Quarry

HAGERSTOWN -- A controversial zoning request that would allow Martin Marietta Materials to mine an additional 77 acres at the Pinesburg Quarry northwest of Williamsport is scheduled to go before the Washington County Commissioners Tuesday. For the past two years, the request has been the subject of protests from neighbors, who turned out at two public hearings to raise concerns about potential impacts on water resources, property values and their quality of life. Assistant County Attorney Kirk C. Downey has said the commissioners would issue a written decision on the request.

GERRARDSTOWN, W.Va. -- Two homes built more than 275 years ago by a wealthy Berkeley County merchant and money lender would be most affected by a quarry proposed near Gerrardstown, according to the state's deputy historic preservation officer. Susan M. Pierce, in letters to state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials, said the visual impact of the mining project proposed by North Mountain Shale LLC would be greatest for Prospect Hill and Oban Hall, homes built by William Wilson between 1792 and 1825.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- Opponents of a quarry proposed in the Gerrardstown, W.Va., area heartily applauded and thanked the Berkeley County Commission, which voted Thursday to adopt a resolution opposed to permitting a mining operation there. The resolution presented to the commission Thursday by Len Griffith of Citizens Alliance for a Responsible Environment (CARE) opposes a state permit being issued for the project by North Mountain Shale LLC, an affiliate of Continental Brick Co. near Martinsburg.

HAGERSTOWN -- Differences of opinion continued to persist Monday night during a public hearing over Martin Marietta's proposal to mine an additional 77 acres at the Pinesburg Quarry. Residents and Washington County Commissioner Kristin B. Aleshire raised concerns during the hearing at the Washington County Courthouse about potential impacts on water resources, blasting, noise and devaluation of property values as a result of Pinesburg Quarry operations. Martin Marietta officials spoke in defense of the quarry, saying the company has never had to pay out any money for blasting damage claims from an insurance fund and that the quarry's lack of impact on area water resources has been clearly documented.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Opponents of a shale quarry proposed near Gerrardstown, W.Va., asked the Berkeley County Commission on Thursday to sign a resolution in support of their fight against an industrial mining project they say poses an environmental and health threat to the area. "We are here today because we like Berkeley County as much as you do," said Wendy Hudock, who spoke on behalf of more than a dozen people who joined her at Thursday's commission meeting. Hudock is part of Citizens Alliance for a Responsible Environment (CARE)

HAGERSTOWN -- Three employees of Holcim (US) Inc. were covered in limestone dust Monday morning -- one up to his neck -- during an accident at the Hagerstown plant's quarry that sent six workers to the hospital. All six had been released from the hospital as of Monday evening, but a portion of the Security Road business remained shut down while the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) conducted an investigation into the accident, MSHA spokeswoman Amy Louviere said. Gary Batey, the plant manager, said all of the employees were "going to be fine.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. -- Thursday's West Virginia gubernatorial debate at Hedgesville High School was targeted by more than a dozen area residents opposed to a proposed high-voltage electric line and quarry projects in the Eastern Panhandle. "CARE is looking to elect a leader of West Virginia who is willing to preserve and protect the environment and the residents," said Wendy Hudock of Gerrardstown, W.Va.,-based Citizens Alliance for a Responsible Environment, which formed to fight a quarry proposed just outside the Berkeley County community.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- A cement manufacturer's announcement this week to end quarrying operations at a mining site east of Martinsburg might complicate a long-term plan to access millions of gallons of water for public consumption at the Blairton quarry property in Berkeley County. "We're going to have to look at it and see if we have to deal with Riverton (Corp.) or someone else," county legal counsel Norwood Bentley said of the potential ramifications of the decision by ESSROC.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. -- Plans by a brick manufacturer to quarry shale next to a southern Berkeley County town were assailed Wednesday at a public hearing attended by about 150 people who heartily applauded practically every lawmaker and resident who spoke out against the project. "I live probably about as far from this proposal as you can get and still live in Berkeley County and I stand completely opposed to this project," Clint Hogbin said of plans by North Mountain Shale LLC to mine shale from land near Gerrardstown, W.Va.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Berkeley County officials conceded Thursday night that zoning would not stop a shale quarry from locating next to homes or cure road congestion, but maintained the proposed land-use regulations weren't designed to stop development or be overly burdensome to taxpayers, either. "Zoning deals with where (something is to be built)," Berkeley County legal counsel Norwood Bentley III said in a forum hosted by Berkeley County Commission President Steven C. Teufel and Commissioner Ronald K. Collins.