Residents complain about quarry

Larry Miller's cattle farm used to be surrounded by trees.

Now the trees are disappearing, Dog Creek runs cloudy, and every rain brings muddy runoff onto his land. On dry days, the valley fills with dust, Miller said.

He blames Neelys Landing Quarry, operating near Miller's farm in the northeast corner of Cape Girardeau County. The quarry, in operation since the early 1900s, was bought by Jackson-based MMD Stone in 2002.

"There's better ways of doing things than just creating a hell of a mess," Miller said.

He and his wife, Patty, were among nearly two dozen residents who met Thursday in Jackson with state Department of Natural Resources officials and Marshall Hardison, MMD Stone manager. The hearing was held as part of the state permit process for the quarry to expand the acreage it can use.

Patty Miller told Hardison she is unhappy with the experience of walking "out of your back door and you look and what used to be lush green trees and hillside and the first thing you see every morning is a 200-foot mud mountain with nothing planted on it."

Hardison said he's doing everything possible to follow state and federal guidelines for lane use and pollution limits for air and water. He said he was thought the Millers' problems had been resolved.

"I'm still not sure why the runoff's still going on Larry's land," Hardison said later. "That upsets me."

In April, MMD Stone applied to the Department of Natural Resources for permits to use 187 acres, including a renewal for 47 acres already being used. DNR officials confirmed that six acres included in the new permit request were already being excavated, which also upset residents. The state did not fine the company but did require a permit application, according to Bill Zeaman, the DNR environmental specialist who conducted Thursday's public hearing.

The quarry has received 58 citations for violations from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration since 2004, including 15 in October and seven in May. Citations issued this year have not yet been resolved.

Hardison told residents he was working to address all their concerns, though some solutions might be too expensive. He said the wet summer had hampered some efforts; however, Hardison, DNR officials present and the residents agreed rainy weather helped reduce dust complaints.

MMD's permit request is scheduled for a Sept. 25 DNR hearing in Jefferson City, Zeaman said. He said permits must be granted if the request meets the requirements of the state's application. He could recall only two permits being denied in the last several years.

Zeaman, who told residents he could understand their plight, said DNR has only five people to monitor 850 sites in the state.

"We do rely on people like yourselves to let us know when there's a problem," Zeaman said. He also suggested that residents express their concerns to other state agencies, such as the air and water pollution control offices, or to federal agencies, such as MSHA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency or Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Larry Miller had asked Cape Girardeau County commissioners to attend Thursday's meeting. Though all three said they would try to attend, only 2nd District Commissioner Jay Purcell was there, as well as two candidates for the 1st District commissioner's seat, Democrat Pat Wissman and Republican Tom Allen. Purcell asked if results of the meeting would be available to the public. Zeaman said a summary would be mailed to those who attended and added to the permit request. He said if others wanted copies, they could submit a Sunshine Law request to the department.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127

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