Quarry concerns: Homeowners ready to fight possible development

Noretta Blattner lives in a big stone house along County Road 319, on a farm her family has owned for more than 100 years. There are two ponds, some cattle and a lot of open land.

Now Blattner and her neighbors are organizing to fight what would be the biggest development ever along the road -- the possible conversion of 106 acres of farmland into a stone quarry.

She and her neighbors envision constant blasting, clouds of rock dust and fleets of dump trucks forever altering the quiet area. The thought, she said, makes her so nervous that she sleeps little and eats less. Blattner said she's lost eight pounds since learning that a quarry could come to her neighborhood.

"It is a very crucial thing in the lives of all the people around here," Blattner said. "We are going to fight it. We don't want our level of existence to cease."

But Blattner and her supporters -- 18 people joined her Monday when she took her concerns to the Cape Girardeau County Commission -- are acting on an assumption rather than facts, said J.W. Strack, owner of Strack Stone and Strack Excavating on Highway 74.

Strack doesn't deny his interest in the property. And test drilling on the site is designed to determine if it is suitable for a quarry, he said. But he also is considering developing a subdivision on the property, he said.

"I have not made no decision on what we are doing," Strack said. "I have not purchased the property."

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Noretta Blattner held an illustration of the effects of a rock quarry Monday. Blattner and others had maps and diagrams on hand to support their arguement against the quarry.

The property in question is the farm of the late Smith Randol. The farm has been for sale for the past year and a half since Randol's death, Strack said.

If he moves ahead with the quarry, Strack said he must seek federal and state permits. He needs a mining permit from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. He also needs a DNR air quality permit as well.

When he applies for the mining permit, he must advertise his application and notify adjacent landowners. A comment period would then begin.

He said that if he decides to build a subdivision, he doesn't need a permit from anyone, that there are no regulations about housing density or lot size and that he would be under no obligation to accept comments from anyone.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Noretta Blattner and other concerned neighbors of a proposed rock quarry stood near the site where well drilling equipment was at work Monday on Route K.

"The possibilities are way out there on anything and everything," Strack said. "I don't know. It is too early to give specifics."

But for Blattner and other opponents, it isn't too early. They said they have 600 signatures on a petition opposing a quarry, and have held two neighborhood meetings to discuss the issue. They have approached businesses and schools for up to two miles in every direction -- Notre Dame Regional High School and Eagle Christian School are a few miles away on Route K -- and claim almost universal opposition.

They are searching for environmental sites such as wetlands, cultural sites such as cemeteries and information about quarry-related problems such as damage to underground water supplies to shore up their position.

"We all have wells," Blattner said as she was stood with her husband, David, in the kitchen of their home with four neighbors. "We don't want them to run dry."

To build political support, Blattner and her supporters spent nearly an hour explaining their stand to county commissioners, who said they sympathize and offered advice on how to block a quarry.

Real estate agent Jane Perry said she has a $1 million home on County Road 318. Perry, who is also a registered nurse, has lived at her home for 20 years. "I cannot imagine the respiratory impact of the children. I am definitely opposed to this."

The county has little power over development, said Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, who reminded the group of the landslide defeat of planning and zoning. "This is exactly why we need planning and zoning," he said. "I've said all along, it's going to take a big issue to change their minds."

He advised the group to call Ken Eftink, Cape Girardeau's planning services director, to get involved in the city's effort to institute peripheral planning rules beyond the city limits. The city Planning and Zoning Commission has a meeting on the issue set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at city hall, 401 Independence St.

If a quarry is going in, the company will need a site disturbance permit, Jones said. Many times those are issued as a routine matter, he said. "You don't want them to issue a site disturbance permit," he said.

Jones also advised the group to get a lawyer "that's very well-versed in civil matters. Take this guy to court. Tie him up. Don't let him start digging dirt."

Associate Commissioners Larry Bock and Jay Purcell agreed to support the group. Purcell, who has a home nearby, suggested the commission sent a letter to the quarry developer, inviting him to a meeting. The county "should extend the courtesy to ask, 'What do you intend? What is the magnitude?'," he said

The extent that public pressure can exert on the permitting process is unclear. A quarry would need an air pollution permit, and Chia-wei Young, an environmental engineer with DNR, said that permit isn't designed to accept public comment. Instead, he said, the department determines if enough dust escapes the site to violate pollution standards. If the plan tests are OK, he said, the permit is issued.

Concerns about pollution and noise are overblown, Strack said. At his Highway 74 quarry, he said he blasts about twice a month. And he lives next door to the quarry, he said.

And with commercial development as close as the DI Supply buildings at the intersection of Route K and County Road 319, no one can say he's setting up a business in an area that is strictly residential, Strack said.

"Everyone has their right to their opinion," Strack said. "I hope I am not causing any undue stress to anyone. We are a business."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126

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