Spooner Expanded Public Hearing Oral Comments - Permit Application, 92-10-Umstead Coalition Comments (partial 7 of)

t` The Umstead Coalition
rn�' P.O. Box 10654
Umstead Raleigh, NC 27605-0654
Coalition [phone]
http://umsteadcoalition.org facebook.com/umsteadcoalition meetup.com/umsteadcoalition
B. W. Wells Association
New Hope Audubon Society
NC Native Plant Society
Capital Group Sierra Club
Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation
Orange -Chatham Group Sierra Club
Eno River Association
NC Herpetological Society
Raleigh Ski and Outing Club, Inc.
Friends of State Parks
NC League Conservation Voters Foundation
Rockingham Naturalist's Club
Headwaters Group Sierra Club
NC Wildlife Federation
Friends of Jockey's Ridge
Wake Audubon Society
July 17, 2020
Mr. Brian Wrenn, Director
Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality
1612 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1612
Daniel Sams, Regional Engineer
Hearing Officer
Wilmington Regional Office, DEQ
127 Cargo Dr Extension,
Wilmington, NC 28405
Subject: Expanding Public Hearing Oral Comments. Permit should be denied due to adverse impacts per the
criteria in the Mining Act of 1971 and lack of realistic Reclamation Plan
Mr. Wrenn:
Please find below a fuller version of my oral comments given during the June 23, 2020 Public Hearing and
rebuttal of Sam Bratton's comments. I have additional written comments that have already been submitted and
others that will be submitted on or before July 17. It is obvious by the outpouring of thoughtful comments by so
many citizens of our region that the public is opposed to a new quarry pit on our public lands adjacent to William
B. Umstead State Park and expect the promised Sunset Clause on the existing Triangle Quarry site to be honored.
Dr. Jean Spooner, Chair of the Umstead Coalition, Raleigh, NC. Professionally, I am a Professor Emerita at
NCSU, Soil Scientist with expertise in watershed management and water quality. Please allow me to elaborate on
our position regarding Mining Permit No. 92-10 Modification Application.
Background
In the last 20 years I have personally seen, heard, and felt many adverse impacts from the existing Wake Stone
Triangle Quarry to William B. Umstead State Park. Myself and other citizens have contacted DEQ over the years
about these issues. Many of these complaints are responded to verbally or not at all and very few are recorded in
the files. In addition, until the current Application, the Mining Permit files were difficult to access due to only
being accessible in the hard copy Permit file. This makes it difficult to document citizen complaints and inhibits
the public's ability to obtain information regarding such complaints. One example is the 1992 landslide into
Crabtree Creek. This serious incident, which blocked 90% of Crabtree Creek, was only discovered recently
during a personal search of paper files at DEQ. Other key complaints include the various violations of the
undisturbed buffers and discharging of polluted waters into the Park.
r The Umstead Coalition v
Dedicated to preserving the natural integrity of W.B. Umstead State Park and the Richland Creek Corridor

During the June 23rd hearing, Wake Stone Corporation referred to a letter I wrote 21 years ago. They have used
this letter out of context. This 21 year -old letter does NOT reflect my current views, nor the views of The
Umstead Coalition. It must not be considered in the context of the Triangle Quarry permit modification request. It
should be noted that Wake Stone failed to leave out a key sentence that does still reflect my views: "The Umstead
Coalition is optimistic that discussions will continue regarding compatible development uses of the quarry site
(e.g., conversion to park or recreational facilities)."
The Umstead Coalition had a strained relationship with Wake Stone in the 1980's due to the quarry operation's
negative impact on their Park neighbor, such as truck conflicts at our Park entrance, dust, noise, buffer violations
and water quality issues. By 1999, Ted Bratton seemed willing to improve our relationship and indicated a
commitment to protect the undisturbed buffers along the Park boundary and Crabtree Creek and preserve the
rhododendron area. We were in the unfortunate situation of having to accept and absorb the consequences from
this non -compatible neighbor until operations ceased in accordance with the Sunset Clause.
Ted Bratton, co-owner of Wake Stone Corporation, requested I write the letter for another purpose. He promised
that letter would NEVER be used to expand the pit footprint or quarry operation at the Triangle Quarry. I made
the grave error in trusting Ted Bratton's word and it is now obvious this attempt to make the best of a bad
situation was a mistake.
Wake Stone Corporation's unethical use of a 21-year-old letter, taken out of context, written for a different
purpose, lack of many support letters of the existing Triangle quarry, and the massive public outcry against the
proposed new pit and current quarry operation speaks to the depth of current community opposition and weakness
of Wake Stone Corporation's current proposal.
Proposed Buffers
Wake Stone's application includes severely reducing the buffer protections we had on the existing site and
provides only token protections from the proposed new rock pit site. Wake Stone is proposing 100 ft buffers to
"unexcavated" and measured from the centerline of Crabtree Creek.
The proposed buffers on both sides of 1.5 miles of Crabtree Creek are inadequate and misleading. Stream buffers
are not measured from the "Centerline" of bodies of water, in this case Crabtree Creek. Neuse Riparian Buffers,
and other protective requirements are measured from the top of bank. "Unexcavated" is a world of difference
from "undisturbed."
The inconsistent application of "buffer measurement", distorts the actual area of protection. This creates
situations where the 50 ft. Neuse River Buffer is much closer to, and actually overlaps the proposed 100 ft. buffer
at some points.
The 1981 Crabtree buffer commitment was UNDISTURBED 250 ft along Crabtree Creek with a shared border
with Umstead State Park and a minimum of 100 ft from top of bank for the remaining sections of Crabtree Creek.
Wake Stone Corporation has turned its back on its commitments to have an "undisturbed" property boundary and
stream buffers, by drastically reducing the buffer width, proposed their effective destruction ("unexcavated
buffers, bridge, fence, roads, retaining walls, additional pit on the opposite side of Crabtree Creek, and more). In
addition to Wake Stone's most egregious betrayal, they reneged on the promised 50-year Sunset Clause.
Segmentation of stream and wetland impacts by the obvious segmentation of the fence, bridge, and quarry pit in
artificial "phases" is an attempt to avoid the evaluation of the complete environmental damage and an attempt to
avoid and `defer' the 401/404 evaluations. The FULL stream/wetland impacts need to be evaluated as a complete
package.
V The Umstead Coalition v
Dedicated to preserving the natural integrity of W.B. Umstead State Park and the Richland Creek Corridor 2

Crabtree Creek
Imagine 1.5 miles of Crabtree Creek, suspended like a viaduct between two 400 ft. deep pits, with only 100 ft. or
less of earth along BOTH sides retaining this major waterway.
Wake Stone's own consultant's hydrogeological study shows that Crabtree Creek will likely have water pulled
OUT OF Crabtree Creek and decrease the 7Q 10, low stream flows. A reduction in the 7Q 10 in Crabtree Creek
would directly affect the future discharge permits from the North Cary Reclamation Plan (aka sewage treatment
plant immediately upstream) and fisheries in Crabtree Creek and William B. Umstead State Park.
The stability and integrity of Crabtree Creek itself is in severe jeopardy. The applicant's response to this and other
concerns is "we don't think so", in lieu of scientific or engineering analyses substantiating their claims. Wishful
thinking is not how we should base the protection of Crabtree Creek and William B. Umstead State
Park. Extensive evaluation of the current Wake Stone Corporation request is even more crucial given that it is
proposed to be on PUBLIC lands; failures will result in the liabilities being transferred to the citizen owners.
Conclusion
Our Park and Park users have endured high concentrations of silica fine sediment plumes discharging constantly
into Park from their untreated wastewater and sprinkler systems; high levels of silica fine sediment plumes
discharging into Crabtree Creek from their stormwater runoff; dust, noise, and truck conflicts at our popular
entrance; and more.
We have dealt with this only because we expected quarry operations would end by 2031, in accordance with
Wake Stone's promised 50-year Sunset Clause.
The Odd Fellows tract is publicly owned property, sharing a large border with William B. Umstead State Park and
1.5 miles reach along Crabtree Creek. Odd Fellows and Umstead are not just neighboring parcels, they are
physically connected by a link via Foxcroft Lake, a historical lake on Odd Fellows that also spans into Umstead
State Park. In addition, whatever happens on Odd Fellows (given the upstream portion is in the Park and then
discharges to Crabtree Creek just upgradiant of the Park) happens to the Park. The harm caused by a quarry to
Umstead State Park, Crabtree Creek, and the environmental health of our area's ecosystem, along with an
incalculable perpetual public liability would be the legacy left for future generations.
There are NO mitigation measures that are possible on this small (by quarry standards) 106 acre tract that avoids
complete destruction of our public property with severe impacts to our fresh waters, our State Park, an important
wildlife migration corridor, and the Old Reedy Creek greenway and recreational area which has evolved to be a
3rd major access point to William B. Umstead State Park. The Reclamation Plan submitted is barely more than a
watercolor sketch that bears absolutely no resemblance to the submitted site plan. The Reclamation Plan
submitted is not feasible due to its conflicts with the pit perimeter/hole, berms, and fence.
The proposed private mine on public property would have grave and detrimental impacts on our NC State Park,
Crabtree Creek, Foxcroft Lake, connected greenway system, and a vital wildlife corridor. We have suffered
decades of negative impacts associated with Triangle Quarry operations.
The Permit Application must be DENIED per G.S. 74-51 (d) and 74-53.
)60-�
Dr. Jean Spooner
r The Umstead Coalition v
Dedicated to preserving the natural integrity of W.B. Umstead State Park and the Richland Creek Corridor