The following story is reprinted with permission from The Oglethorpe Echo
By Zeke Palermo
Representatives from Gray Wolf Quarries and GeoLogic tried to assure Oglethorpe County residents that the proposed dimension stone quarry on Lexington-Carlton Road would be minimally invasive and provide economic benefit to the county.
Jay Muthusami and Benjamin Black received questions and responded to concerns from about 15 residents at a forum held at Town and Country Kafe on May 23.
“All that we want to do is be a model quarry,” Muthusami said. “That’s why we are coming in. I know they have been experiencing all these bad thing(s) over 20, 30 years, but we don’t want to do that.”
A quarry vote was on the Oglethorpe County Commission’s agenda earlier this month, but was tabled until the next meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, June 3.
Muthusami and Black said Gray Wolf Quarries will use “modern technology” at the proposed quarry.
“We’re going to be using line drills with liquid cooling and dust suppression, diamond wire saw to cut the blocks out,” Black said. “We’re using pneumatic airbags to break the rock blocks out of the formation.”
These methods differ from the traditional method of blasting rock with explosives, which according to Black and Muthusami, will reduce noise pollution and the amount of dust particles released into either the ground or air.
Black added the quarry could use explosives “if the need arises” when removing overburden, the material on top of the granite.
Several residents, including neighbors of the proposed quarry site, expressed concern and skepticism, particularly about the threat the quarry poses to nearby wells.
“When y’all start drilling,” Mike Laine said, “it’s going to interrupt our water source. That dust is either going to go up or it’s going to go down. It’s not going to stay.”
Laine owns property on Lexington-Carlton Road, where his daughter Breanna Franklin lives.
Franklin prompted Muthusami early in the meeting, asking: “Would you let your grandson (live) right next to a quarry?”
“Well, that is his choice,” he said. “This is an independent country.”
Hannah Ramirez, a geologist for Versar who lives a half-mile from the proposed quarry, was also concerned about water sources for different reasons.
“Do you have a monitoring plan in place for all of our wells, as far as drawdowns?” she asked. “Do you have mitigations in place for then, if you do cause issues? If you draw down our wells, are you guys going to bring in water for us if you pollute our wells?”
Black assured Ramirez that there is “no intention of doing any dewatering,” and guaranteed her that the quarry would not cause a fracture to the point of severe dewatering.
Black mentioned that in Gray Wolf Quarries’ proposed “Good Neighbor Policy,” those living close to the quarry could have their wells tested for contaminants ahead of time.
“If we retest it,” he said, “and it’s determined that something that we did caused that problem, then Gray Wolf Quarries will handle the situation.”
Black said issues would be handled on a case-by-case basis, but Muthusami said it would be difficult to blame the proposed quarry if the well water became unsafe.
“How would we know it is coming from us,” he said, “not the neighbor quarry?”
Black said the Good Neighbor Policy is a document that GeoLogic helped draft that outlines how Gray Wolf Quarries will ensure the day-to-day lives of those living close to the proposed quarry is unimpeded.
“We’re going to commit to the folks in the area that we will abide by the Good Neighbor Policy and Gray Wolf Quarries will abide by the policy,” he said.
Black said the policy isn’t legally binding, and that “that’s going to be where the adjacent property owners kind of need to trust us.”
The document was not available at the forum. The Oglethorpe Echo asked for a copy, but didn’t receive it before deadline.
A man, who declined to share his name with The Echo, raised concern about silica particles causing health issues for nearby residents.
Muthusami dismissed this, claiming that any dust byproduct from the saw would be contained in a bag. He said dust and silica are concerns when using traditional mining methods.
Black said dust monitors will be located around the quarry, just in case.
He added the quarry would bring economic benefit to Oglethorpe County.
“It’s going to produce, right now, 10 to 12 jobs,” he said. “Local people. We’re not going to be bringing people in from Atlanta or Spartanburg.
Muthusami said salaries would range from $60,000 to $120,000.
Black also said Muthusami hopes to add more jobs by moving the second-stage production from Elbert County to Oglethorpe County.
“They want to start producing their blocks here themselves,” he said. “You’re talking about 20 to 30 new employees to run these processing houses.”
Comments