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2A ®Ijt Imnlti <©a?Pttf Tuesday, September 28,2021
Citizens sound off prior to quarry vote
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
Lamar County citizens,
along with one from
Monroe County, voiced
their displeasure with
the Landmark Materials
rock quarry prior to the
county commission’s
unanimous vote to ap
prove zoning changes to
allow the operation. The
quarry plans must still
be vetted by the rigorous
state and federal permit
ting process.
Remarks were made
at a public hearing
which was moved to the
main courtroom at the
courthouse due to the
size of the crowd which
numbered just over 100.
Landmark officials and
their attorney spoke first.
Doug Dillard
Landmark attorney
Dillard said the com
pany’s application met
all the county’s specifica
tions for zoning changes
and he and others had
met with many of the
residents of the area.
“This will be an asset to
Lamar County,” Dillard
said.
TJ Heath
Landmark CEO
Heath said a lot of
misinformation had been
spread in the community
about the quarry. He
blamed “outside agita
tors”. “The fact is, rock
is essential to modern
life. We will do the right
thing,” Heath pledged.
Chris Wieters
Landmark Director
Wieters said air qual
ity and noise were major
concerns for Landmark
and would be monitored
constantly and property
owners would see no
impact on their property
values outside a one mile
radius from the site. The
quarry will hire about
35 people and have an
annual payroll of $1.4 mil
lion. “We intend to hire
as many of those as pos
sible right here in Lamar
County,” Wieters said.
He also noted Land
mark will rework the
intersection of Hwy. 41
South and Crawford Road
at its own expense to
improve safety near the
quarry entrance.
Next up were the
citizens opposed to the
quarry.
Kristin Gantt
1500 Crawford Rd.
Gantt alleged there
would be health issues
from particulate matter
from blasting and rock
crushing at the quarry.
She also asked what sort
of tax breaks had been of
fered to Landmark. “Our
losses in property values
will never be recovered,”
Gantt said.
Roan Holbrook
1588 Van Buren Rd.
Holbrook, who owns
horses, was concerned
about his well and prop
erty values. “Horses are
scared of gunshots so
1 am concerned about
blasting,” Holbrook said.
Amanda Juarez
216 Potts Pond Rd.
Alleging that a com
pany with a quarry in
Macon had to buy the
houses around it due to
blasting damage, Juarez
expressed concerns
about cracked founda
tions and damage to
earthen dams on her
property and adjacent
properties.
Ashley Anderson
1588 Van Buren Rd.
Anderson noted
several times that her
mother is on oxygen.
“This is going to impact
our lives. This is going to
kill everyone,” Anderson
alleged.
Janet Powell-McCord
223 Northridge Rd.
Powell-McCord said
her opposition stemmed
from the quarry site
being within the John-
stonville-Goggins historic
area. “The district is on
the National Register of
Historic Places. It is a
very unique area,” she
said.
David Taylor
343 Walton Rd.
Taylor was concerned
about silica in the dust
from blasting and crush
ing at the quarry. He also
alleged natural arsenic
from the quarry would
go into the ground water.
“If you allow this quarry,
you will basically be
telling your constituents
that you don’t have their
best interests at heart,”
Taylor said.
Joe Waldrop
1484 Crawford Rd.
“Why don’t we work
together to bring some
other kind of industry
here,” Waldrop asked.
Wade Self
150 Ingram Rd.
Monroe County
Self said he, too, was
worried about particu
late matter due to his
COPD. “There has been a
lot of information printed
about this in Lamar
County but very little
in Monroe County,” Self
said.
Tom Smith
1473 Hwy. 41 South
Smith suggested Land
mark provide answers to
the questions raised by
citizens at the hearing.
“I’m not sure how 1 feel
about it. We need people
to bring in new industry.
We’ve had no new in
dustry here in 30 years,”
Smith said.
The floor was then
turned back over to the
Landmark principals and
their hired consultants to
answer questions raised
during the hearing.
Chris Miller
Golden Associates
Miller said his firm
had done a comprehen
sive air quality study at
the site. “This will be
only a minor source of
particulate matter. This
is a small mine and there
will be many controls in
place,” Miller said.
Greg Poole
Sauls Seismic
Poole addressed
concerns about blasting
at the quarry and vibra
tions therefrom. He said
blasting will only be nec
essary once or twice per
month. “Blasting will be
very tightly controlled.
This will not be like the
wild west. Vibrations
will not cause damage to
foundations, wells or the
water table. These will be
very minor vibrations -
similar to or less than the
train passing by,” Poole
said.
Abdul Amer
A&R Engineering
Amer’s firm has done
traffic studies in the area.
He said 80% of the rock
from the quarry would be
shipped by rail with 70
trucks going in and out of
the site per day.
Dan Markewitz
UGA
Markewitz discussed
the impact on water
quality. He said Phin-
azee Creek, which runs
through the site, is
already impaired due
to agricultural runoff
of fertilizer and animal
waste. “What (Landmark)
is going to do will actu
ally improve the water
quality in the creek,”
Markewitz said.
Cody Hale
Nutter & Associates
Hale said the water ta
ble in the area is vertical,
filling cracks in the rock.
“This is not like the south
and coastal Georgia
aquifers which are like a
sandbox filled with water.
There are many other
quarries in middle and
north Georgia and there
are no issues anywhere
with water quality The
Barnesville city reservoir
is a long way from the
site. Contamination there
is absolutely not an is
sue,” Hale concluded.
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THE HERALD GAZETTE/WALTER GEIGER
Quarry hearing draws a crowd
A throng of just over 100 people were on hand at the courthouse Sept. 21 for a public hear
ing on the Landmark Materials rock quarry near the intersection of Hwy. 41 South and Craw
ford Road. Following the hearing, the commission unanimously approved two zoning changes
that will allow the quarry to operate. Landmark must still go through a rigorous vetting process
as it seeks a surface mining permit from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. That is
expected to take six months to a year.
5
§
I
I
V
PRELIMINARY
SUMMARY OF PERMITTED AREAS
PIT AREA
(INCLUDES: FUTURE MINE EXPANSION AREA)
110 ACRES
PLANT SITE AREA
(INCLUDES: OFFICE, SHOP & EQUIPMENT STORAGE
AREA, SCALES, STOCKPILES, SEDIMENT PONDS,
ENTRANCE & ACCESS ROADS)
50 ACRES
OVERBURDEN STORAGE AREAS
75 ACRES
PERMITTED UNDISTURBED AREA
57.49 ACRES
PROPEF
TOTAL PERMITTED AREA
292.49 ACRES
UNDISTURBED BUFFERS
38.75 ACRES
TOTAL SITE AREA
331.24 ACRES
PRELIMINARY
20'-30'HIGH
PRIVACY BERM
)VERBURDE
STORAGE
SUMMARY OF RESOURCES
VICINITY MAP
4' HIGH SEDIMENT
PREVENTION BERM
+/- 82,790,000 TONS'
ROCK
20'-30‘ HIGH PRIVACY BERM
OVERBURDEN
PIT SHOWN TO A DEPTH OF 250 FT FROM TOR.
CULVERT
PERMIT BOUNDARY
LEGEND
CONCRETE HEADWALL
INV. ELEV. = 665.0
SEDIMENT BASIN
PROPERTY UNE
PERMIT BOUNDARY
PROPERTY LINE:
STREAM CENTERLINE
-100 LF OF D.O.T. RATED
DOUBLE lO'xlO' BOX
CULVERT (® 1.3% MIN.
SLOPE
50FT BUFFER
- FENCE
U- RAILROAD TRACK
SHOP AND EQUIPMENT
STORAGE AREA (30'x50'
1500 SF, 30' HEIGHT)
EXISTING DAM
(~330' LONG X
17'HIGH)
PROPOSED CONTOUR
POND
(6 ACRES)
CONCRETE HEADWALL
INV. ELEV. = 667.0
EXISTING CONTOUR
UNDISTURBED BUFFER AREA
: EXISTING STRUCTURE
TO BE REMOVED
BERM
10' HIGH PRIVACY BERM
WETLANDS
B-l BORE LOCATION W/
500.00 TOR ELEVATION
PROPOSED ROAD REALIGNMENT PLAN
PER CUNNINGHAM & CO. ENGINEERS
CONCEPTUAL LAYOUT DATED 05-14-21.
8' SECURITY
FENCE
10'HIGH PRIVACY BERM
PROCESS WATER
RECOVERY AREA
EXISTING STRUCTURE
TO BE REMOVED
CULVERT-
NEW TRACKS FOR BULK
LOADING FACILITY
SCALE AND
SCALE HOUSE-
OFFICE AND ■
PARKING AREA
(40'xl5' - 600 SF,
12' HEIGHT)
SITE ENTRANCE
LAT: N33.056663
LONG: W84.057537
OVERBURDEN
' STORAGE
LSPE60 LIMIT, si ua, |
CULVERT
SEDIMENT BASIN
CEMETERY
SEE PROPOSED ROAD
REALIGNMENT PLAN-
10' HIGH PRIVACY BERM
PROPOSED ROAD REALIGNMENT PLAN
PERMIT BOUNDARY
NEW RAIL SIDING
<f IN EXISTING R/W
10' HIGH PRIVACY BERM-
Preliminary quarry schematic
SOURCE: LANDMARK MATERIALS, LLC
Project #
Sheet Y
21-011
Date
08/31/2021
FIG. 1
Scale
^ 1" = 300'
y
Geologic
GeoLogic, LLC
4372 Shallowford
Industrial Parkway,
Marietta, GA 30066
(770) 824-4212
PEF007535 - 06/30/22
FOR REVIEW ONLY |
1. EXISTING CONTOUR DATA SHOWN FROM
USGS LIDAR, DATED 3/13/2018.
2. MAXIMUM SLOPE OF PIT WALLS 1/4:1 WITH
A MAXIMUM PIT DEPTH OF 2S0FT FROM TOP
OF ROCK. HAUL ROAD BENCHES INSIDE PIT
TO BE A MINIMUM OF 40FT WIDE WITH A
1/2% BACK SLOPE.
3. MAXIMUM SLOPE OF STOCKPILES 1:1 WITH A
MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF SOFT FROM PLANT
SITE GRADE.
4. LOCATION OF STREAMS AND WETLANDS NOT
FIELD VERIFIED. WETLANDS IDENTIFIED AND
SHOWN PER THE NATIONAL WETLANDS
INVENTORY (PER ONLINE DATABASE
ACCESSED 3/29/2021).
Revision/Issue
Date
y
IDI LAND HOLDINGS, LLC
SURFACE MINING
LAND USE PLANS-
CRUSHED STONE QUARRY
CIVIL
REZONING MAP
LAMAR CO. QUARRY
\ y
This preliminary schematic drawing was on display at a public hearing on zoning changes the intersection there at its own expense,
for the quarry Sept. 21 at the courthouse. It shows Hwy. 41 South at the bottom and Crawford Most of the rock mined at the site will be shipped by rail but 70 trucks are expected to enter
Road running up the left side. Landmark Materials will make considerable safety changes to and exit the facility daily, company officials said.