WHAT:
Creekwood Resources, LLC, 2701 Mall Drive, Suite 7-102, Florence, AL 35630, has applied for air and water permits for a proposed granite quarry, known as Creekwood Resources, to be located 0.6 miles from the intersection of Lee County Road 168 and US Highway 431, south of Lee County Road 168, Opelika, AL 36801.
Creekwood Resources, LLC has applied for issuance of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, NPDES Permit Number AL0084018, for proposed discharges of treated drainage from a wet and dry preparation granite quarry and associated areas to Groundwater, unnamed tributaries to Saugahatchee Creek (Saugahatchee Lake), and an unnamed tributary to Saugahatchee Creek, classified as Fish and Wildlife in the Tallapoosa River Basin. The Department has tentatively determined that the proposed actions described in this notice are consistent with the Water Quality Rules including the Department’s Anti-degradation Rules.
Creekwood Resources, LLC, Inc. has also applied for an Air Permit, Facility No. 206-0050, which would authorize the construction and operation of a granite crushing, screening, and conveying operation. Emissions of particulate matter would be minimized by the use of wet suppression. The Department has determined that the equipment/operations proposed by the company should be able to meet State and federal air pollution control requirements.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED:
Citizens must submit a letter of concern and/or a written request for a public hearing to ADEM no later than 5 p.m. on February 20, 2020.
Letter should be addressed to:
Russell A. Kelly, Chief
Permits and Services Division
ADEM
1400 Coliseum Blvd.
[Mailing address: PO Box 301463; Zip 36130-1463]
Montgomery, Alabama 36110-2400
(334) 271-7714
airmail@adem.alabama.gov
h2omail@adem.alabama.gov
WHY GET INVOLVED:
This will have inherent social and environmental impacts for the citizens of Opelika.
This quarry is not in the city limits, but is surrounded by city limits on three sides. It is one mile from Grand National Golf Course, two miles from the Marriott Hotel and hundreds of homes. It is one mile from Storybook Farms. Trucks from the quarry will pass three of our local schools (Morris Avenue, Jeter and Opelika High School), as well as Southern Union State Community College. This quarry will affect traffic, noise, air quality, etc., but there are two major issues that ADEM will pay attention to.
Two major concerns that ADEM will listen to:
· Dust and air quality (pollution) – aggregate operations create dust. From extraction, from moving the aggregate, from screening and crushing, and from trucks entering and exiting the processing area. Find particulate matter is a respiratory hazard. Airborne silica, a byproduct of aggregate processing, is a known carcinogen. Suppression equipment and processes can reduce the release of dust and fine particulate matter into the air, but they can’t eliminate it. Diesel fumes from trucks and equipment can have a negative impact on air quality.
· Damage to our primary source of drinking water (Saugahatchee Lake) – Discharge will run into tributaries that run into Saugahatchee. Pits and quarries that extract near or into the water table, aquifers or aquitards (layers of soil that protect the underlying aquifers) can impact local wells and our lakes, negatively affecting both quality and quantity of water available.
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