2020.07.17_Wake Stone AQ Permit Letter_Final

CALHOUN
B H E L L A 8
SECHREST
July 17, 2020
William T. Wike, Jr.
Acting Regional Supervisor
Division of Air Quality, Raleigh Regional Office
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
3800 Barrett Drive
Raleigh, NC 27609
By e-mail to: [e-mail]
Re: Wake Stone Corporation — Triangle Quarry, Air Permit No. 04386R15
Dear Mr. Wike:
This firm represents The Umstead Coalition with regard to Wake Stone Corporation's
permits for its Triangle Quarry, located directly adjacent Umstead State Park. The Coalition has
been working since 1972 to protect and preserve Umstead State Park for current and future
generations, and historically has engaged with state and local agencies regarding development
proposals that would affect the park.
This letter is to address the Coalition's ongoing concerns with Wake Stone's existing air
quality permit, and to request that the Division of Air Quality ("Division") take new information
into consideration before renewing or modifying Wake Stone's current permit, set to expire on
July 31, 2021. Based upon available information and remaining questions, the Coalition strongly
encourages the Division to modify Wake Stone's existing small air quality permit to account for
its planned expanded operations. Given the fact that Wake Stone will need to submit a renewal
and/or modification application by January 31, 2021, there is a current need to consider Wake
Stone's requested expansion with respect to its air quality emissions.
Per Wake Stone's pending mining permit application, available at
https:Hdeq.nc.gov/about/divisions/energy-mineral-land-resources/energy-mineral-land-
permits/mining-program#wakestone, the company intends to expand its operations by leasing an
additional adjacent parcel (the Odd Fellows tract) to the northwest of the existing quarry site.
Like the existing quarry site, the new parcel is adjacent to Umstead State Park. However, the
new parcel also borders a single-family home, the East Coast Greenway, NC Bikeway #1, U.S.
Bikeway #1, and Old Reedy Creek Road (see Figure 1).
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Figure 1. Map Showing Adjacent Land Uses Relative to the Existing and
Proposed Quarry Sites.
While Wake Stone may use some existing equipment to mine the additional quarry area,
the overall plan appears to be to expand capacity, and therefore increase the whole operation's
environmental impacts. This change appears to require more than an administrative amendment
to Wake Stone's renewed or modified permit. See 15A NCAC 02Q .0316.
Wake Stone's application and other publicly -available information has left the Coalition
with several remaining questions. For example, will the availability of additional pit area result
in expanded hours of operation, and therefore increased emissions? Likewise, it is unclear
whether Wake Stone, the Division of Energy Mineral and Land Resources, or this Division has
accounted for via modeling or other estimates the cumulative impacts that the additional quarry
capacity would have in tandem with other nearby industrial and commercial uses, perhaps most
notably the Raleigh -Durham International Airport.
Wake Stone's January 23, 2019, air quality inspection report, available at
https:Hxapps.nedenr.org/aq/docs/FDoes_Search.j sp?Find_Type=FI&quickUrl=1 &Facility_Id=92
00409, indicates that the quarry regularly emits the following pollutants: total suspended
particles, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and
particulate matter (PM10). Of particular concern with Wake Stone's potentially expanded quarry
operation is the potential for increased volatile organic compound ("VOC") emissions and silica
dust —a type of particulate matter —emitted as a result of normal operations and/or fugitive
emissions.

VOCs are a class of chemicals that easily evaporate and may react with other gases to
form other air pollutants. VOCs may contain federally -listed hazardous air pollutants and/or
North Carolina -listed toxic air pollutants, including benzene, formaldehyde, and toluene.
Depending on the type of VOC, persons exposed may experience eye, nose, and throat irritation,
headaches, loss of coordination, nausea, or damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous
system. Some VOCs are carcinogenic. E.g., NC DHHS, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs),
https:Hepi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/oee/a_z/vocs.html (last visited July 16, 2020). It is unclear which type
of VOC or VOCs Wake Stone emits.
Crushed and broken granite operations like Wake Stone's also emit silica dust, which
poses both occupational and non -occupational human health threats. See EPA, Ambient Levels
and Noncancer Health Effects of Inhaled Crystalline and Amorphous Silica: Health Issue
Assessment (1996), https:Hcfpub.epa.gov/ncea/risk/recordisplay.cfm?deid=12999. Sampling
results submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Health and Safety Administration
confirm that Wake Stone's quarry operation emits silica dust. MSHA,
https://www.msha.gov/mine-data-retrieval-system (search by Mine ID 3101940 and select
"Health Samples"). Silica dust, a type of particulate matter, may be transported via fugitive
emissions and result in non -occupational exposures to persons on adjacent properties. See, e.g.,
U.S. Dept. of Labor, A Practical Guide to an Occupational Health Program for Respirable
Crystalline Silica (2008), https:Harlweb.msha.gov/alliances/formed/IG103.pdf; L.J. Bhagia, Non -
occupational Exposure to Silica Dust (2012),
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3683189/. Exposure to silica dust may result in
lung diseases like silicosis, and may increase the risk of tuberculosis, nonmalignant renal disease,
and autoimmune diseases. Id. The National Cancer Institute has classified silica as a carcinogen.
See https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/crystalline-silica.
Given Umstead State Park's close proximity to the quarry, such VOC and silica dust
emissions pose a risk to the public who use the park's facilities. A recent survey conducted by
the Coalition revealed that over 50% of visitors are repeat, long-term visitors, and represent the
full range of ages and ethnicities. This means that more than half of all visitors already are
repeatedly exposed to emissions coming from the adjacent quarry. It also may be assumed that
given the visitors' age range, many visitors also may be vulnerable to air pollution.
For these reasons, the Division should request additional information from Wake Stone
before renewing or modifying its air quality permit. By statute, the Division is authorized to
request additional information necessary to determine the appropriateness of a permit renewal or
modification. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.108(c)(5). Additional information should include new
modeling for all known emissions, and should account for other emission sources in close
proximity. Further, the Division should request that Wake Stone completes an environmental
impact statement per the North Carolina Environmental Policy Act, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 113A-1 et
seq., since its proposed quarry expansion will involve public land —both the parcel on which the
new pit would be located (discussed in the following paragraph) and a public road —and will
significantly affect environmental quality. See also 15A NCAC 01 C .0101.

An additional complication to Wake Stone's impending permit modification or renewal is
the fact that Wake Stone wishes to expand its mining operations to Wake County and/or Raleigh -
Durham Airport Authority -regulated lands. The zoning oversight implications for the
approximately 106-acre Odd Fellows tract plus the original tract are complicated, and at the very
least require that the Division issue a public notice of any proposed permit renewal or
modification, and accept public comments on any pending permits. Further, public notice and
comment is required if any of the affected area currently is unzoned. 15A NCAC 02Q .0113.
At this time, the Coalition respectfully requests that the Division coordinate with the
Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources regarding the pending mining permit to
determine the extent to which Wake Stone's quarry operation will expand both in size and
emissions relevant to its soon -to -expire air quality permit. The Coalition further requests that the
Division does not renew Wake Stone's current permit without considering new information and
appropriate analyses. Lastly, the Coalition asks that the Division publishes notice of any intent to
renew and/or modify Wake Stone's air quality permit given the significant public interest in this
facility.
We appreciate your consideration of these comments. Please do not hesitate to contact me
should you have any questions about this letter or to discuss Wake Stone's future air quality
permit.
Sincerely yours,
James L. Conner II
cc: Michael Regan, Secretary, Department of Environmental Quality
Sheila Holman, Assistant Secretary for the Environment, NC DEQ
Dan Sams, NC DEQ Hearing Officer for Permit Modification Application 92-10
Brian Wrenn, Director, Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources, N.C.
Department of Environmental Quality
John Fullwood, Director, NC Division of Parks and Recreation
Reid Wilson, Chief Deputy Secretary, NC Department Natural and Cultural Resources
Dr. Jean Spooner, Chair, The Umstead Coalition
North Carolina Senator Wiley Nickel