by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief

California

Lake Forest-based Primoris Services Corp. announced its purchase of an 88-acre quarry in Riverside County. According to the Orange County Register, the purchase of the Juniper Flats Quarry — for about $2.3 million — allowed the company to create Juniper Rock Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary. Company officials estimate a 10-year life cycle for the operation with production of approximately 6 million tons of construction materials.

California

A draft version of an environmental impact report commissioned by Vulcan Materials Co. indicates that a plan to mine a ridge adjacent to Azusa’s Fish Canyon would have limited impact on surrounding communities. Whittier Daily News reports that Vulcan has a permit to mine 190 acres near Fish Canyon. It wants to exchange 80 acres of unmined land on its eastern property line for the ability to mine 80 acres on its western property line. If approved, the site would be developed using 1- to 2-foot micro benches rather than the 30-foot benches currently used on the eastern side of the quarry. “I think you will see, based on the micro benching reclamation, the ridge will look far more natural than it would if it were not reclaimed using micro benching,” Azusa Assistant Community Development Director Conal McNamara told the newspaper. “At the end of 30 years, hopefully, you will be hard pressed to tell it was a mining operation.”

Kentucky

Ronald H. Gray, executive director of the Kentucky Crushed Stone Association (KCSA), has been named NSSGA’s 2009 State Aggregates Association Executive of the Year. “The KCSA is a strong partner of NSSGA. We are impressed by Ron’s advocacy of transportation reauthorization through attending fly-ins and personally visiting members of Congress, as well as encouraging the participation of so many KCSA members,” said NSSGA President and CEO Joy Wilson in making the announcement. “We value all he is doing in the state of Kentucky, as well as nationally, by contributing meaningful insights from Kentucky aggregates producers to the development of industry positions on federal policy.” KCSA’s Board of Directors adopted NSSGA’s Safety Pledge and obtained signatures from virtually all of the aggregates companies in Kentucky. The association also supported NSSGA’s efforts to secure significant changes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s visible air emissions dust rule, New Source Performance Standards, by obtaining the state’s Environmental Protection Division’s support. Gray has led KCSA since January 2005.