Halifax County commissioners took no action Monday on proposed mining and quarrying regulations but did proceed with a legislative hearing in which both sides addressed the matter. The board delayed action because the planning board, which failed to have a quorum at its February meeting, will meet again on March 18.

Commissioners recessed the legislative hearing until their April 6 meeting to give the planning board time to discuss the regulations. Should the planning board fail to reach a quorum at its upcoming meeting, County Attorney Glynn Rollins told commissioners they can proceed with a vote on the matter.

The following is what proponents said during their remarks to commissioners:

‘Not going up’

Rick Cates discussed an opinion on the location of the proposed Halifax Aggregate mining operation, located approximately 4,000 feet laterally to the Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport. The review of land use ordinances currently underway in the county can be used to evaluate whether a proposed land use creates a hazard to navigation, interferes with airport operations, or introduces incompatible conditions with the airport area.

“However, they do not rely on fixed distance buffers such as a one-mile setback proposal," Cates said. "Instead, they rely on height-based aerospace protection services, wildlife and hazard considerations, and operational compatibility.”

Halifax Aggregates is located laterally to the airport — not vertically, Cates said. “The maximum proposed height of any gravel stockpile structures, equipment, or temporary cranes is approximately 60 feet … No permanent vertical structures are proposed, and this is typical of all similar mining operations. In other words — we’re not going up; we’re going down.” Cates said based on location and elevation, the proposed mining operation does not meet the FAA definition of an obstruction.

Attorney’s perspective

Dhamian Blue, a Raleigh attorney representing Halifax Aggregates, said there is nothing in FAA documents that says a quarry can’t be less than 5,000 feet from an airport. “Surface mining can provide wildlife with ideal locations for feeding,” he said, noting there are no water features for his client’s proposed quarry. “The FAA circular that’s been presented as the basis for keeping this quarry from coming, or from being a certain distance from the airport, does not apply.”

He said there are several uses already allowed within one mile of the airport that will attract birds. “The properties are already zoned residential-agriculture. There’s some light industrial zoning out there. Agricultural activities can attract hazardous wildlife. There are no setbacks in your books for agricultural activities.”

Those agricultural operations, Blue said, are those that should be prohibited within 5,000 feet of an airport if the circular were strictly applied. “You don’t currently have on your books any setback requirements for those particular uses. So the ultimate point of all of this is that if this FAA circular is the basis to prevent mining within one mile of an airport, you are treating this particular use substantially differently than agriculture, livestock, and any other potential uses that could potentially be less than a mile from the airport.” Setting strict setbacks, such as one mile, Blue said, “would be acting in an arbitrary way, and I don’t believe the law allows that.”

Owner’s perspective

John Cross, one of the owners of the property, told the board he has more than 35 years of experience in all types of greenfield mining locations. “A lot of the things you folks are having to consider are issues that I have to solve on the front end before projects get started to make sure we mitigate the risks and protect the public.”

The company works on bird deterrence, he said, and one of those practices is not having open water. “That is a pretty easy one to solve. One of the best practices is using floating balls on the surface of the water so birds can’t land on them. Another thing that’s used is uneven rocks and you put those in areas on the shoreline.” There is also planting proper grasses that keep birds away. “You already have agricultural activities near the airport and we can actually reduce the risk of the bird strike issue that was brought up earlier.”

Blasting, he said, is highly regulated. “The technology has dramatically improved over the time I’ve been in the industry. The amount of vibration that is created, even 1,500 feet from the blast, is less than 20 percent of the regulatory limits. It’s not difficult to manage. I can’t say that was the case when I started in this industry.”

The facilities are designed to be less than 70 decibels at the company’s property lines, Cross said. That’s done with berms and enclosures using the topography and planting trees. Cross said it’s easy to tell whether dust is coming from mining or farming activities. “We use cloud jet sprayers; we use tire washers. These are very successful. When done properly, people shouldn’t know we’re operating.”

‘A fundamental building block’

John Rowe, a researcher who conducted the economic impact analysis for the company, said, “Aggregates are really a fundamental building block of the infrastructure supply chain.” They are the building blocks of roads, sidewalks, and runways, he said. “So the question isn’t really about whether the county will need aggregate in the future; the question is more about whether the county will produce the aggregate or import the aggregate from other areas — at a higher cost.”

There is also an opportunity cost the county could miss. “The jobs that are created from the demand for aggregate in the county will go elsewhere. The government revenues that are created due to the demand will also go elsewhere. There’s a lot of benefits to having a local shop, economically speaking, in the county, when you consider aggregate as a fundamental building block,” Rowe said.

The proposal represents a $25 million investment in the county and 20 jobs at the quarry, plus 60 additional jobs in the area — contract trucking, technical workers, and other spinoff jobs. “These are good-paying jobs. The mining industry in general, as opposed to providing us with the bedrock for development, they pay well.” He said there will be a few jobs that pay $75,000 plus benefits for all full-time employees, and the tax revenue is estimated to be more than $300,000.

Addressing potential impacts

Chris Daves and his company were tasked with finding and documenting the environmental, cultural, and natural resources on the proposed site. The research found 70 acres of wetlands on the site and 14 streams. There is also a small cemetery on the site.

The company is currently consulting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to verify what's been delineated and found on the site regarding wetlands. “The site plan does a great job of avoiding all these sensitive matters. There’s going to be best management practices that include buffers — including Quankie Creek — as well as consideration of bottomless culverts for two small stream crossings on the entire site there.” Daves said the planning and engineering work has made “a very concerted effort to avoid these particular matters.”

Doug Wright, representing the company, said there have been residential developments built around quarries as well as commercial and industrial development.