20220241 Ver 1_Draft Wetland Monitoring Plan_20221118

Baker, Caroline D
From: Thomas Brown <[e-mail]>
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2022 2:30 PM
To: Thompson, Emily B CIV USARMY CESAW (USA)
Cc: Homewood, Sue
Subject: [External] Martin Marietta Belgrade Quarry Draft Wetland Monitoring Plan
Attachments: MMM Belgrade Quarry Wetland Monitoring Plan.pdf
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Emily,
Please see the attached draft monitoring plan for Belgrade. I hope to follow up next week with the draft updated
mitigation plan and draft updated alternatives analysis.
For the proposed preservation, we plan to give the property to "The Barn Group" to hold in a conservation
easement. Could you give me some guidance on what you need from them?
Here is a link to their website: https://www.thebarngroup.org/
Thanks again,
Thomas Brown, PWS
Wetland Specialist I East Division
Martin Marietta
2235 Gateway Access Point
STE 400, Raleigh, NC 27607
m. (919) 268- 5297
e. [e-mail]
www.martinmarietta.com
1

Martin
Marietta
Belgrade Quarry
Bender Pit
Wetland Monitoring Plan
November 18, 2022

1.0 Project Description
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (MMM) proposes to expand existing mining operations at the
Belgrade Quarry by excavating a new limestone quarry pit known as the Bender Pit. Pit
construction will be conducted using large excavators, drag lines and/or front-end loaders, and
large off -road trucks. All discharged water from the pits will meet the water quality standards
set forth by the existing NPDES Industrial General Permit Number NCG020005 issued by NC
Department of Environment and Natural Resources' (NCDENR) Division of Water Resources.
The proposed 92.5-acre Bender Pit is located south of the existing pit on the east side of the
White Oak River. This proposed pit is separated from the current pit and plant area by a
wetland system, which encircles the proposed pit.
MMM is proposing two road crossings in order to provide adequate safe access to the new pit
area. The northern crossing crosses two wetland areas and would impact 0.45 acre of wetland.
It is located to align with an existing established road, which travels to the plant area. This
proposed product haul road would also impact 0.18 acre of wetland associated with the
expansion and upgrade of an existing crossing as shown on the map at the north-eastern tip of
the proposed pit. A second proposed haul road for overburden is aligned to allow the safest and
most direct travel for hauling overburden material to the existing mined out southern end of the
current pit. This proposed crossing would be constructed in the narrowest area of the wetland
system which divides the two pits while still allowing direct travel. Impacts associated with this
road total 106 LF of stream and 0.9 acre of wetland.
The proposed Bender pit is comprised of mostly upland areas with 5 wetland fingers which
extend into the pit area. These impact areas have been studied for geological resources and the
proposed wetlands impacts will allow access to those areas, as well as to mine ore in upland
areas. The impacts total 7.43 acres. Wetland areas surrounding the pit will have a minimum
50ft buffer. Between this 50ft buffer and the pit, a road/berm be constructed exist to allow travel
around the mine and to remedy any possible flooding of the pit. Inside of this berm, overburden
will slope down to the rock surface which will be mined.
2.0 Existing Conditions
The project site is located adjacent to an existing and active limestone quarry known as the
Belgrade Quarry. The 1,605-acre Quarry site is in the White Oak River Basin (03020301), and
includes the old mine pit, the current mine pit, the facility infrastructure, and the Project Area.
The Quarry operation has been active in its current pit configuration since 1988. The main
infrastructure for the Quarry has been constructed for the existing pit operations and would also
be used to continue mining in the proposed new pit areas in the Project Area.
The Bender Pit area is comprised of active farm fields and mixed pine forestland with
some hardwoods such as sweetgum and red maple.

Soils on the site consist of fine sands, such as Pactolus, Johns and Autryville in the upland
marine terraces and soils such as Muckalee loam in the wetlands
and floodplain areas.
A wetland delineation was conducted on the site and a Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination
with a signed survey was approved on May 28, 2014. In 2019, this determination was field
checked, and portions were re -delineated by MMM wetland staff. The re -delineation was
reviewed in the field by Corps of Engineers staff on 7/9/2020 and 12/15/2020.
3.0 Purpose of Monitoring
MMM is proposing to excavate a limestone quarry pit as shown on the attached Figure 1. This
pit will be de -watered in order to extract the limestone deposit. USACE has expressed concerns
about potential indirect impacts to nearby wetlands. MMM proposes to monitor these wetlands
in order to document the level of impacts, if any, and to compensate for any indirect impacts
documented to occur.
4.0 Monitoring Guidelines
MMM will install monitoring wells using the ERDC 2005 WRAP guidelines in the locations
shown on Figure 1. Placing the monitoring wells in these areas will assure that any negative
impacts from mining will be detected.
The wells may be monitored using Onset HOBO Cellular monitoring systems similar to those
depicted in the photo shown on Figure 2. MMM may use other updated monitoring technology
depending on what is available at the time of installation. The gauges will be programmed to
take daily water level measurements and for the measurement data to be saved remotely.
5.0 Reporting
Gauges will be programmed such that hydrologic data at each monitoring gauge station will be
collected daily, with automatic data uploading from each station to a remote database. A
monitoring report will be prepared at the end of each year for regulatory agency review and will
be submitted by March 31St of the following year. This annual monitoring report will provide
shallow groundwater data presented in summary tables and graphs. Rainfall data will also be
provided.
6.0 Monitoring Duration, Success Criteria and Regulatory Determination
To establish a baseline, monitoring will begin at least one growing season prior to any mining
in the Bender Pit. Growing season, as recommended by the Corps, is considered to be February
1 through November 30. Monitoring Reports will be submitted by March 3Is' of each year.

Once mining has commenced, monitoring will continue until mining in Pit B has ceased or a
determination is received from the Corps of Engineers that monitoring is no longer required.
The wetland type of the area monitored could be described as a Riverine Swamp Forest and
Bottomland Hardwood Forest. As such NCWAM describes Riverine Swamp Forest as
seasonally to semi -permanently inundated and Bottomland Hardwood Forest as intermittently
to seasonally inundated. Referencing Table 5 of the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetland
Delineation Manual, seasonally inundated wetlands should exhibit wetland hydrology for
greater than 12.5% of the growing season in most years (50% probability of occurrence).
Therefore, this metric along with comparison to baseline and rainfall data will be used to
determine if indirect adverse impacts have occurred.
If occurrence of indirect adverse impacts to wetlands is documented, the Corps will
communicate with the applicant regarding the impacts documented and any additional efforts
necessary to further assess the extent of such impacts. If mitigation is necessary to address
documented indirect adverse impacts to wetland, the applicant will establish a mitigation plan
at that time.

Figure 1
1,000 500 0 1,000 Feet

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