20201214_N-Lew_Odd_fellows

From: Natalie Lew
To: Wrenn, Brian L; NCMiningProgram
Subject: [External] Public Comment opposing the Mining Permit Application for Permit 92-10, just against Odd Fellows
quarry
Date: Monday, December 14, 2020 11:22:49 AM
Attachments: we are not against quarries submitted 2020 12 14.pdf
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Good morning Mr. Wrenn and others,
Please find attached a public comment to be included in the Public Comments opposing the
Mining Permit Application for Permit 92-10.
Please confirm receipt and that this will be included with the public comments.
Thank you.
-Natalie
It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important... from "The Little
Prince"

We are NOT against quarries, in general
We are just against a quarry on Odd Fellows
Natalie Lew
December 14, 2020
In October 2020, 1 did a fundraiser called "Go Bob? Or Go Bald?!" My intent was to have all funds go to a
local non-profit called Le Tour de Femme. In turn, the monies raised for Le Tour de Femme go to two
local cancer groups - the Kay Yow Foundation and the Rex Angle Fund. For my fundraiser, I would shave
my head if I could raise $5,000. Martin Marietta, another mining company, is a sponsor of Le Tour de
Femme. I needed help with promoting the event, but, rumor has it, that due to my involvement with
the RDU Quarry, sponsors of Le Tour de Femme did not want to promote my event.
So, here I am trying to raise money for some really good causes and hitting road blocks because there
happens to be a quarry that I passionately do not agree with (well, me and thousands of other people do
not agree with it).
If you like the Carolina Panthers and someone you know likes the Baltimore Ravens would you just
totally blow them off if they were trying to do a fundraiser even if they were passionately against the
team you like? I sure hope not.
As I and most of the others have said all along, we Are NOT against quarries in general, We
are just against a quarry On Odd FellOWS as this piece of land is intimately entwined in a very
highly used public recreation corridor and adjacent to a highly used state park. I will not dispute that we
need quarries. But, to put a quarry on Odd Fellows is a selfish and bad plan. I won't re -hash the
gazillion reasons why it is a bad plan as I could write hundreds of pages. I will say that, if there is truth
about other quarry companies or other organizations hindering fundraising for a cancer support group
because I strongly oppose a quarry on public land next to a state park and a major greenway, then that
is just plain sophomoric.
I met the fundraising goal, but instead of giving the entire donation to Le Tour de Femme, I also raised
money for TORC and Umstead. There could have been some good publicity and good PR for the quarry
industry. Like I said, I get that we need quarries. Oh well.
I will say it again and I will say it till the day I die - We are NOT against quarries in general,
We are just against a quarry On Odd Fellows given its location. Wake Stone has said
they have a few hundred years of quarrying left at the Knightdale Quarry and there are two other
quarries within a few miles of the Odd Fellows that are expanding. We don't need a quarry on this small
piece of land.
I will also remind you that this is NOT about mountain biking. We do this for all who enjoy the outdoors.
We all need the forest. We all need clean air. We all need peace. The animals need a corridor to
migrate through. Odd Fellows is the last bit of forest next to Umstead and this is the last forest in our
metro area. Expand Umstead, not the Triangle Quarry. There is so much potential for Odd Fellows to
bring good to the community in its natural state.
As an example, check out this video of a new bike park being built within a large recreation area near
Asheville, NC ... as they say, it is a park within a park. The land in this video was slated for NASCAR
training facility with the back-up plan being for the land to be used as a rock quarry.
This park has opportunities for all types of outdoor activities and all levels. It is a family friendly place to
go. This brings visitors to the area. This brings money to the area. This brings jobs to the area. This
supports current jobs in the area. Odd Fellows should be used in a manner similar to Berm Park, not as

We are NOT against quarries, in general
We are just against a quarry on Odd Fellows
Natalie Lew
December 14, 2020
a rock quarry. (Note, we don't have the elevation to build what Berm Park built, so don't focus on the
jumping they are doing in the video. Odd Fellows does have some fantastic features that create a really
unique experience for many user groups. Couple that with Umstead, and we have a gold mine.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZLE6zB-uul&feature=voutu.be&fbclid=IwAR2iY2buQRdSTSQSy-
g6kWFu1O8p03eSyUiBxgermYwXx7RFUMEFRMF6BeU