As you may have heard, Alamance County has approved a permit for Alamance Aggregates,LLC to build a gravel pit mine on 300 acres in Snow Camp. The mine would be bordered to the north and east by Workman Rd and Quakenbush Rd, to the south by Clark Rd, and to the west by Snow Camp Rd.
This permit was approved by the County with no notification or input from residents, no review or oversight by the County Planning Board, and without the knowledge of County Commissioners.
What's the Problem?Studies show that gravel pit mines can affect water and air quality, noise levels, and create significant truck traffic. Some of the airborne particles from these mines are known carcinogens and the operations can result in groundwater contamination and disturbance of local wells. In addition, both a Colonial Gas pipeline carrying jet fuel, diesel fuel, kerosene, and gasoline, as well as a Duke Energy high voltage transmission line, run through the site in close proximity to the blasting area. Finally Sylvan Elementary is a mile from the site. To our knowledge no impact studies have been conducted to determine how this will affect our community.
What's Been Done?By the time the issue was brought to the attention of citizens, the County had already approved the permit. We put out 150 flyers to make people aware of the issue and to encourage them to write the State to request a public hearing. The County Commissioners, after you flooded them with emails, held a special meeting and passed a resolution to request that the State hold a public hearing in Alamance County. We thanked them for this response, but there are still some questions about whether or not they followed the regulatory guidelines outlined in the County Ordinance. Our local State Legislators have been notified and several meetings have been held to get their support.
Fortunately, thanks to your efforts, the State has announced they will hold a public hearing in Alamance County in the next 4-6 weeks.
What Can We Do Now?If you haven’t signed up for the email listserv please email [email protected] . This will give you regular updates and keep you informed of upcoming events and calls to action. It is critical that we are all on the same page.
A community meeting has been scheduled for next Monday, November 5th at 6:00pm at Sylvan Elementary School in Snow Camp in order to strategize for a public hearing to happen in 5-6 weeks. It is not enough for 200 people to get up and say “I don’t want a mine in my backyard”. The State has seven specific criteria for denying a mine permit and we need to focus our comments on those areas, using data to make our case. We have a lot of new information to share at the community meeting next Monday, so we hope all of you can attend! Attached is a flyer with the meeting details.
A lot of you have asked how you can help, so here are a few ways:The single most important thing you can do now is to inform your neighbors, friends, churches, schools, etc. Get them to sign up for the email listserv above and let them know there is a community meeting next Monday 11/5 at 6pm at Sylvan Elementary School. There is strength in numbers and we are not going down without a fight.
