Montevallo's Fight Against the Quarry 2005

Residents ready to fight quarry

"I think this is a fight we can win and justifiably so."

Those were the words of Alabaster Mayor David Frings during a May 17 meeting attended by some 400 people to oppose a proposed quarry in the vicinity of Meadow View Elementary School. The meeting, conducted by Alabaster city officials and hosted by Meadow View Elementary, was attended by elected officials and their representatives from city, county and state levels of government, a representative from the Shelby County Board of Education and a biologist from the University of Montevallo.

The quarry is proposed to be located in the vicinity of Smokey Road and Meadow View Elementary School.

According to Cam Ward, who serves as executive director of the Alabaster Industrial Development Board and as a Republican member of the state House of Representatives, a permit has been applied for with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) by Middle Tennessee Land Development Co. LLC. for a 233-acre site.

While Ward said the quarry would be surrounded by the city of Alabaster, he said it would actually be located in unincorporated Shelby County.

Representing the city of Alabaster were Mayor David Frings, council president Rick Walters, city administrator Tony Rivera and council members Mike Sherwood and Tommy Ryals. Representing Congressman Spencer Bachus was his legislative assistant Gilbert Johnston. He said Bachus is against the quarry and would be drafting a letter to ADEM stating his objection. Representing the University of Montevallo was Dr. T.M. "Mike" Hardig, associate professor of biology. Attending from the city of Montevallo were Mayor Sharon Anderson and council members Hollie Cost and Becky Cox-Rodgers.

Also in attendance were State Rep. Cam Ward, Shelby County Commissioner Jon Parker and Assistant Superintendent of Operations for Shelby County Schools Tom Ferguson. In announcing the meeting to oppose the quarry and calling upon concerned citizens from both inside and outside the corporate limits, Frings wrote, "Even though the proposed location (of the quarry) lies outside the city's jurisdiction, the mayor and city council of Alabaster have serious concerns about granting this permit due to adverse environmental impact it could cause the citizens of the area."

Frings disputed any notion the quarry represents the last reserve of limestone in Shelby County. Ryals said developer Robert Dow, whom he identified as a principal of the proposed quarry, has come before the Planning and Zoning Board of the city twice without ever mentioning a quarry or a road to a quarry. He said Dow wanted to extend the retail section for property near the location of the proposed quarry where a retail development, Lion's Gate, is also proposed.

In the proposed retail development, Ryals said, Dow shows a road with a cul-de-sac which connects to Highway 119. Ryals said it is the opinion of the city, however, that Dow wants the road for access to the quarry. Ryals said despite reported claims that Dow has access to Highway 119, the Planning and Zoning Board has not granted any such access. Ryals also said Dow was expected to come before the Planning and Zoning Board for a third time after press time last night.

Frings also said Dow had approached the Planning and Zoning Board about a shopping center near County Road 80, but action was delayed because it "did not seem right."
Frings told those gathered for the opposition meeting last week that to quarry limestone, water must be pumped from under the ground, which over a period of years will produce sinkholes in the surrounding areas.

He also spoke of the dire affects a quarry would have on surrounding wetlands. Frings stressed that the quarry cannot be defeated on feelings, or emotions, but on geologic hazards and environmental damage to the wetlands and species of life that exist there.

Ward stressed that keys to success include everyone who is opposed to the quarry sticking together. Jon Parker said he is opposed to the quarry but could not speak for the entire County Commission. He said he did not want a quarry in the middle of his district. 

Hardig said the quarry would mean the death of Ebenezer Swamp which includes a 65-acre preserve conserved by the University of Montevallo. But Hardig had even more concerns. "As a local botanist with a familiarity of the region, I can assure you that a limestone quarry at this site will have widespread and profound effects on the ecology of the region. It will adversely impact the local flora and fauna as well as the people that live in the area. "These effects will likely include: extirpation (destruction) of local plant and animal species due to loss of wetland habitat, higher average stream flow with more-frequent and more severe downstream flooding, increased downstream sedimentation, contamination of aquifer-supplied drinking water, loss of aquifer-supplied drinking water and accelerated sinkhole development in the surrounding highlands."

Hardig continued, "A quarry operation in southern Cahaba Valley will not only devastate the ecology of Spring Creek but will also affect the people living in the region. The southern Cahaba Valley is already home to many people, and new developments are going in almost daily; this is an area of explosive population growth. 
Quarry-associated sinkhole development will place financial burdens on homeowners and their insurers. Noise and dust produced by quarry operation will have a high nuisance value. Many homes are situated on the adjacent ridge lines, locations that will provide homeowners with unobstructed views of daily quarry operations. 
Downstream residents should expect more frequent flooding and higher flood levels during peak rain events. Three municipalities draw portions of their drinking water from the underlying aquifer by wells. 
Drinking water supplies could become contaminated during the quarry operations by spillage or dumping of petroleum products and chemicals." 

Hardig said those problems would increase the cost of water purification. "Further, if the groundwater level is lowered to a point below the well bottoms they will go dry," he warned.
When asked if the city could restrict access to the property such as denying an access road, Sherwood said, "You bet we are going to do that."

Frings said the proposed quarry expects to be in operation for 42 years and he said that means several hundred acres being involved as opposed to a reported initial proposal to use 44 acres. Frings said of the public meeting, "All we're doing is letting you know where we are. We haven't done anything yet. But we're getting ready to. We need your support ... your help."

Landowners understood the potential damage the quarry could bring. "I don't want my property value to go down or fall into a hole," one woman said. And she asked, "Who's going to be responsible?"

Frings said that is the reason city officials were working with county and most state officials to get the information to homeowners in the area. Frings said the fact that various levels of government are involved in the fight will have an affect. And he said of voiced public concern, "I think it will definitely help make (ADEM) hold a public hearing."

As Meadow View Elementary School is also located on Smokey Road, Ferguson said, "We (the school board) have concerns." He said blasting at existing quarries is already shaking the foundations of a school in Alabaster.

In addition to the shaking and the noise, Ferguson expressed concern about traffic in the area and air quality. Sherwood said if the quarry is approved, it could be in operation "as early as next year." Dow was contacted for comment but did not return telephone calls.
#       #        #

The contrast between Montevallo and Vincent is shocking.
What you are mostly reading are the opinions of elected officials, school board officials and experts (Mayor Frings is a biologist himself).
Even Senator Bachus was involved in this resistance and wrote a letter to ADEM.
49 miles away from Vincent, in the same county and what a tremendous difference in thinking and action.

Senator Bachus, The Shelby County Board of Education and County Commissioner Jon Parker have ignored the pleas of Vincent parents to help their school children.

Why have they done this?

Their fight is not over yet.....


According to Kristine Goddard, Shelby County Planner II, who admitted to one of the "higher ups" in the No Quarry group in the presence of two other witnesses: "They are still trying to work that out, it is not resolved yet."

What she meant was (and she was pressed to define her words) was that Shelby County was still pushing for the quarry.

It is a great deal for Columbiana's coffers; all of the money and none of the hassle such as lawsuits, liability for damage, water treatment facilities (the cities must construct and maintain those), etc.


All the tax revenue and none of the hassles. These cities assume all the risks and are solely responsible for what happens (Calera and Alabaster are prime examples) and the "Godfathers in Columbiana" get paid on the backs of these communities.

Sounds exactly like the Mafia; you got problems, tough, you pay me no matter what.

Lies and Damn Lies

This was from the latest White Rock Quarries ad,  June 16, 2010 The Daily Home,  put out by WRQ in the local paper under the heading of :

White Rock's Vincent Hills Quarry.

What it will and will not do for Vincent.

Item 6 0f 7:

IT WILL NOT POLLUTE THE WATER.

Limestone quarries pose no environmental threat to groundwater quality. In fact, it is common for cities to seek out quarry water for their drinking water because of its purity.

Remember, White Rock never had a water citation--or even environmental citation of any kind.

Really?


What about the benzene issues in Florida? "5-12 times the EPA levels after two WRQ blasts in monitoring well # 1." (See link to Miami New Times story "Poisoned well" to the right)


What about the EPA reports for WRQ showing "no data returned" in most fields? What about the lack of EPA inspections? The state agency, DERM and the local boards and commissioners in those areas are documented as being corrupt and not willing to take on the "powerful rock mining interests." John Renfrow of DERM, even admits in news stories that he was aware the mining companies, WRQ was one of them, were operating with expired permits or NO permits.
(links to the right)


What about the established science that quarries do degrade ground water quality in numerous USGS and industry publications?


What about the by-products of petroleum products from blasting and machinery that are recognized in these same publications that ground water degradation and contamination from quarrying is a "continuing ground water management problem in sensitive environmental area such as karst terrains?"


What about the city of Calera, Alabama and their water quality degradation that is well-documented from the nearby quarries?


Most communities turn to the quarries for their water supply not because of "its purity", but because the quarry has intercepted ground flow conduits and robbed the communities of their water supply. Or they have contaminated it so badly (also in Calera and Alabaster) that the cities are forced to find alternative supplies. Since the quarries have pirated their water, there is often no where else to turn but to the very entity that took it in the first place.

That results in the communities having to spend millions to build and maintain a water treatment facility (Calera is still in trouble with this now.) 


Vincent Mayor Ray McAllister says; "All we have to do is turn a few valves and we can hook up to New London or Shelby County's water system." What he does not admit, that an insider does, is that under periods of drought neither system will be able to handle the increased demand from having Vincent on its systems.

Item 4

IT WILL NOT OPERATE LIKE A DUSTY OLD TECHNOLOGY QUARRY

The latest and best dust suppression technologies will be used, including covered conveyors and transfer points and wet suppression of fugitive dust. The main crusher will be located 80 feet below ground level to reduce dust and noise.

We will give the aggregate industry credit for trying to improve it's technologies and methods.


That said, drive through Calera and Alabaster on any particular day and see an example of the "latest and best technologies" and their effects on their surrounding areas.


To quote an Alabama Department of Industrial Relations Inspector; "I drive all over the state in my inspections and when I get into the Highway 25 area and see the dust all over everything, I ask myself; Do you think there are air violations going on here?"


Looking back at the proposal from the Martin Marietta quarry which opened in 2002, they used the same language regarding dust as WRQ is parroting now. Still, there is dust everywhere. One man in Alabaster we recently talked to, who lives one mile from a quarry, says he has dust problems at that distance.


What WRQ knows is that Shelby County and ADEM will not hold their "feet to the fire" and make them follow through on these "good neighbor promises."


WRQ knows this and once again they are deliberately and intentionally trying to mislead the public with this ad. Despite Mr. Hurley's recent proclamations of; "We have never tried to mislead you, never tried to twist the facts to boost our argument, or confuse the issue with misleading facts or information."


It's not just lies, but "rock solid" damn lies.

The Gadsden Times May 20, 2010 on ADEM

Our View: Riley can leave his mark with appointment 

Published: Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 7:58 p.m.

The appointments Riley will make in the next few months will go a long way toward determining whether LeFleuer is successful and what course Alabama takes regarding the environment. 

We hope he chooses wisely.

Anita Archie recently resigned as chair of the Environmental Management Commission which, oversees the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Archie’s service was controversial from the standpoint that she was hired in January to be the chief lobbyist for the Business Council of Alabama, many of whose members were regulated by the environmental agency.

Archie’s resignation means there are two vacancies on the commission and members are appointed for six years. The terms of two other members expire before Riley leaves office, so he will appoint four of the seven members of the commission in coming months. 

The post vacated by Archie on the EMC is an at-large position, open to anyone who has been a resident of the state for at least two years. The other position that is vacant must be filled by someone with a degree in ecology or biology. An engineer must be appointed to fill one of the two positions that come open in September; the other must be filled by a physician. For the record, the requirement for the other positions on the commission call for an attorney licensed to practice law in the state, a chemist or veterinarian and an individual certified by the National Water Well Association certification program.

ADEM also has gone through a transition recently, with Trey Glenn resigning in December after four years as director. Lance LeFleuer, owner of a Mobile recycling business, was named as his replacement in April.

LeFleuer will have his hands full, running an agency that chronically is underfunded and battered from both sides. Business and industry protests regulations, while environmentalists want the agency to be more active in enforcing environmental protections.

A recent article from Calera on the continued problems they are having with their sewage treatment:

Calera provides update on sewer treatment project

Shelby County Reporter

Neal Wagner staff writer

Published Wednesday, May 19, 2010

CALERA — Calera officials will have six years to phase in stricter water quality standards at one of its wastewater treatment plants, city officials announced during a May 19 City Council meeting.

The gradual phase-in will come at no additional cost to Calera for at least the first year, Doug Smedley, director of the city’s sewer and wastewater operations, told the council.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management recently announced it would require Calera’s wastewater treatment facility on Buxahatchee Creek to be capable of generating water with no more than 0.06 parts per million of phosphorous.

Editors note: Buxahatchee is a tributary to the Coosa River.

The new requirements will be down significantly from the facility’s current limit of 0.57 parts per million. Although city officials originally feared the new limit would be enforced this year, it will submit a six-year plan to ADEM May 20.

The facility is currently capable of achieving limits as low as 0.3 parts per million, but it will require additional equipment to achieve lower levels, Smedley said.

“We can make the initial reduction numbers without any modifications to the facility,” Smedley said.

A new centrifuge at the plant will allow the city to achieve phosphorous levels lower than 0.3 parts per million, and the city already has the money needed to purchase the component, Smedley said.

However, the centrifuge alone will not bring the phosphorous levels low enough to meet the standard ADEM will enact in six years, and Calera likely will be forced to find ways to fund further upgrades at the facility.

“That last part is what we are going to have to figure out funding for,” Smedley said. “We shouldn’t have any additional capital expenditures in next year’s budget.

“Hopefully, we will improve the system for three or four years, and then when we have to renew with ADEM after that, they will say we can stop where we are,” Smedley added. “I’ve seen that happen numerous times before.”

How ridiculous is this story? This facility has been discharging huge amounts of waste water into Buxahatchee Creek for a long time. Buxahatchee Creek feeds into the Lower Coosa River which is already "impaired" according to state regulatory agencies and under a fish advisory.

Six years to fix their problems???? Great work ADEM as usual.

Mr. Smedley knows ADEM will not force their hand, it never forces anyone's hand when it comes to polluting Alabama and enforcing EPA standards. That's why he can so smugly say; "...they will tell us we can stop where we are, I've seen that happen numerous times before."

And we will see it again over and over because ADEM is a chronically weak agency with no impetus to change.

We have no faith Mr. LeFleuer will be any different.

Shelby County Highway 23 Sinkhole January 2010 & Bham Map of I-59/20 area showing nearby quarry & sinkhole areas

View Larger Map

The Birmingham News writer Malcolm Daniel missed the real story, which is this map and what it shows as the likely culprit for the latest sinkhole and why "it is an area with past problems of sinkholes."

There was initially a picture on the web showing the actual sinkhole before it was repaired, it somehow "disappeared " when we tried to find it again. Calls to the Birmingham News were unsuccessful in locating it, but they did give it a good effort which was appreciated.

60 feet wide is a big hole.

We wonder how much that cost ALDOT and Shelby County to repair which in turn translates to the Alabama taxpayers, but not the likely culprits-- the adjacent quarries.

Dry Valley was the location of the "December Giant." The USGS has documented 4000+ sinkholes in this area and an additional; 2000+ nearby.

Sinkhole throttles Shelby County highway 23 

By Malcomb Daniels -- The Birmingham News

January 11, 2010, 5:25PM

 
(photo: Frank Couch/Birmingham News)

A segment of Shelby County Highway was closed by a sinkhole about 20 yards wide.

Shelby County has escaped any major road problems due to recent cold weather, but it has had to deal with a sinkhole that formed in the southern part of the county.

Crews have been working to fix a sinkhole about 20 yards wide in the middle of Shelby County highway 23.

Shelby 23 is off Alabama 25 west of Calera in an area known as Dry Valley.

It is an area with past problems of sinkholes. 

The road is open only to local traffic, said County Engineer Randy Cole. Crews have filled the sinkhole and hope to have the area paved by the middle of the week, he said.

***Edit on previous I 65 sinkhole post; WHNT TV picture gallery link added, 25 photos, video of HUGE excavation required to repair the sinkhole, with the Huntsville Times story link.

***Edit to "December Giant aka Golly Hole" post as well. 

The following article is from the Birmingham News May 13, 2000, and included in full due to archived status which requires a fee to view. Excerpt of the article appears in "December Giant" post :

Sinkholes Don't Sink Shelby

Ginny McDonald, staff writer

Bill Lawler had a rescue mission at his farm Wednesday near Calera: He used his tractor to pull a truckload of fertilizer out of a sinkhole.

Life with sinkholes is an everyday occurrence for Lawler and his wife, Ann, who live on Shelby County 25. There are more than a dozen sinkholes on his 300-acre farm.

Through geological tests, the Lawlers learned there's another possible sinkhole in the making near their home. 

''One day that will go,'' Ann Lawler said. ''It won't affect the house - they say.''

She describes her area of Shelby County as a geologist's heaven. She's right. A seven-by-three mile corridor between Shelby County 22 and Shelby County 25 between Calera and Montevallo has the largest concentration of sinkholes in the state, geologists say.

The area is more susceptible to sinkholes because the corridor is in a valley underlain by carbonate rocks, which are more susceptible to dissolution by groundwater. Surrounding areas do not have as much limestone.

But sinkholes don't stop development in the state's fastest growing county. Bankers know it. Developers know it. County officials know it. So they've made provisions to protect themselves from bad loans and lawsuits that might arise from large holes in the ground.

Calera keeps mapmakers busy. Its recent annexations have taken it halfway to Columbiana and into Chilton County. And it's in the heart of sinkhole territory.

''It's like Swiss cheese down there,'' said Shelby County planner Todd McDonald.

The county Planning Commission requires developers to release the Sinkholes, and county from liability if they are building in a sinkhole-prone area.

The policy is believed to be the only one of its kind in the state.

Mortgage lenders require buyers to get sinkhole insurance if the property they're buying is in Shelby County's sinkhole-prone areas, according to real estate attorneys.

Attorney Frank Bynum said he encourages all buyers to get sinkhole insurance.
''I tell them if your house falls down a mine shaft, you are still going to owe the money. People buy fire insurance, why not sinkhole insurance'' he said.

The insurance costs 30 to 35 a year.

Sinkhole causes
Sinkholes also can be caused by traffic or construction vibrations, drilling or water being pumped from the ground. Even building a lake can put weight on the underground ''roof'' causing it to collapse. 

''If a lot of construction is going on, the land surface is being disturbed and that could cause a sinkhole,'' said Dorothy Raymond, geologist for the Alabama Geological Survey, based in Tuscaloosa. 

And there's a lot of activity in the state's fastest-growing county.

Shelby County 16 runs through the sinkhole concentration. Sinkholes occur so often that county officials just leave the ''road closed'' signs up all the time.

''That road is a terrible stretch of geology to have to maintain,'' said county engineer Randy Cole. ''It sinks so frequently that we just cover up the signs when it's opened.''

Well-known sinkholes spread across state There are many well-known sinkholes of note besides Shelby County's Golly Hole. There have been no deaths associated with sinkholes reported in Alabama in recent history. 

***Editors note: deaths have occurred in Shelby County as alluded to in geology reports, we are still trying to find the cases which has proven to be difficult.

Interstate 20 at Riverside: 

A bridge was built over a sinkhole when the interstate was constructed in 1964. The disguised bridge appears to be a part of the roadway.

Interstate 59/20, south of Arkadelphia Road exit: 
Road grade bridges were built in 1977 after the southbound lanes began to collapse. Last month three new sinkholes were found alongside the interstate.
***Editors note; there is a quarry in the area, longtime residents report numerous sinkholes and think the quarry is to blame. From the map below it appears they are right:


View Larger Map

Roberts Field Industrial Area, Birmingham near I-59/20: 

In March 1970, a warehouse and office building collapsed. Geologists found 97 sinkholes in the area including those along I-59/20 and 30 along the Frisco Railroad. The average size of sinkholes found was 10 feet wide, 12 feet long and eight feet deep.  
(**See map above, RR runs right next to quarry below the holding "pond", Roberts Industrial Field Industrial Area is adjacent on the on the west side of the quarry. Map viewed in larger view shows all quarries and pits in Birmingham area. Note how close to major highways most of them are.) 

Interstate 459 near Greenwood: 

More than 150 sinkholes were found in the planned right of way for the interstate in 1974 ranging in size from three feet to 75 feet wide, from three feet to 144 feet long and from three to 30 feet deep. State highway officials solved the problem by either building bridges or cutting the right of way down to the bedrock surface and filling in with rock. 

Logan Martin Dam: The dam is built over a sinkhole. Workers have poured more concrete into the limestone fractures located some 500 feet beneath the dam than it took to build the dam. 

***Editors note: Alabama Power has provided a letter to WRQ stating that they "do not think the nearby Vincent quarrying operations will affect the Logan Martin Dam, which is 5 miles away. It already has a huge sinkhole problem, what if the continued repairs fail with an additional massive load on the local groundwater withdrawal? What can happen? What will happen? Someone needs to ask those questions soon.

Hale County: 

In 1990, an oil and gas rig had reached a depth of 755 feet while drilling when the ground started to cave in; within two hours the rig had disappeared.

Hewitt-Trussville Junior High School:  

City officials paid 227,895 in 1999 to fill a sinkhole near the school.

Montevallo Middle School: 

Parts of the building sank 10 inches in 1992. 

Two additional stories of interest from the Birmingham News 2009:

ResidentsWantBlastingStopped

(**Note the attorney for Lafarge and his attitude, This is near the I 59/20 quarry)

EPA Reports and USA Today "Smokestack Effect" Special Report indicate USS Pipe is a major polluter. This dust being "harmless" as the USS Pipe official is implying is highly suspect in its validity:

JeffCoHDInvestigatingDust
**We will contact JeffCo and see if the reports are available and what they have or have not done about the situation.

Quarry History Lessons from Dr. Jack Bridges 2009

An excellent column by Dr. Bridges that deserves to be seen again, lest we forget....

By Jack Bridges / Guest Columnist
Published Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Vincent residents curious about limestone quarries as neighbors could take a tour of Central Alabama’s limestone quarries trail. Most of it is right here in Shelby County. A quick look around would answer many questions about living alongside a quarry.

Begin the tour just east of Montevallo on Alabama Highway 25. Drive west past the limestone operations.

You can’t miss the piles of spoil and the puffs of smoke from the chimneys. Head back on 25 toward Calera. Pause or drive slowly (but watch out for the rock- hauling trucks; a sight-seer could get overrun.

Check out the chimneys and the landscape, as well as the finish on the cars parked along the way.

Go on to Calera, then take U.S. 31 north toward Birmingham. You are right in the midst of the best part of the trail. All along the way you pass quarries and crusher plants and cement plants. Watch out for the tankers carrying cement and 22- wheel dump truck trailer rigs carrying various sizes of crushed stone.

One of the trail highlights comes at Saginaw. Take a quick side trip on Shelby County 26 toward Columbiana. That will take you past the new and expanded quarry of the old Longview Lime operations.

Go slow and you can see. The company has put up fencing and a big berm along the road with shrubs and trees to hide the works. Then you cross a bridge over the quarry’s sunken road for the rock haulers, and that gives a quick view to the left of the vast old hole in the ground, evidently with pumps still running, and a very informative look at the current digging operations.

Back on U.S. 31, turn toward Birmingham. In another mile or so, you’ll come to the manufacturing end of the limestone operation at the edge of the quarry. There is a good view of the kilns and furnaces for making cement, and the loading areas and the puffing smoke stacks and the lime dust on the trees and cars.

Stay on U.S. 31 for a while. Traffic gets a bit congested, but in a growing part of Alabaster, there is another quarry plant puffing out grey lime dust.

You can end your old- fashioned Sunday drive experience by retracing the route there and heading on home. But if you make the trip, you will know better what quarries are like. And you might stop along the way and ask some folks what sort of neighbors quarries make.

Dr. Jack Bridges, who lives near Shelby, spent years living near a quarry in his youth.

We spent some time going through the newspaper archives and found that in almost every instance, these quarry and lime plants bribe their way in.

One place they didn't get their way was Montevallo, but that did not stop ADEM from permitting the proposed quarry while a lawsuit was pending. They even went so far as to say' "Even if the quarry isn't operating, we won't withdraw their permits."

If the schools in this county are in such dire need, why the hell isn't Columbiana doing more to help them? Why do they insist on sentencing these kids to living with these behemoths that pollute everything nearby, especially our children?

Google maps will show you how close the schools are to these polluters.

EPA records will show what they do.

What irony.