Quarry opponents, developers will be at Calhoun meeting

The Daily Post-Athenian
Jason Reynolds, Staff Writer

More flyers have been distributed around the Calhoun area that rail against a proposed rock quarry, and one of the people involved in the venture plans to attend the next Calhoun City Commission meeting to defend the project.

“It’s great for McMinn County, or I wouldn’t be involved in it,” said Charleston businessman Ross Tarver. “We want to be forthcoming with information.”

The Calhoun Commission meets next Monday at 6 p.m. The quarry is being proposed for a site on Bowater Road, or State Highway 163 near the Hiwassee River, which is close to but outside Calhoun’s city limits. Tarver said he is the current owner of the 503-acre site where the quarry would be located. The property address is 130 County Road 971, or Oostanaula Valley Road, according to state documents.

Calhoun Mayor Gary Barham declined to comment for this story.

The quarry would operate as East Tennessee Materials Quarry, according to Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation documents. The operation would mine and process limestone. TDEC is seeking public comments on the quarry through Sept. 20.

Previous flyers denouncing the quarry prompted Tim Townhill, an investor in the project, to appear before the McMinn County Commission last month and describe his plans. Now, at least two more flyers are being distributed around the area, and Tarver said he plans to attend the Calhoun meeting in case people show up to discuss the quarry. He called the flyers “fictional material.”

The flyers do not identify their writer, but one does give an anonymous e-mail address for sharing information. One of the recent flyers says 264 trucks driving daily to and from the quarry would damage the roads, and posed a rhetorical question asking if East Tennessee Materials would post a bond to guarantee the roads would be repaired. The flyer also says the quarry would build a road leading into Calhoun.

One flyer also says blasting at the quarry will be felt for at least five miles away and asks how much dynamite will be stored there, and connects the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City with rock quarry blasting materials. The five-mile blasting citation is not true, Tarver said. The quarry will use a controlled blasting technique, he said, and the blasting work will be done by contractors, so no dynamite will be stored on-site.

Tarver said it’s true the rock quarry would generate a lot of truck traffic, but the trucks would only use Highway 163. A lot of truck traffic would mean the quarry is generating a lot of business, which would be good for employment and for generating tax revenue for the county, he said.

The quarry would take water out of the Oostanaula Creek and return water to the creek after it is filtered, Tarver said. State and federal environmental guidelines regulate that process to ensure there is no harm to the creek, he said.

Townhill, an investor in the proposed quarry, previously said the quarry could generate up to 20 direct jobs, plus truck driving jobs. A ready-mix cement plant also could be built. He said he expected to receive state environmental permits by October and to begin operations by spring or summer 2011.

Tarver said he questions the motives of whomever distributed the flyers because the flyers are anonymous. He said he has investigated the quarry’s investors and believes they will be responsible community members. The quarry would operate on about 40 acres of the 503-acre site, he said.

Susan Brannon and her husband Richard own a home on County Road 954, which is about two miles from the quarry, she said. She has been in touch with the anonymous flyer distributor, as well as state officials because she is concerned about the quarry’s impact on her home. Brannon said she does not know who distributed the flyers.

I’m concerned about dust pollution from the blasting,” she said. “And I’m afraid it’s going to do something to my well. That’s my only source of water.”

Brannon said she and her husband are worried the blasting could damage their home’s foundation. Their homeowners insurance policy excludes damage from man-made shifting of ground, she said. Brannon said she and her husband plan to attend the Calhoun meeting Monday, even though the rock quarry is not located inside the city.

“I don’t think they’re going to be able to address my concerns,” she said of the people planning the quarry.

E-mail: jason.reynolds@dailypostatahenian.com