employees who run them.

Kansas

In a split decision, Shawnee County Commissioners voted to give Kansas Sand and Concrete responsibility to arrange temporary repairs to deteriorating parts of North West Valencia Road near one of the company’s sand and gravel operations. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the 3-0 vote will establish a weekly process through which the county would identify portions of the road that need repairs and the operator would arrange for an asphalt company to make the repairs. If the operator and county disagree, the contract stipulates that the decision of the county public works director takes precedence.

Massachusetts

At a Plymouth town meeting in June, members voted to rezone a 16-acre salvage yard from light industrial to mixed commerce. According to The Patriot Ledger, some of the members present advocated the change to prevent use of the land for sand and gravel mining. The town planning director pointed out that a develop plan will not ensure future plans.

Missouri

At Aggregates Manager press time, the Missouri Blasting Safety Act (H.B. 298) was scheduled to go into effect on Aug. 28. According to the Missouri Limestone Producers Association, the act requires operators who use explosives to send a report to the Division of Fire Safety by Oct. 27. If an operation employs contract blasters, the contractor should submit the report. In other state regulatory news, a bill (H.B. 1092) that would have allowed certain municipalities to “regulate, suppress, and abate” any quarry within two miles of the city limits did not pass.

Nebraska

A front-end loader operator died on July 16 after being rescued from the waters of a gravel pit, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The loader was at the water’s edge of a gravel pit when the land gave way, according to a representative for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. The loader fell into the water with the operator, Kent Raikes, pinned inside. Raikes, an employee of Lyman-Richey Sand and Gravel Co., was under water for five minutes before being extricated. Raikes was life-flighted to Creigton University Medical Center where he died. Company President Pat Gorup told the newspaper that the company would cooperate “to the fullest extent” with an investigation by the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

New Jersey

The Gannett Township Committee unanimously approved an ordinance setting new hours of operation for Shoreline Sand and Gravel. According to the Asbury Park Press, the new hours for mining, soil removal, and excavation will be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. No mining will be allowed on Sunday. Township Administrator David Breeden told the newspaper that the more restrictive ordinance was needed because homes are being built closer to the mining operation.

New York

Officials in the town of Wallkill signed off on a deal with E. Tetz & Sons to relocate its concrete operations and to build a hot-mix asphalt plant. The Times Herald reports that the deal was designed to ease the traffic impact of the project and to move the operation to the edge of town and away from homeowners. Despite the move, however, opposition continues and several lawsuits have been filed by residents against the town and the company to prevent the move. Those lawsuits await a court ruling. If the project moves ahead, the company will pay for the following items: a traffic signal, an additional traffic lane to accommodate turning traffic, and upgrades to an area bridge. The company will also have to limit the number of extra-long tractor-trailers traveling down certain streets.

Oklahoma

The Tulsa County Board of Adjustment voted 5-0 to approve a special exception to the zoning code that helps to clear the way for a new sand and gravel operation along the Arkansas River in Bixby. Tulsa World reports that the exception would allow Holliday Sand and Gravel to open a new site by the fall of 2008. It would replace another Holliday plant, which has nearly depleted its reserves. The board did place limitations to the plant’s hours of operation and accepted an offer by the company to provide a $250,000 bond to cover the cost of any possible problems that might result from the company doing business at its new location.

Oregon

Portland Mayor Tom Potter and Dr. Robert Pamplin, owner of Ross Island Sand & Gravel, met in late June to discuss the future of Ross Island. The Pamplin family had offered to donate nearly 60 acres of land to the city, but later rescinded the offer. According to the mayor’s office, a new donation agreement is on the table. Under the terms of the offer, access to the island would be less restrictive and ownership would not revert to the family if there were a dispute about how the property was being used. Ross Island Sand and Gravel would remain liable for all environmental clean-up and reclamation activities required by its permit, but easements on the city-owned part of the island would be retained by the operation for its commercial operations and environmental activities. The city has until the end of 2007 to work out agreeable donation language.

Texas

The San Antonio Express-News featured an article in late June about the increasing local demand for aggregates. According to the article, aggregate prices have increased 15 percent this year. The reporter noted that high demand for aggregate has created a catch-22 situation where increasing development creates additional difficulties for operations. Cemex SA, Hanson PLC, Vulcan Materials Co., Martin Marietta Materials, and Texas Industries Inc. all have aggregate operations in San Antonio.

Utah

City approvals have been granted to Salt Lake City-based Compass Development Group to redevelop 94 hillside acres formerly occupied by sand and gravel pits into an attractive entrance to North Salt Lake. For the past 18 months, Compass has fine-tuned plans for Eaglewood Village, a mixed-use community near downtown Salt Lake City. Following a 3-1 vote, the developer now has the requisite city approvals to begin the development.

Washington

According to The Columbian, a gravel pit owner faces $43,000 in fines for pumping sand and gravel into Manley Creek in Clark County, despite repeated orders to stop. On four separate occasions during December 2006 and January 2007, state inspectors found that the creek had been polluted by sediment pumped from settling ponds on the site of the East Fork of the Lewis River. As a result, the Tebo Brothers Pit, operated by J.L. Storedahl and Sons, faced fines that increased with the size of each subsequent violation. Since 1998, the company has been in a legal battle to expand its gravel operation at a nearby site. That zoning dispute is now before the state Court of Appeals.

West Virginia

In late June, two children and a 33-year-old woman were killed and three other adults were injured in a boating accident along the Ohio River. The Associated Press reports that the group was aboard a 16-foot fiberglass boat that collided with a gravel barge. The group was fishing and unable to get off the river when thick fog rolled in around midnight. The boat was trying to get out of the way of a sand and gravel barge, but ran into its side. The young children were trapped in the boat when it rolled over and sank. The woman’s body was recovered nearby.

Wisconsin

According to The Milwaukee Journal, the state of Wisconsin had six companies place in the “Top 50 companies to work for in America,” a list compiled by the Great Places to Work for Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management. Companies were ranked in two categories: small companies with 50 to 250 employees, and medium-sized companies with 251 to 999 employees. Berlin-based Badger Mining Corp., a family-owned sand mining business, was rated as the top small business for the second year in a row.

Province News

A proposed gravel pit in Cedar Springs received zoning approval at the municipal level, Chatham This Week reports. Municipal councilors spoke favorably of the project, which features 3.75 million tons of reserves. If the operation moves forward, it is expected to produce 250,000 tons per year of aggregate. The applicant, 657722 Ontario Inc., has also applied to the Ministry of Natural Resources for a permit for the 62-acre site.

STATE SPOTLIGHT

Miami Judge Puts the Brakes on Lake Belt Mining

On Friday, July 13, U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler ordered a halt to rock mining on hundreds of acres in Northwest Miami-Dade County, claiming that quarries close to the county’s primary public water supply raised “grave concerns” of chemical and bacterial contamination.

According to the Miami Herald, the judge shut down mining at operations owned by Florida Rock, Tarmac, and White Rock Quarries as part of a dramatically expanded protective zone around the drinking water wells.

Hoeveler criticized local and federal environmental regulators and said that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showed “a disregard for its duty” with regards to its handling of the discovery of benzene, a petroleum component and solvent, in the Biscayne Aquifer in 2005.

Despite a $1 million county-wide investigation into the water contamination, a source was not pinpointed. A petroleum-based blasting agent was suspected, but not proven to be the source. Although industry experts disputed its culpability, miners switched explosives, and county regulators insist the wellfield water is safe.

Although it may be too early to accurately assess the impact of the decision on state-wide construction projects, signs point to short aggregate supplies, higher material costs, and lost jobs.

“Judge Hoeveler’s decision threatens planned and future road and highway projects, threatens to further dramatically increase the cost for every construction job in the state, and threatens tens of thousands of jobs,” Kerri Barsh, an attorney for White Rock Quarries, told the Miami Herald.

For example, Florida Rock’s quarry employs 68 people, produced about 2.5 million tons of construction materials in the nine-month period ended June 30, and generated $28.7 million in revenue, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union.

A report produced earlier this year by the Florida Department of Transportation indicates that a 5-percent cut in Lake Belt mining would result in $2.4 billion of lost annual economic output and 24,000 lost jobs or layoffs. The Miami Herald reports that by initial state estimates, Hoeveler’s order could cut output by 30 to 40 percent. The Lake Belt area is home to four of the state’s five-largest aggregate mines.

The Miami-Dade Limestone Producers Association — a coalition of 10 aggregate producers operating at 12 different sites — initially received permits to mine 5,409 acres within the Florida Everglades in April 2002. The group permitting effort spanned a decade, with producers paying approximately $46 million in impact fees to purchase and improve another 7,500 acres of wetlands adjacent to the Everglades (see “The Future of Mining in Southern Florida,” in the July 2002 issue of AggMan.) At the time, Tom MacVicar, president of MacVicar, Federico & Lamb, who served as a technical consultant for the Miami-Dade Limestone Products Association told AggMan, “Lake Belt mining shares an area with Miami’s largest wellfield, which is where they get about half the county’s water supply. There are some technical issues with how large-scale mining is going to affect the flow of the wellfield. It has to be worked out and clarified, but I don’t expect them to be showstoppers.”