20111013 Ver 1_Hearing Officer Report_20130507 (35)

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission -0
Gordon Myers, Executive Director
MRNNUI�0�0
TO: William Wescott
Washington Field Office
US Army Corps of Engineers
And
Ian McMillan
NC Division of Water Quality
FROM: David R. Cox, Technical Guidance Supervisor
Habitat Conservation Program
DATE: January 18, 2012
SUBJECT: Comments on Public Notice for Section 404 Permit Application for Martin
Marietta Materials, Inc., Beaufort and Craven Counties, North Carolina.
SAW 2001-02235
DWQ No 20111013
Biologists with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) reviewed the
public notice and permit application with regard to impacts on fish and wildlife resources. The
project site is located approximately seven miles east of US Hwy 17 on the Beaufort -Craven
County border between the communities of Wilmar, NC and Blounts Creek, NC, The site is
located on the drainage basin divide between the Neuse River and Tar -Pamlico River Basins.
Our comments are provided in accordance with provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination
Act (48 Stat. 401, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water
Act (as amended), and Coastal Area Management Act (G.S. 113A-100 through 113A-128), as
amended.
The applicant, Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. proposes to develop a 649 acre open pit
aggregate mine within a 1,664 acre project area. The site is currently owned and managed by the
Weyerhaeuser Corporation for the silviculture of loblolly pine. Impacts associated with the direct
mining of the land include permanent impacts to 6.69 acres of wetlands and 59,671 linear feet of
jurisdictional ditches. To mitigate for the proposed wetland impacts, the applicant proposes to
Mailing Address: Division of Inland Fisheries - 1721 Mail Service Center - Raleigh, NC 27699-1721
Telephone: [phone] - Fax: [phone]

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. Page 2 January 18, 2012
restore 6.75 acres of non -riparian wetlands via payment into the North Carolina Ecosystem
Enhancement Program (NCEEP). In addition to Section 404 and Section 401 permits, a NPDES
permit -will -be -pursued -to -discharge -water pumped from th-e-Castle Hayne aquifer into the
headwater system of Blounts Creek in the Tar -Pamlico Basin. The proposed facility may be
operational for 50 years. The waters of Blounts Creek are classified C, Sw, NSW by the
Environmental Management Commission, are subject to the Tar -Pamlico Basin Buffer Rules,
and are designated an anadromous fish spawning area (AFSA) by the NC Wildlife Resources
Commission.
The NCWRC has reviewed the information provided in the Public Notice and permit
application. We do not believthe mining of 6.69 acres of wetlands and impact to 58,671 linear
feet of jurisdictional ditches will have significant adverse impacts to wildlife resources as
proposed. Generally the NCWRC prefers on-site and in-kind mit ' igation for impacts rather than a
purchase of credits toward mitigation. Therefore, we request the mitigation ratio be raised from
an approximate 1:1 credit purchase to a 2:1 purchase for the unavoidable wetland impacts within
the mining area.
In addition to the impacts to the above mentioned wetlands and jurisdictional ditches, we
believe the project will impact the riparian wetlands and waters of Blounts Creek with the
discharge of significant aquifer waters from the mine operation, A Geomorphic and Hydraulic
Analysis prepared by Kimley-Horn and dated July 14, 2010 states that a dewatering discharge of
12 MGD has been assumed for the build -out condition of the mine. An introduction of 12 MGD
of water may significantly impact Blounts Creek by many aspects including substantial flow
increases, introduction of higher metal concentrations, a decrease in salinity and conductivity,
elevation of pH, an overall change to the geomorphology of the head water system, and potential
conversion of riparian wetlands from brackish to more fresh. All of these factors lead to a change
in habitat and ability of aquatic species to utilize habitats currently available.
Blounts Creek is a system that supports numerous and varied fish species including
striped bass, largemouth bass, yellow perch, black crappie, catfish, American eel, various shad
species, and sometimes flounder and sea trout. These fish utilize Blounts Creek seasonally
depending on water temperatures and water column parameters such as salinity. Due to the
variety of gamefish and other popularly sought fish, Blounts Creek is heavily used by
recreational fishermen. A change in the flow and water chemistry of the creek may discourage
several species from using the creek and therefore impact a public resource. In addition to
providing habitat to important gamefish, Blounts Creek is a designated anadromous fish
spawning area. This designation means conditions are present and favorable to provide spawning
opportunities for anadromous fish such as striped bass and blueback herring, a species of fish
historically found in this system. The direct introduction of such flow would likely move the
fresh -salt barrier downstream, inhibiting access of these species to the hard bottom wetlands and
headwater habitats they require to spawn. This change could be especially detrimental to
blueback herring, a species under such population stress that the NC Division of Marine
Fisheries and the NCWRC currently do not allow harvest of this species in an effort to increase
population numbers. Other measures considered to potentially help these populations include

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. Page 3 January 18, 2012
habitat restoration. Habitat restoration would likely focus on areas of historical use, such as
Blounts Creek to increase the chance of success.
In order to better assess impacts that such a large project would have to the wetlands and
surface waters of the Blounts Creek system, the NCWRC requests the following information be
provided:
— The applicant has submitted data from a single fish sampling event and determined that
there would be no impacts to aquatic species with the project as proposed. We do not
believe a one day backpack shocking and tyke net event can describe the ecology of this
system. Important species such as striped bass and American eel, a federal species of
concern, have recently been sampled in the system by others. Blueback herring may also
be present, but due to low population numbers are difficult to find. Our concerns
regarding the spawning of anadromous species cannot be addressed with the submitted
sampling event due to the absence of egg, larvae, and juvenile sampling. In order to
understand the impacts this proposed project may have on wildlife resources, we need
multi -stage aquatic resource data from the site to better represent the extent of existing
habitats and how they are utilized.
— The headwater system of Blounts Creek may be dry during certain seasons. The
discharge of water directly to the system could significantly increase the amount of water
in the headwaters. This hydrologic transition is exacerbated with the discharge occurring
year round with no infiltration or evapotranspiration of water through the watershed. In
order to understand how this change in discharge will impact wildlife resources, the
project proposal should include a pre and post hydrologic curve.
— The mining project is located on the Neuse Basin and Tar -Pamlico Basin divide.
Depending on withdrawals, an inner basin transfer (IBT) may be necessary. IBTs involve
a variety of wildlife resources impacts that would need to be incorporated with this
project proposal. If applicable, this information should be provided and calculated at
maximum build out discharge.
— With the additional water from this project, riparian areas may be flooded, potentially
reducing the area of the Tar -Pamlico buffer or extending the creek's banks onto private
properties. Additional natural factors that could contribute to these habitat changes
include large storm events and debris jams or beaver dams. The impact of these changes
on wildlife resources should be considered but require additional information related to
the increased creek volume and its reach downstream.
— Potential impacts to habitats and aquatic resources are not limited to increased water
flows and decreased salinities. Fluctuations in other parameters such as pH and minerals
may also occur. Changes in these parameters will likely introduce more algal blooms and
fish kills. Available information on discharge chemical concentrations and ambient creek
conditions should be provided to assist with these considerations.

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. Page 4 January 18, 2012
Impacts to wetland and aquatic resources should be avoided if at all possible, then
minimized, or mitigated for if other alternatives are not feasible. Avoidance and
min-ifffization of impacts to the Blounts Creek system could be demonstrated if the
discharge water did not have to be introduced to surface water, such as a conversion to a
potable resource. Eliminating or reducing the discharge may address most of the concerns
regarding wildlife resources.
The NCWRC appreciates the opportunity to review and comment on this permit application. If
You need further assistance or additional information, please contact me by phone at ((919) 528-
9886 or email at [e-mail].
cc: Kevin Hart, NCDMF
Bennett Wynne, NCWRC
Justin Homan, NCWRC

Adams, Amx
From: B@omai{,nnm)
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2013 10: 18 PM
To: Adams, Amy
Cc: [e-mail]
Subject: Emailing: Poisoned Well.docx
Attachments: Poisoned Well.docx
Fn}rn: Billie W1a0sOD
Sent:3/14/I3
To: Amy Adams, DVV{Z
Subject: Vanceboro Limestone Mine Public Hearing, NPDES
Enclosed is a newspaper article about Benzene contamination in drinking water near a limestone mine that
occurred inDade County, Florida, that | mentioned 8ttoday's public hearing 8tB[CCinWashington, NC. It
was never proved how the Benzene got into the water. One theory still out is from unexploded blasting units
that, like firecrackers, don't always go off and so don't burn up their own contaminants, or that they were
stored inanarea that contaminated the drinking water.
I have not researched this as to if it is possible to occur with the Martin Marietta mine proposed near
Vanceboro, or the materials they use in blasting, however, when I read today at the public hearing in
Washington, NC, that NP[>ESneed tUissue apermit concerning water pollution and discharge, |remembered
this article and I wondered if such toxic contaminants or others could result as an unintentional byproduct of
the limestone blasting and mining process, and get into QnJund-vvater7
Also, see F|orida.6ierracluborg/miomi/cons—rockmiDing.@5p
Titled 2009-OUr drinking water and the Lakeb2lt issue, we have a victory! After 10 -year court battle the
Sierra Club vvoO with the US Army Corps of Engineers, concerning permitting Oflimestone mines in Florida, like
the one in the "poisoned xveU" incident described in the Miami Herald article. Sierra Club in 2010 cite many
good points to insist upon when determining mitigation requirements, such as short term use/long term
productivity of lost wetlands should be discussed in terms of functional losses overtime, also there should be
very close monitoring the entire depth of the quarry pits of effects on groundwater, permanent conservation
easements must be placed on all quarry pits, discussion of the natural resources and land uses in adjacent
area should have been included, decide the public should bear nncost when mine leaves, etc.
Your message isready tobesent with the following file 0rlink attachments:
PoiS0N8dVVe|idoCx

Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent sending Urreceiving certain types Of

The underwater blasting process itself will Inev—itab-I-y-gene benzene, accord—in- to court
testimony by Remmy Hennet, an independent geochemist brought in by the plaintiffs.
Combustion always produces benzene, he tells New Times, "even if it is olive oil.... That is well-
established science."
Meanwhile, in April, just before judge Hoeveler halted the mining, DERM and officials from
WASD — now led by John Renfrow — restarted the five production wells Brant had ordered
shut down. In an interview, Mayorga defended the move, saying that when the wells reopened,
benzene was not present. "Rock mining was still going on at that time," he said. "Benzene was
not detected at that time."
DERM Director Carlos Espinosa said the same in a November 15, 2007 response to questions
from county Commissioner Katy Sorenson: "It is worthwhile to note that since the reactivation
[of production wells I and 2], benzene has not been detected in the raw water,"
What they did not mention was that although there was no detectable contamination in the raw
water — which is drawn from the entire wellfield -®- benzene was in fact present in both wells
when they reopened in April. The chemical was also found in June, and in July — when it
reached 12 parts per billion, more than twice the amount that originally closed the wells down.
The next samples were taken in November, four months after mining was ordered shut down.
The benzene was gone.
Mayorga dismisses those findings as "residual contamination."
As to the original contamination, DERM officially concluded this past February that it was
"unable to identify the source." Espinosa insists DERM did everything it could to find it.
"The very fact that they failed to reach a conclusion shows the quality of the investigation and
what the county wanted to come out of it," said Brad Sewell, a lawyer for the environmentalists.
"How can you do an investigation into the finding of a carcinogen at above legally accepted
levels in the water supply ... and then, a year and a half later, close the books and say, 'Oh, we
didn't figure out what the problem was'?"
Asked why DERM never required the rock miners to account for the benzene that was likely
coming from their property, Espinosa said, "If we were going to sit there and argue with the rock
miners and their lawyers ... [when] there really wasn't data that you could point to as a smoking
gun, what do you do? If we determine that it is the rock miners, then we will go and recover the
cost.'"

What was contaminating our drinking water? Who knows - Dade officials
stopped looking.
A A A Comments (9) By Isaiah Thompson Thursday, Mar 20 2008
Miami New Times
Jeffrey Delannoy
The benzene contamination came to light only after activist Barbara Lange (pictured with
it while leafing through a public records request.
Jeffrey Delannoy
On his radio show, Miami. Lakes councilman and attorney Mike Pizzi has made it his mission to
go after WASD head John Renfrow (right).
Bill Brant, then -director of Miami -Dade County Water and Sewer Department, got the news
January 4, 2005: Benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, had been detected at a county water
treatment facility. It was coming from the Northwest Wellfield, which supplies the majority of
the county's drinking water. One of 15 wells there had registered benzene levels five times the
limit established by the Environmental Protection Agency. Somewhere, somehow, a dangerous
amount of the chemical had entered the water supply.
Click here to read some of Brant's testimony concerning the levels of benzene in our water
supply.
Benzene, used in everything from shaving cream to industrial lubricant, became a fuel additive in
the Sixties, which released it into the air and occasionally, when it spilled, into the water. In
1977, after exposure to the chemical was found to increase incidents of leukemia, it was listed by
the EPA as a hazardous pollutant.

The legal limit for benzene in drinking water is one part per billion. Brant's staff had found five
parts per billion in the water. Brant ordered the contaminated well — and four neighboring wells
— shut down until the source was detected. Within a few weeks, samples from a second well ---
now
now closed — also registered traces of benzene. By that time, Brant had already called for a full-
scale investigation, regardless of cost, which grew to nearly $1 million in a few months. The
– - — __ - --------
investigation might have cost the director his job.
A public servant for more than 30 years, Brant was hardly known for heroics. He was a
bureaucrat, a bean counter who rose through the ranks of the Water and Sewer Department
(WASD) and, before that, the county's Department of Environmental Resource Management
(DERM) slowly and unglamorously, one small, steady step at a time. Indeed many
environmentalists saw Brant as cautious to a fault, reluctant to rock the boat when county politics
and water science were at odds with each other.
Not this time. The discovery of benzene in the Northwest Wellfield, Brant would later testify in a
court hearing, deeply disturbed him, "Benzene didn't belong in our wellfield," he would say later.
"We were very alarmed,"
Had Brant had any inkling of what was to come, he might have been even more alarmed. The
investigation, which would consume the rest of his career in Miami, would never be completed.
The contamination continued for years and wasn't brought to the public's attention by the county.
Instead, facts brought to light in later testimony — as well as new findings by New Times —
suggest the mystery of benzene was never meant to be solved. Questions about what caused the
carcinogen to enter the water supply — and whether it could happen again — remain
unanswered.
South Florida depends on one source for all of its potable water: the vast underground sea of
clean, fresh water known as the Biscayne Aquifer. The majority of Miami's water — about 150
million gallons per day — is drawn from the Northwest Wellfield, a roughly 2,000 -acre area
situated in the muddy, desolate wetlands west of Florida's Turnpike.
The remote, half -wild location was supposed to ensure that Miami-Dade's drinking water would
be pumped from a source safe from contamination by development and industry. Until now, it
had worked.
But if it wasn't a spill, what was the cause? There is only one industrial presence in the area: rock
mining. The wellfield is bordered by rock mines owned by White Rock Quarries and Florida
Rock. As Brant's team followed the path of ever -higher concentrations of benzene, it led them
south and east — right to the rock mines.
F
enter email
Anyone considering moving to Mars might want to have a look at the White Rock quarry to get a
feel for the view. Situated directly between the communities of western Miami -Dade County and
the wellfield that supplies their water, the quarry is a vast, blinding expanse of white — the color
of crushed limestone — set against a backdrop of scraggly, grayish -green vegetation.

The quarry sits at the very end of NW 58th Street, past the seemingly endless strip malls, big -box
stores, and cookie -cutter subdivisions — all built with Florida limestone --- where the road
abruptly narrows and appears to end in the bushes. It doesn't end, though; behind the brush, it
opens onto another world.
Massive earth movers, caked in a gray crust of mud and dust, rumble along the road, hauling
piles of crushed limestone. Near the quarry entrance stands a shack, a small cafeteria for the
workers, its plastic tables outside turned gray with a coat of limestone powder. To the south is
the mining pit — a vast, almost perfectly square lake, its water an unnatural, almost turquoise
hue, stretching far into the distance.
It just so happens limestone, the same material that contains and naturally filters all of South
Florida's drinking water, makes great concrete. It has been mined in this area since the Fifties. In
the late Nineties, the Florida Legislature set aside for mining companies the so-called Lake Belt
region, of which the Northwest Wellfield is a part. The "lakes" are the result of blasting and are
large enough to be seen from space.
Florida produces and consumes more rock — crushed limestone in particular — than any other
state except California. Without the cheap rock coming out of the Everglades, the building of
South Florida as we know it today would not have been possible.
Florida's development boom gave the rock miners unprecedented wealth to invest. They bought
political influence, hiring high-profile lobbyists such as Ron Book, Ferri Barsh, former County
Manager Sergio Pereira, and Miami megalawyer Miguel De Grandy. In 2004, De Grandy
successfully lobbied the county commission to do away with requiring rock miners to hold
public hearings in order to obtain permits.
Among the sponsors of that ordinance was Commissioner Natacha Seiigs, one of the miners'
most loyal allies. In her 2004 re-election campaign, she received at least $2,500 from 13 donors
connected to the mining industry, including Barsh and De Grandy. In addition, in 2006, White
Rock Quarries and Barsh's law firm contributed a combined $10,000 to a committee fighting
Seijas's recall.
Brant's team had begun to suspect the benzene was coming from the rock mines. For one thing,
in an area otherwise devoid of development or industry, it was impossible not to notice the
proximity of the mines, whose operations had expanded right up to the edge of the wellfield.
Getting to the pumps required a drive through a rock mine.
Early in her investigation, Caveda passed through property leased by Florida Rock to get to a
monitoring well. She asked her escort, the environmental manager for the site, how the mining
process worked. She learned that as many as 40 four -inch -wide holes were drilled into the
ground, filled with explosives, and blown up. The holes, Caveda noted with special interest, were
drilled 60 feet deep — the same depth at which the highest levels of benzene were being found.
She began inquiring about the nature of the fuel the company used and learned that most of the

mining firms were using ANFO — ammonium nitrate fuel oil — of which a small constituent is
benzene.
The miners denied the blasting could have anything to do with the contamination. The
exvlosions were very Powerftil and very hot, they insisted, and consumed any potential waste
products such as benzene.
But there was reason to doubt that asssertion. One day, as Caveda was driving down 41 st Street
on her way to property leased by Florida Rock, she saw something that made her stop the
vehicle. "There was this big cloud of yellow smoke," she explained later in court. "A yellow
plume of some sort that floated across the road.... We stopped the car in the middle of the road.
said, 'I'm not driving through that because I don't know what it is."'
When she got to the mine, Caveda phoned Florida Rock and asked the company's environmental
manager about the cloud. He told her it had come from a failed explosion. "[He said], 'Oh it
happens all the time,"' Caveda testified. "No big deal from their perspective.... So that's when we
found out that, okay, well, we are putting diesel fuel in the ground and maybe sometimes we
can't explode it, so what happens now?"
The underwater blasting process itself will inevitably generate benzene, according to court
testimony by Remmy Hennet, an independent geochemist brought in by the plaintiffs.
Combustion always produces benzene, he tells New Times, "even if it is olive oil.... That is well-
established science."
Meanwhile, in April, just before judge Floeveler halted the mining, DERM and officials from
WASD — now led by John Renfrow — restarted the five production wells Brant had ordered
shut down. In an interview, Mayorga defended the move, saying that when the wells reopened,
benzene was not present. "Rock mining was still going on at that time," he said. "Benzene was
not detected at that time."
DERM Director Carlos Espinosa said the same in a November 15, 2007 response to questions
from county Commissioner Katy Sorenson: "It is worthwhile to note that since the reactivation
[of production wells I and 2], benzene has not been detected in the raw water."
What they did not mention was that although there was no detectable contamination in the raw
water — which is drawn from the entire wellfield — benzene was in fact present in both wells
when they reopened in April. The chemical was also found in June, and in July — when it
reached 12 parts per billion, more than twice the amount that originally closed the wells down.
The next samples were taken in November, four months after mining was ordered shut down.
The benzene was gone.

Mayorga dismisses those findings as "residual contamination."
As to the original contamination, DERM officially concluded this past February that it was
"unable to identify the source." Espinosa insists DERM did everything it could to find it.
"The very fact that they failed to reach a conclusion shows the quality of the investigation and
what the county wanted to come out of it," said Brad Sewell, a lawyer for the environmentalists.
"How can you do an investigation into the finding of a carcinogen at above legally accepted
levels in the water supply ... and then, a year and a half later, close the books and say, 'Oh, we
didn't figure out what the problem was'?"
Asked why DERM never required the rock miners to account for the benzene that was likely
coming from their property, Espinosa said, "If we were going to sit there and argue with the rock
miners and their lawyers ... [when] there really wasn't data that you could point to as a smoking
gun, what do you do? If we determine that it is the rock miners, then we will go and recover the
cost."
With the investigation officially concluded, though, that doesn't seem likely.
Espinosa is undoubtedly right about one thing: Crossing the rock miners, and their lawyers, is no
simple task. The mining companies immediately appealed Hoeveler's decision, and the matter is
still in litigation. Meanwhile, they've already applied for permits to resume blasting.
What are some problems involved with quarrying limestone?
Some problems are: 1. Dust pollution: the surrounding greenery is covered in a layer of dust 2. Noise
pollution: loud explosions every day 3. Lorries carrying limestone to and fro cause noise and pollution 4.
Quarries damage the landscape 5. Quarries destroy natural animal habitats etc etc.
Read more:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What are some problems involved with quarrying limestone#ixzzlxdrg
dDz
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iLirnestone-, A Crucial and

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®D Texans sse ation's abundance of limestone, there have been cement shortages in recent years.
° Utah
° SoMMbqte purest of natural limestones are marbles. For centuries, marble has been the decorative
° stqANpfighoice in government buildings and public statues. Travertine is also used as a dimension stone
in-WO$Wnd bletops. Some white limestone is simply crushed and sieved for use in landscaping and
roofing.
° West
Virginia,
P sJimestone is used to remove impurities from molten metals like steel. It can also remove toxic
co� from the exhaust of coal -burning power plants. Limestone is used as a filler in a variety of
products, including paper, plastic, and paint. The purest limestone is even used in foods and medicines
such as breakfast cereals and calcium pills.
Limestone is also the raw material for making lime (CaO) that is used to treat soils, purify water, and
smelt copper. Lime has many additional uses in the chemical industries.
Dolomites are commonly less suitable than other industrial limestones for most applications. Most
dolomite that is mined is simply crushed and sieved for use as aggregate in concrete or asphalt.
The Portland Cement Shortage
Portland cement is one of the most important products made from limestone. It is essential in many
construction applications. The United States is not self-sufficient in cement and must import it from
other countries to make up for shortfalls. Imports of clinker (the product from the first step in making
cement) and finished cement accounted for about 23% of total U.S. cement sales in 2006. In the years
just prior to 2007, Portland cement was in seriously short supply in the Nation. Competition from other

countries, an inadequate ocean transport system, and underestimated cargo space requirements were
among the causes.
When Portland cement was invery short supply, its price increased significantly. Consumers sought
-substitutes. They osedpresxu �
redesigned building footers to reduce the amount of cement needed. Cement shortages also caused
construction delays that resulted in increased costs for roads, bridges, and buildings,
Sources of Limestone in the Future
Establishing new limestone quarries and cement plants in the United States is slow process, and supply
shortfalls require time to correct. It takes about 2 years to build a new cement plant, and the permitting
process can take much longer -8 to 10 years. Perhaps an even more challenging problem is that people
may not welcome new quarries and plants to their area. In spite of these obstacles, many U.S. cement
companies are in the process of expanding and modernizing their operations.
When an area of suitable and mineable rock is swallowed up by urban growth or when mining becomes
prohibited by legislation or zoning, the result is called "resource sterilization." Limestone is a material of
national importance, and resource sterilization can result inalonger haul at ahigher cost from quarry 10
customer.
Limestone Production Patterns
Most of the limestone that is mined is crushed for aggregate, The majority of U.S. crushed stone
production has come from limestone for at least the last 40 years. This is true even though carbonate
rocks are only 2Sto3S%ofthe rocks atthe surface.
U.S. crushed stone operations have been declining in number, about 20% loss per decade since 1971.
However, from 2001 through 2006, total annual U.S. limestone production increased according to U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries, so the average size of a quarry is increasing.
In other parts of the world, new production is coming mainly from a few very large quarries. Despite
increased U.S. production, the Nation was importing more and more of its limestone products until the
recent downturn in construction. These imports come primarily from Canada, Mexico, and China. With
fewer quarries the average haul distance will increase, and limestone prices will likely increase once
more.

- L-Lim-estone is most often mitred from a quarry. However, underground limestone mines are found -at -
places in the central and eastern United States, especially in and near cities. Underground mining of
limestone has some advantages over surface quarrying and will probably increase in the future. Typical
public concerns about limestone mining include dust, noise, blasting vibration, and truck and other
traffic associated with quarry operations.
Some limestones are also aquifers, that is, they are rock units that can yield water to wells. Where
limestone is an aquifer, there can be concerns that contaminants from the quarrying operations could
escape into the ground water.
In many areas of the United States where limestone is found, it gradually dissolves in rainwater at the
surface or in the near -surface ground water. In humid climates, great volumes of limestone dissolve and
are carried away in the water. This creates caves, and sinkholes may develop where cave ceilings
collapse. In cavernous limestone aquifers, contaminants in ground water move much faster than in
other types of rocks, so quarries in such areas are special concerns.
The Need to Understand an Essential Resource
Limestone is among our Nation's most essential resources. Our understanding of that resource as an
industrial mineral is poor given its importance to our economy. Because limestone has been regarded as
a "common" rock, earlier geologic research was limited in scope. in the past, most USGS research on
limestone has focused on mapping deposits, as well as understanding their roles as aquifers and
petroleum reservoirs. However, different data are needed to characterize limestone suitable for
construction and other industries. Carbonate rocks need to meet chemical purity requirements that vary
by intended use. Some uses require that the limestone also has certain favorable engineering
properties. Standards and requirements for limestone use are rising, and a greater understanding of
limestone characteristics, variability, and engineering properties is needed.
Some limestones in the United Sates that are otherwise suitable for mining and use, such as limestones
in many parts of Alaska, are currently too distant from markets to be profitable. It is important, though,
to catalog such rocks as possible future resources.

Both geologic and economic limits will certainly affect future supplies of limestone. The United States
presently consumes between 5 and 10% of the global production of industrial limestone. In 2007,
domestic production of industrial limestone was about 1.3 billion metric tons, valued atmore than $25
billion. In the same year, the Nation imported about 430,000 metric tons of industrial limestone and
limestone products, valued at about $2.2 billion. Most of these imports were Portland cement.
Meeting the challenge of supplying America's needs for essential mineral commodities such as industrial
limestone requires accurate and unbiased scientific data. The ongoing work of scientists with the USGS
Mineral Resources Program provides the information crucial to the creation of sound policies that will
help ensure future supplies of mineral resources.

Adams, Amy
From: Billiejean Mallison fbilliejean,@omail, oom]
Sent: Thursday, March 14.2013 10:28PK4
To: Adams, Amy
Cc: biUkejean.ennuhson
Subject: EnxaNng:Poisoned VVe|C2doox
From: Billie04aUison
Sent March I4,ZO13
To: Amy Adams, DVV(}
Subject: This is2nd document I am ennailing you. I just sent you an attachment but I don't know if the
complete article went toyou. See above at±achrnent.To find the article, |goo@ledPoisoned Well, hxIsaiah
Thompson, Miami New Times, March 2O,2OO8.
Your message isready tobesent with the following file orlink attachments:
PnisonedVVeU2.doCx
Note: To protect against computer viruses, e-mail programs may prevent sending or receiving certain types of

PoisonedWell* **Miami New Times, by Isaiah Thompson, March 20, 2008
_____Mt._underwate_r_bIasting process itself will inevitably generate benzene, according -to court
testimony by Remmy Hennet, an independent geochemist brought in by the plaintiffs.
Combustion always produces benzene, he tells New Times, "even if it is olive oil.... That is well-
established science."
Meanwhile, in April, just before judge Hoeveler halted the mining, DERM and officials from
WASD — now led by John Renfrow — restarted the five production wells Brant had ordered
shut down. In an interview, Mayorga defended the move, saying that when the wells reopened,
benzene was not present. "Rock mining was still going on at that time," he said. "Benzene was
not detected at that time."
DERM Director Carlos Espinosa said the same in a November 15, 2007 response to questions
from county Commissioner Katy Sorenson: "It is worthwhile to note that since the reactivation
[of production wells I and 2], benzene has not been detected in the raw water."
What they did not mention was that although there was no detectable contamination in the raw
water -- which is drawn from the entire wellfield — benzene was in fact present in both wells
when they reopened in April. The chemical was also found in June, and in July — when it
reached 12 parts per billion, more than twice the amount that originally closed the wells down.
The next samples were taken in November, four months after mining was ordered shut down.
The benzene was gone.
Mayorga dismisses those findings as "residual contamination."
As to the original contamination, DERM officially concluded this past February that it was
"unable to identify the source." Espinosa insists DERM did everything it could to find it.
"The very fact that they failed to reach a conclusion shows the quality of the investigation and
what the county wanted to come out of it," said Brad Sewell, a lawyer for the environmentalists.
"How can you do an investigation into the finding of a carcinogen at above legally accepted
levels in the water supply ... and then, a year and a half later, close the books and say, 'Oh, we
didn't figure out what the problem was'?"
Asked why DERM never required the rock miners to account for the benzene that was likely
coming from their property, Espinosa said, "If we were going to sit there and argue with the rock
miners and their lawyers ... [when] there really wasn't data that you could point to as a smoking
gun, what do you do? If we determine that it is the rock miners, then we will go and recover the
cost."

What was contaminating our drinking water? Who knows - Dade officia.
stopped looking. i
A A A Comments (9) By Isaiah Thompson Thursday, Mar 20 2008
Miami New Times
Jeffrey Delannoy
The benzene contamination came to light only after activist Barbara Lange (pictured with
it while leafing through a public records request.
Jeffrey Delannoy
On his radio show, Miami Lakes councilman and attorney Mike Pizzi has made it his mission to
go after WASD head John Renfrow (right).
Bill Brant, then -director of Miami -Dade County Water and Sewer Department, got the news
January 4, 2005: Benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, had been detected at a county water
treatment facility. It was coming from the Northwest Wellfield, which supplies the majority of
the county's drinking water. One of 15 wells there had registered benzene levels five times the
limit established by the Environmental Protection Agency. Somewhere, somehow, a dangerous
amount of the chemical had entered the water supply.
Click here to read some of Brant's testimony concerning the levels of benzene in our water
supply.
Benzene, used in everything from shaving cream to industrial lubricant, became a fuel additive in
the Sixties, which released it into the air and occasionally, when it spilled, into the water. In
1977, after exposure to the chemical was found to increase incidents of leukemia, it was listed by
the EPA as a hazardous pollutant.

The legal limit for benzene in drinking water is one part per billion. Brant's staff had found five
parts per billion in the water. Brant ordered the contaminated well — and four neighboring wells
— shut down until the source was detected. Within a few weeks, samples from a second well —
now closed — also registered traces of benzene. By that time, Brant had already called for a full-
---__ scale_investigation,.regardless
ull-
scale-in-v-e&4ation,-r..egardless of cost, which grew to nearly.$ 1, million in a few months. The
investigation might have cost the director his job.
A public servant for more than 30 years, Brant was hardly known for heroics. He was a
bureaucrat, a bean counter who rose through the ranks of the Water and Sewer Department
(WASD) — and, before that, the county's Department of Environmental Resource Mana Management
(DERM) — slowly and unglamorously, one small, steady step at a time. Indeed many
environmentalists saw Brant as cautious to a fault, reluctant to rock the boat when county politics
and water science were at odds with each other.
Not this time. The discovery of benzene in the Northwest Wellfield, Brant would later testify in a
court hearing, deeply disturbed him. "Benzene didn't belong in our wellfield," he would say later.
"We were very alarmed."
Had Brant had any inkling of what was to come, he might have been even more alarmed. The
investigation, which would consume the rest of his career in Miami, would never be completed.
The contamination continued for years and wasn't brought to the public's attention by the county.
Instead, facts brought to light in later testimony — as well as new findings by New Times —
suggest the mystery of benzene was never meant to be solved. Questions about what caused the
carcinogen to enter the water supply — and whether it could happen again — remain
unanswered.
South Florida depends on one source for all of its potable water: the vast underground sea of
clean, fresh water known as the Biscayne Aquifer. The majority of Miami's water — about 150
million gallons per day — is drawn from the Northwest Wellfield, a roughly 2,000 -acre area
situated in the muddy, desolate wetlands west of Florida's Turnpike.
The remote, half -wild location was supposed to ensure that Miami-Dade's drinking water would
be pumped from a source safe from contamination by development and industry. Until now, it
had worked.
But if it wasn't a spill, what was the cause? There is only one industrial presence in the area: rock
mining. The wellfield is bordered by rock mines owned by White Rock Quarries and Florida
Rock. As Brant's team followed the path of ever -higher concentrations of benzene, it led them
south and east — right to the rock mines.
enter email
Anyone considering moving to Mars might want to have a look at the White Rock quarry to get a
feel for the view. Situated directly between the communities of western Miami -Dade County and
the wellfield that supplies their water, the quarry is a vast, blinding expanse of white — the color
of crushed limestone — set against a backdrop of scraggly, grayish -green vegetation.

The quarry sits at the very end of NW 58th Street, past the seemingly endless strip malls, big -box
stores, and cookie -cutter subdivisions — all built with Florida limestone — where the road
abruptly narrows and appears to end in the bushes. It doesn't end, though; behind the brush, it
opens onto another world.
Massive earth movers, caked in a gray crust of mud and dust, rumble along the road, hauling
piles of crushed limestone. Near the quarry entrance stands a shack, a small cafeteria for the
workers, its plastic tables outside turned gray with a coat of limestone powder. To the south is
the mining pit — a vast, almost perfectly square lake, its water an unnatural, almost turquoise
hue, stretching far into the distance.
It just so happens limestone, the same material that contains and naturally filters all of South
Florida's drinking water, makes great concrete. It has been mined in this area since the Fifties. In
the late Nineties, the Florida Legislature set aside for mining companies the so-called Lake Belt
region, of which the Northwest Wellfield is a part. The "lakes" are the result of blasting and are
large enough to be seen from space.
Florida produces and consumes more rock -® crushed limestone in particular — than any other
state except California. Without the cheap rock coming out of the Everglades, the building of
South Florida as we know it today would not have been possible.
Florida's development boom gave the rock miners unprecedented wealth to invest. They bought
political influence, hiring high-profile lobbyists such as Ron Book, Kerri Barsh, former County
Manager Sergio Pereira, and Miami megalawyer Miguel De Grandy. In 2004, De Grandy
successfully lobbied the county commission to do away with requiring rock miners to hold
public hearings in order to obtain permits.
Among the sponsors of that ordinance was Commissioner Natacha Sei - jas, one of the miners'
most loyal allies. In her 2004 re-election campaign, she received at least $2,500 from 13 donors
connected to the mining industry, including Barsh and De Grandy. In addition, in 2006, White
Rock Quare-ies and Barsh's law firm contributed a combined $10,000 to a committee fighting
Seijas's recall.
Brant's team had begun to suspect the benzene was coming from the rock mines. For one thing,
in an area other -wise devoid of development or industry, it was impossible not to notice the
proximity of the mines, whose operations had expanded right up to the edge of the wellfield.
Getting to the pumps required a drive through a rock mine.
Early in her investigation, Caveda passed through property leased by Florida Rock to get to a
monitoring well. She asked her escort, the environmental manager for the site, how the mining
process worked. She learned that as many as 40 four -inch -wide holes were drilled into the
ground, filled with explosives, and blown up. The holes, Caveda noted with special interest, were
drilled 60 feet deep — the same depth at which the highest levels of benzene were being found.
She began inquiring about the nature of the fuel the company used and learned that most of the

mining firms were using ANFO — ammonium nitrate fuel oil -- of which a small constituent is
benzene.
The miners denied the blasting could have anything to do with the contamination. The
--explosions -were-very powerftil and very hot, they insisted, and consumed any -potential waste
products such as benzene.
But there was reason to doubt that asssertion. One day, as Caveda was driving down 41 st Street
on her way to property leased by Florida Rock, she saw something that made her stop the
vehicle. "There was this big cloud of yellow smoke," she explained later in court. "A yellow
plume of some sort that floated across the road.... We stopped the car in the middle of the road. I
said, 'I'm not driving through that because I don't know what it is."'
When she got to the mine, Caveda phoned Florida Rock and asked the company's environmental
manager about the cloud. lie told her it had come from a failed explosion. "[He said], 'Oh it
happens all the time,"' Caveda testified. "No big deal from their perspective.... So that's when we
found out that, okay, well, we are putting diesel fuel in the ground and maybe sometimes we
can't explode it, so what happens now?"
The underwater blasting process itself will inevitably generate benzene, according to court
testimony by Remmy Hermet, an independent geochemist brought in by the plaintiffs.
Combustion always produces benzene, he tells New Times, "even if it is olive oil.... That is well-
established science."
Meanwhile, in April, just before judge Hoeveler halted the mining, DERM and officials from
WASD — now led by John Renfrow — restarted the five production wells Brant had ordered
shut down. In an interview, Mayorga defended the move, saying that when the wells reopened,
benzene was not present. "Rock mining was still going on at that time," he said. "Benzene was
not detected at that time."
DERM Director Carlos Espinosa said the same in a November 15, 2007 response to questions
from county Commissioner Katy Sorenson: "It is worthwhile to note that since the reactivation
[of production wells I and 2], benzene has not been detected in the raw water,"
What they did not mention was that although there was no detectable contamination in the raw
water — which is drawn from the entire wellfield — benzene was in fact present in both wells
when they reopened in April. The chemical was also found in June, and in July — when it
reached 12 parts per billion, more than twice the amount that originally closed the wells down.
The next samples were taken in November, four months after mining was ordered shut down.
The benzene was gone.

Mayorga dismisses those findings as "residual contamination."
As to the original contamination, DERM officially concluded this past February that it was
"unable to identify the source." Espinosa insists DERM did everything it could to find it.
"The very fact that they failed to reach a conclusion shows the quality of the investigation and
what the county wanted to come out of it," said Brad Sewell, a lawyer for the environmentalists.
"How can you do an investigation into the finding of a carcinogen at above legally accepted
levels in the water supply ... and then, a year and a half later, close the books and say, 'Oh, we
didn't figure out what the problem was'?"
Asked why DERM never required the rock miners to account for the benzene that was likely
coming from their property, Espinosa said, "If we were going to sit there and argue with the rock
miners and their lawyers ... [when] there really wasn't data that you could point to as a smoking
gun, what do you do? If we determine that it is the rock miners, then we will go and recover the
cost."
With the investigation officially concluded, though, that doesn't seem likely.
Espinosa is undoubtedly right about one thing: Crossing the rock miners, and their lawyers, is no
simple task. The mining companies immediately appealed Hoeveler's decision, and the matter is
still in litigation. Meanwhile, they've already applied for permits to resume blasting.
What are some problems involved with quarrying limestone?
Some problems are: 1. Dust pollution: the surrounding greenery is covered in a layer of dust 2. Noise
pollution: loud explosions every day 3. Lorries carrying limestone to and fro cause noise and pollution 4.
Quarries damage the landscape S. Quarries destroy natural animal habitats etc etc.
Read more:
http:l„Ilimestone#ixzzlxdrgy
wiki.answers.com/Q/What are some problems involved with quarrying
dDz
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Advertising Home >> Rocks >> Limestone
Categories -W 0 sto0 ” Cruc*al and
Limene. A I

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such as breakfast cereals and calcium pills.
Limestone is also the raw material for making lime (CaO) that is used to treat soils, purify water, and
smelt copper. Lime has many additional uses inthe chemical industries.
Dolomites are commonly less suitable than other industrial limestones for mostapplications. Most
dolomite that is mined issimply crushed and sieved for use as aggregate in concrete orasphalt.
The Portland Cement Shortage
Portland cement isone ofthe most important products made from limestone. Itisessential inmany
construction applications. The United States is not self-sufficient in cement and must import it from
other countries to make up for shortfalls. Imports of clinker (the product from the first step in making
cement) and finished cement accounted for about 23% of total U.S. cement sales in 2006. In the years
just prior to 2007, Portland cement was in seriously short supply in the Nation. Competition from other

countries, an inadequate ocean transport system, and underestimated cargo space requirements were
among the causes.
When Portland cement was in very short supply, its price increased significantly. Consumers sought
-substitutes. They used pressure-troated wood, insulated- steel, and polystyrene-iry-panels, and -even
redesigned building footers to reduce the amount of cement needed. Cement shortages also caused
construction delays that resulted in increased costs for roads, bridges, and buildings.
Sources of Limestone in the Future
Establishing new limestone quarries and cement plants in the United States is a slow process and supply
shortfalls require time to correct. It takes about 2 years to build a new cement plant, and the permitting
process can take much longer -8 to 10 years. Perhaps an even more challenging problem is that people
may not welcome new quarries and plants to their area. In spite of these obstacles, many U.S. cement
companies are inthe process ofexpanding and modernizing their operations.
When an area of suitable and mineable rock is swallowed up by urban growth or when mining becomes
prohibited by legislation or zoning, the result is called "resource sterilization." Limestone is a material of
national importance, and resource sterilization can result in a longer haul ata higher cost from quarry to
customer.
Limestone Production Patterns
Most of the limestone that is mined is crushed for aggregate. The majority of U.S. crushed stone
production has come from limestone for at least the last 40 years. This is true even though carbonate
rocks are only 25to35Y6ofthe rocks atthe surface.
US.crushed stone operations have been declining innumber, about 2U% loss per decade since 1Q71.
However, from IOO1through 2OO6 total annual U.S.limestone production increased according to U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries, so the average size of a quarry is increasing.
In other parts of the world, new production is coming mainly from a few very large quarries. Despite
increased U.S. production, the Nation was importing more and more of its limestone products until the
recent downturn in construction. These imports come primarily from Canada, Mexico, and China. With
fewer quarries the average haul distance will increase, and limestone prices will likely increase once
more.

Some Issues in Limestone Mining
Limestone is most often mined from a quarry. However, underground limestone mines are foLmd_at
places in the central and eastern United States, especially in and near cities. Underground mining of
limestone has some advantages over surface quarrying and will probably increase in the future. Typical
public concerns about limestone mining include dust, noise, blasting vibration, and truck and other
traffic associated with quarry operations.
Some limestones are also aquifers, that is, they are rock units that can yield water to wells. Where
limestone is an aquifer, there can be concerns that contaminants from the quarrying operations could
escape into the ground water.
In many areas of the United States where limestone is found, it gradually dissolves in rainwater at the
surface or in the near -surface ground water. In humid climates, great volumes of limestone dissolve and
are carried away in the water. This creates caves, and sinkholes may develop where cave ceilings
collapse. In cavernous limestone aquifers, contaminants in ground water move much faster than in
other types of rocks, so quarries in such areas are special concerns.
The Need to Understand an Essential Resource
Limestone is among our Nation's most essential resources. Our understanding of that resource as an
industrial mineral is poor given its importance to our economy. Because limestone has been regarded as
a "common" rock, earlier geologic research was limited in scope. In the past, most USGS research on
limestone has focused on mapping deposits, as well as understanding their roles as aquifers and
petroleum reservoirs. However, different data are needed to characterize limestone suitable for
construction and other industries. Carbonate rocks need to meet chemical purity requirements that vary
by intended use. Some uses require that the limestone also has certain favorable engineering
properties. Standards and requirements for limestone use are rising, and a greater understanding of
limestone characteristics, variability, and engineering properties is needed.
Some limestones in the United Sates that are otherwise suitable for mining and use, such as limestones
in many parts of Alaska, are currently too distant from markets to be profitable. It is important, though,
to catalog such rocks as possible future resources.
U.S. Industrial Consumption of Limestonc

Both geologic and economic |innbs will certainly affect future supplies oflimestone. The United States
presently consumes between 5 and 10% of the global production of industrial limestone. In 2007,
dom-estic production of -industrial limestone was about 1.3 billion metric tons, valued at more -than -$25
billion. |nthe same year, the Nation imported about 43O,0]Umetric tons ofindustrial limestone and
limestone products, valued at about $2.2 billion. Most of these imports were Portland cement.
Meeting the challenge of supplying America's needs for essential mineral commodities such as industrial
limestone requires accurate and unbiased scientific data. The ongoing work of scientists with the USGS
Mineral Resources Program provides the information crucial tothe creation ofsound policies that will
help ensure future supplies of mineral resources.