A new rock quarry planned for southern Walker County is facing opposition from many of its neighbors who said their quiet rural area will be hurt by blasting and frequent trips from trucks leaving the site to deliver rock products.
The developers of the project held a town hall meeting March 27, where they answered questions from neighbors and emphasized the quarry would bring the county jobs, tax revenue and lower prices for rock products used to build roads.
"A big benefit to the county is now it's going to have its own stone source," Hans Dawson, a partner in Walker County Stone, the quarry's developer, said at the meeting. "What that'll do is significantly reduce transportation costs, not just to the county itself, but all the businesses and anybody that buys material in the area."
At the meeting in LaFayette, John Cross, another partner in Walker County Stone, said the 700-acre property will be purchased in a month or two. The quarry will start small, but over its 30-year lifespan will cover about 200 acres of the property, he said.
The proposed quarry site is less than 5 miles south of LaFayette and on property south of the intersection of Ridgeway and Lee Wilson roads.
Ted Needham said he lives on 6 acres near the property and hasn't become involved in local politics until this issue. In a phone call, he said he moved to rural Walker County because he has a son with special needs who is easily upset by loud noises.
"I don't want a rock quarry in my backyard," he said, explaining why he attended the meeting.
His first concern was the blasting associated with the quarry, Needham said, but after attending the meeting, truck traffic on the area's narrow roads is now another concern.
None of his neighbors want the quarry, he said. The claim that dust and noise can be remediated is hard to believe, he said, and property values will fall when the quarry starts operation.
Needham was also frustrated the county didn't do a better job informing neighbors earlier in the process.
"There's a lot of people who don't have any clue what's going on," with the quarry, he said. "I think maybe if there's enough pressure with enough people that are against it, something will happen."
A petition asking to stop the development of the quarry has more than 970 signatures. The petition is directed to the state's Department of Natural Resources, the county's Ordinance Enforcement Authority and the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission.
Dawson said the quarry industry has advanced to make dust and noise from blasting and processing rock much less of a problem than in the past. The quarry's managers are willing to listen to neighbors and make changes where they can, and Cross said in a follow-up phone call that the quarry project is moving forward despite concerns from neighbors.
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Cross said the company has submitted its permits to the state and the quarry is an allowed use of the property under county zoning regulations. State regulatory officials will examine the quarry's effect on the property's cultural resources, endangered species and water resources.
He said it's hard to estimate, but permits will most likely be finalized this summer and work on the quarry should begin about a year after that, he said.
Regarding jobs, he said there will be between 20 and 40 people hired to build the processing plant and berms around the quarry, with some of those working as subcontractors. Once the quarry is operational, he said he expects to hire between 15 and 20 local residents.
Cross said the company's best case scenario would see 150 trucks per day transporting rock products, but it could take five or 10 years to reach that volume of sales. In the beginning, he said, 20 or 30 trucks transporting rock product a day is his goal.
He couldn't estimate how much the county would save on road materials if it bought from the local quarry, but one of the reasons the company chose the location was because there weren't many quarries in the area.
At the meeting, Dawson said quarry neighbors can sign up to get a preblast warning. He said the blast lasts for about half a second, and the company plans to blast about once a week.
Cross said quarry management is planning another meeting in a bigger venue where neighbors can talk to experts in the field individually. He said those interested in attending the meeting can sign up for a mailing list by emailing him at jcross@gototps.com.
The next meeting is expected to be in late April or early May, he said.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.