|
North Carolina
DENR approves expansion of a crushed-stone quarry on
Shewbird Mountain in western North Carolina
An 87-acre area that is to be mined up to 755 feet deep
By Tom Bennett
Special to Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition
Hayesville, N.C., Jan. 30, 2008 – Harrison
Construction Company has won the right to expand its crushed
stone quarry on 2,902-foot Shewbird Mountain here in Clay
County in the far reaches of western North Carolina.
Jim Simons, State Geologist and Director of the
Division of Land Resources of the state Dept. of Environment
and Natural Resources, told me by telephone today that his
division gave permission on January 18 for Harrison
Construction to go ahead.
“The total permit is for 297 acres, of which 87 can be
affected,” Simons said.
Within those 87 acres, the depth of the mine, at first
estimated at 500 foot by the company, could reach 755 feet,
according to an article by Lois Tomas in the Clay County
Progress newspaper here. Any way you look at it, this is a
sizable cut into the Blue Ridge.
Harrison Construction submitted an erosion and sediment
control plan that is “intended to protect surrounding areas
and watercourses”, according to the official summary of an
April 2007 public hearing. I’ve had trouble learning the
details. I asked Jim Simons: “What are the aspects of the
company’s plans that reassured you that natural resources
would be protected leading you to approve the mountain-top
mining?”
“It went through several iterations,” Simons told me. “I
can’t tell you what I liked or didn’t like. The sediment
plan can be viewed here (in Raleigh) or at our Asheville
office. Our engineers went through it with a fine-toothed
comb.”
Harrison Construction is located here in Hayesville and
also in nearby Andrews, N.C., in Cherokee County, according
to the telephone book. It is a part of an Alcoa, Tenn.
mining operation that itself is a part of APAC Atlantic
Inc., a private Virginia firm that builds highways, streets,
bridges and sidewalks, according to its Company Profile.
APAC Atlantic Inc. also operates 13 asphalt plants in
North Carolina, according to the web site of the Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League of Glendale Springs, N.C.
Recent news articles give an idea of where the gravel
from Shewbird is headed as it gets trucked around the
Hiwassee River watershed. Harrison Construction-APAC
Atlantic recently won a $2.2 million contract from N.C.
Department of Construction to widen and resurface 9.5 miles
of N.C. 294 in Cherokee County, according to the Asheville
Citizen-Times. The total value of this project is $35.5
million, according to the Cherokee Scout newspaper of
Murphy, N.C.
There were more than 125 attendees at the public
hearing on April 2, 2007 at the Clay County Senior Center on
Ritter Road. Almost every speaker expressed concerns about
expansion of the operation. The concerns included visual
disturbance, structural damage to homes in the vicinity of
the mine, degraded water quality in area streams and Lake
Chatuge, and changes in the water table resulting in
low-yielding drinking water wells.
There is a striking entry in the summary of public
comment on the mining proposal. It illustrates just how
far-reaching the harm can be to the beauty of the mountains
when someone digs a mine at almost 3,000 feet above sea
level. Bill Kendall submitted written comments. The
summary states: “His concern is the lack of effective visual
screening of the mine, which can be seen from Towns County,
Georgia” (where he is sole commissioner).
According to the Clay County Progress, “The approval
carries several pages of limitations”, one of which is to
“make sure mining operations are kept out of view from the
Lake Chatuge side of the mountain.” Apparently,
Commissioner Kendall’s concerns were heard by state
officials. But, regardless of whether or not you can see
the operation, in time the mountain’s top will still be
gone.
Being a volunteer during a time of high gas prices, I
can’t afford to drive to Asheville or Raleigh to view a
document (that should be posted on the state’s web site).
So I don’t know whether the good suggestion Callie Moore
made during the public hearing was followed or not. She is
executive director of the Hiwassee River Watershed
Coalition. She “reported seeing white sediment in [Crooked
Creek downstream of the existing mining operation] and
requested that stream monitoring be associated with the new
permit, if granted.”
* * *
Tom Bennett of the Martins Creek community west
of Murphy is a board member and a volunteer for Hiwassee River
Watershed Coalition.
# # #
|
