Both sides in quarry dispute ask for summary judgment

More motions have been filed in Cole County Circuit Court as legal maneuvers continue to try to stop a quarry already beginning operations near Saxony Lutheran High School.

Both Saxony Lutheran High School and Heartland Materials late last week filed motions for summary judgment in Saxony's suit asking a judge to review the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Land Reclamation Commission's decision in February to grant a mining permit to Heartland Materials.

Motions for summary judgment ask the court to make a decision based on available evidence, without further proceedings.

Company spokesman Danny Dumey of Benton, Mo., said with all its permits in hand for the 17-acre mine, the company has already had an initial blast at the quarry site and have sold rock produced there.

More than $500,000 worth of equipment has been ordered for Heartland Materials' new quarry and will soon be delivered, he said.

During the first blast, which occurred before the new school year, Dumey said seismometers were set up. They showed vibration levels well below the maximum allowed by law, he said.

Now that school is in session, blasting in the quarry will occur after school hours, Dumey said. Once it is fully operational, the Heartland Materials quarry will have about eight full-time employees and 20 part-time employees called in on an as-needed basis, Dumey said.

Saxony and a group of Fruitland residents, Save Our Children's Health Inc., hope the judge will take away Heartland Materials' mining permit and send the matter back before the Land Reclamation Commission.

They also want the judge to direct the commission to grant them an hearing to make their case before a DNR hearing officer who would then advise the Land Reclamation Commission whether to issue the permit.

That type of hearing took place this summer involving another quarry developer with land near Saxony, Strack Excavating.

The DNR hearing officer in the Strack case is expected to make a recommendation to the Land Reclamation Commission at its Sept. 22 meeting in Jefferson City.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

County Road 601, Jackson, MO