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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. VOTE \0 IOUKKV ll ' 1 1 i : " 1 I Ml 7 M 3at ■ v y Mix,. 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.