HomeMy WebLinkAbout_External_ Deny Wake Stone Corporation’s Quarry ExpansionJohnson, Robert E
From: Michael Nordin <mnordinnc@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, July 17, 2020 7:26 PM
To: Sams, Dan; NCMiningProgram
Subject: [External] Deny Wake Stone Corporation's Quarry Expansion
I am writing to expand upon my verbal comments during the public hearings with greater detail over the two
minute time allotments afforded during those hearings. I vehemently oppose Wake Stone Corporation's
expansion of quarry operations into the Odd Fellows tract bordering Umstead State Park. Whereas the Dunn
family lives within 200 feet of the proposed quarry site, my home is nearly a mile from the proposed quarry
expansion site. And yet I am negatively affected by the operations of the existing quarry, let alone the
proposed quarry expansion.
During the recent public hearings the DEQ heard from a significant number of learned professionals, concerned
citizens, and impacted homeowners where proximity to the operations of the quarry have a negative impact on their
quality of life, their homes, and perhaps their health. Several of those who gave their testimony are physicians,
environmental scientists, chemists, geologists, or engineers with experience directly in related disciplines that would
be relevant to the impact of the proposed quarry. They quoted journals, scientific studies, published works, and the
law as evidence that the proposed quarry poses significant risks to our environment, to the well being of our citizens,
to the protection of wild life and green space, and to the cleanliness of waterways that are already impacted by
pollution and industrial waste. I can offer no such scientific expertise that demonstrates the negative impacts of the
quarry. But I can offer my personal experience of being a neighbor to Wake Stone's existing quarry operation.
The blasts have an undeniable impact on my home which is located in the Weston Parkway area of Cary. Each
blast is not only audible, but physically felt as vibrations that reverberate through my house. So much so that
I've had customers who I've been on a conference call with while working from home, ask, "What was that?" In
fact during the second public hearing, roughly 15 to 20 minutes after I gave my own testimony, Wake Stone
detonated a blast within the quarry; I wish that it had occurred during my own comments as I am certain it
could have been audible over the webex.
It's no surprise that we are constantly making drywall repairs in our house, because the drywall is quite literally
being shaken loose by each quarry blast. To be clear, I am roughly a mile away from the quarry. Given my
own, very real experience living as far from the quarry as I do, I t would be unreasonable to assert that the
Dunns, other closer neighbors than myself, and in particular Umstead State Park would not be adversely
affected by the operations of the new quarry.
At the public hearing of June 23rd, Mr. Braxton of Wake Stone Corporation asserted that written testimony had
been submitted to the DEQ from a citizen who lived adjacent to the Knightdale Quarry, stating, in essence, that
`Wake Stone was an excellent neighbor". While it has since been reported that no such testimony was actually
filed with the DEQ as he asserted, I firmly suggest that none of his claims with regard to the Knightdale quarry
apply here. Quarry operations in Knightdale may or may not have a negative impact on neighboring homesites
or an existing State Park, but here they most definitely do. The question at hand has absolutely nothing to do
with whether Wake Stone gives back to the communities where they have operations or are perceived to be
good neighbors. Rather, the issue here is that it is impossible for the expansion of the quarry currently
operating in Cary to comply with the law as clearly stated in G.S.74-51.
I am a cyclist that uses the local Greenways and Umstead Park trails as a safe means for commuting to work
and for enjoyment of the outdoors. These greenways built by surrounding communities in order to establish a
multimodal trail system that connects each community with green -space would be irreversibly severed if the
quarry at Odd Fellows tract were to be allowed. This same action would in fact sever a key pathway for wildlife
migration as well. In fact, I see little evidence that the proposed expansion of the quarry doesn't violate virtually
all of the subsections of G.S.74-51. But if I were to be limited in my request for denial of Wake Stone's application
to expand its operations in Cary, I firmly assert that the DEQ should deny the application on the basis of sub-
sections D4 and D5 of G.S.74-51 as you explicitly did in August of 1980. Nothing has changed since that time.
Not only would it be irresponsible for the DEQ to approve Wake Stone's application, it is quite reasonable to
assert that it would be utterly negligent given the clarity of the law and previous denials.
With sincere concern,
Michael Nordin