20230811_ADI_80-32

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ROY COOPER
Governor ? i' - r
ELIZABETH S.BISER
Secretary
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DOUGLAS R.ANSEL NORTH CAROLINA
Interim Director Environmental Quality
August 11,2023
Certified Mail
Return Receipt Requested
7022 0410 0003 1130 6956
Joseph Keller
Keller Mining,Inc.
5830 Wright Road
Kannapolis,NC 28081
RE: Keller Mining-Wallace Road Sand Mine
Rowan County
Yadkin River Basin
Dear Mr. Keller:
We have reviewed the application your company submitted for the referenced mine site. In order for this office to
complete its review of the referenced project in accordance with N.C.G.S. §74-50 and§74-51 of the Mining Act of
1971,please provide the additional or revised information in accordance with the following comments:
1. Please provide proof, such as copy of the signed return receipts from certified mail, that all adjoining
landowners and chief administrative officer of each county and municipality have been properly
notified.
2. N.C.G.S. §74-49 defines "affected land" as the surface are of land that is mined, the surface area of
land associated with a mining activity so that soil is exposed to accelerated erosion,the surface area of
land on which overburden and waste is deposited, and the surface area of land used for processing or
treatment plant, stockpiles, nonpublic roads, and settling ponds. Please clearly indicate and label on
the mine map that the haul road to the nearest public road is included in the Mine permit boundary.
3. Please provide proof or easement or right of way to utilize the access road to the state maintained road.
4. Please clearly label and identify on the mine map all haul road internal to the mine permit boundary.
The mine map shows an access road terminating at a buffer. Haul roads are not shown to access the
mining excavation area.
5. Proposed buffers are shown external of the mine permit boundary. Please review question C.5.A of the
mine permit application and note that all buffers must be located within the mining permit boundaries.
6. Please clarify if the entire parcel is to be included within the mine permit area. Please be sure to update
the mine permit and affected area table to account for the buffer and haul road to the state maintained
road.
7. Please clarify your response to question 5 on page 2 of the mine permit application where you indicated
that this property was not mined in the past. This site is currently under a Notice of Violation(NOV)
for mining without a permit.
D E Q North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality I Division of Energy,Mineral and Land Resources
512 North Salisbury Street 1 1612 Mail Service Center I Raleigh,North Carolina 27699-1612
NORTH CAROLINA -
oaae�emai Environmental Quality /`� 919.707.9200

Certified Mail
7022 0410 0003 1130 6956
Mr. Keller
Page 2
8. Please clarify where overburden will be stored.
9. Please provide proof of submission of the NOI for the NPDES Stormwater permit.
10. Please clarify the name of the applicant. The application lists Keller Mining, Inc., however the Mine
maps list both Keller Mining and Keller Sand&Recycle.
11. Please clarify that the name of the site is "Keller Mining-Wallace Road Sand Mine". The name of the
location must appear on the mine maps.
12. Please identify the name of the County on the mine maps.
13. Please provide a cross section of the cut slopes.
14. Your response to question C.8 of the mine permit application states that the details for the fence are
shown on Sheet C-205N. Sheet C-205N was not included as part of the mine map submission.
Furthermore,there are no details of a fence on Sheet C-205.
15. Please see the enclosed comments from both the US Fish and Wildlife Service(USFWS)and the North
Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission (NCWRC) that mention that the endangered Schweinitz's
sunflower (Helianthus schweinitzii), proposed endangered tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), and
candidate monarch butterfly(Danaus plexippus)have the potential to occur at the site if suitable habitat
is present. Please provide additional details on any habitat assessments, biological
evaluation/biological assessment that have been completed to determine if these species are present.
Please provide additional details on measures that will be followed to mitigate adverse impacts to these
threatened and endangered species.
16. NO ACTION REQUIRED: Please see the enclosed comments from the Rowan County Planning and
Development Department with regard to zoning.
Please note, this office may request additional information not included in this letter, as the mining application
review progresses. Be advised that our review cannot be completed until all of the items listed above have been
fully addressed.
In order to complete the processing of your application,please forward two(2)copies of the requested information
to my attention at the following address:
Division of Energy,Mineral and Land Resources
Department of Environmental Quality
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh,NC 27699-1612
If hand delivering or delivering by shipping company(e.g.,FedEx,UPS),please deliver to our physical address:
Division of Energy,Mineral, and Land Resources
Department of Environmental Quality
512 N. Salisbury Street, 5th Floor
Raleigh,NC 27604

Certified Mail
7022 0410 0003 1130 6956
Mr. Keller
Page 3
As required by 15A NCAC 5B.0113,you are hereby advised that you have 180 days from the date of your receipt
of this letter to submit all of the requested information. If you are unable to meet this deadline and wish to request
additional time,you must submit information,in writing,to the Director clearly indicating why the deadline cannot
be met and request that an extension of time be granted. If an extension of time is not granted, a decision will be
made to grant or deny the mining permit based upon the information currently in the Department's files at the end
of the 180-day period.
Though the preceding statement cites the maximum time limit for your response,we encourage you to provide the
additional information requested by this letter as soon as possible. Your prompt response will help us to complete
processing your application sooner.
Please contact me at(919) 707-9220 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Adam Parr, PE
Assistant State Mining Engineer
Enclosures: USFWS Comments
NCWRC Comments
Rowan County Planning and Development Department Letter
cc: Zahid Khan