Group voices concerns about proposed quarry near Saxony Lutheran school

EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to a source error, the number of complaints made about Strack Excavating to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources reported was

incorrect. There have been 24 concerns made about Strack to the DNR Southeast Regional Office, according to a DNR spokesman. This story has now been corrected to reflect that.

More than 350 people packed into the Saxony Lutheran High School gym to learn more about how a proposed limestone quarry could negatively effect the Fruitland community.

The newly formed Community Protection Society, which sponsored the meeting, has set a fundraising goal of $60,000 it says is needed to fight the quarry development planned on 99 acres recently purchased by Strack Excavating.

Information was presented on the effects of quarry mining on the local water supply, air quality and property values.

"Unfortunately there are a lot more questions than answers at this point," said J.D. Lochmann, a Fruitland resident who led Tuesday's meeting.

This week, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources set up a website, dnr.mo.gov/env/fruitland.htm, dedicated to providing information related to the proposed quarry projects in Fruitland.

Although two companies, Strack Excavating and Heartland Materials, have discussed quarry projects, the only permit filed with DNR is an air quality permit for Strack Excavating at a site off County Road 601 near Saxony Lutheran High School.

"We are concerned about our students and their families, and we're concerned about our faculty," said Jim Maevers, chairman of the board of regents for Saxony High School. "We are concerned with the considerable investment that our 25 member churches have made to give young people in this area a Christian education."

Maevers said the school supports the effort to stop the quarry.

According to Lochmann, the proposed quarry site is 600 feet from the nearest athletic field at Saxony and 1,400 feet from the center of the school's campus. It is 1,200 feet from the nearest subdivision on Eli Drive.

"We're not so much concerned about a quarry coming to Fruitland," Lochmann said. "The problem is the location."

Lochmann discussed the permitting process and instructed the supporters how to contact DNR during its 15-day comment period after the permit application has been filed and published.

Lochmann said 44 complaints have been filed against Strack Excavating since May 12, 2008, according to information from the DNR. The company also owns a quarry off Highway 74 near the Dalhousie subdivision. A DNR spokesman later said only 24 complaints had been filed.

"They may not be a good neighbor for Fruitland," he said.

Jeff Timmerman, who lives on County Road 205 near the Strack quarry, said the blasting caused the septic tank at his home to collapse and caused cracks in the stone house and driveway.

"When they blast, we feel it," Timmerman said.

He advised residents to have their homes, wells and septic tanks inspected before the quarry goes in. He also suggested testing for radon.

Whether Strack Excavating will be allowed to redirect Hubble Creek, which runs through the proposed quarry site, was asked by Gene Schlick of Fruitland.

Lochmann said the company could be required to do an environmental-impact or wildlife study. Others asked if Hubble Creek might be home to any endangered species.

Noretta Blattner urged the residents of Fruitland to stick together throughout this process, saying she'd fought a potential Strack quarry development near her home on County Road 319 two years ago.

"You have to put pressure on this guy because he really doesn't have a heart for what is going on," Blattner said. "You have to keep on your knees and pray a lot."

The Lutheran churches that support Saxony High School should also rally behind this effort, she said.

"I don't know why the Lutheran churches just don't have tons of people here tonight because the enrollment of Saxony is going to plummet if this goes through," she said.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

County Road 601, Fruitland, MO