State agency denies permit for proposed Wake Stone quarry on RDU airport property
The state agency that regulates mining has denied a permit that Wake Stone Corp. needs to open a quarry on property owned by Raleigh-Durham International Airport next to Umstead State Park.
The agency, the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources, cited the proposed quarry’s proximity to Umstead. The agency said it based its decision “on information that indicates the proposed operation would have a significantly adverse effect on the purposes of a publicly owned park, forest or recreation area.”
Wake Stone had asked to modify an existing mining permit that has allowed it to operate the Triangle Quarry on property between Umstead and Interstate 40 since the 1980s.
The company wants to build a new quarry across Crabtree Creek on 105 acres it has leased from RDU known as the Odd Fellows property. Stone from the 400-foot-deep open pit mine would be trucked across the creek to the company’s existing quarry off North Harrison Avenue, where it would be crushed and washed and trucked out to customers.
The company’s president, Sam Bratton, said late Thursday that the company would appeal the denial.
“Our excellent record of environmental stewardship and 40-year history of being a good neighbor to Umstead State Park with no adverse impact is evidence we can do the same on the Odd Fellows property,” Bratton said in a statement. “As we await a decision by the court, the Triangle Quarry will continue to operate and supply much-needed natural resources to support the strong economic growth we are experiencing in the Triangle Region.”
What became known as “RDU Quarry” drew fierce opposition, particularly from people who use Umstead State Park and Old Reedy Creek Road, which is now part of the East Coast Greenway trail.
The Umstead Coalition and others sued Wake Stone and RDU, saying the airport’s governing board did not have the authority to lease property for a quarry. A Wake County judge and the state Court of Appeals both ruled the lease is legal, and last summer the state Supreme Court let those decisions stand.
Jean Spooner, who leads the coalition, has called the proposed quarry “perhaps the biggest environmental disaster to a North Carolina state park in decades.” In an interview Thursday, she said the agency, a part of the Department of Environmental Quality, listened to the people and to the state parks department, which opposed the quarry.
“The value of our state parks and public land, there’s no measure to how important they are. It’s infinite,” Spooner said. “This is the only right decision for DEQ mining to make.”
State Sen. Wiley Nickel, whose district includes RDU and the site of the proposed quarry, agreed.
“They heard thousands of comments and reviewed countless documents,” Wiley, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Their decision to deny this permit is the correct move for our community and my constituents.”
Among the other groups who opposed the quarry was the local chapter of the Sierra Club. The group’s chair, Hwa Huang, praised the state’s decision.
“Umstead Park is an oasis for the residents of towns and cities in the Triangle,” Huang said in a statement. “We’re glad to see it will remain a restful and beautiful refuge for people and wildlife.”
State regulators said the potential impacts of the quarry on the park justified denying the permit. They said increased noise from quarry operations and the “continued loss of natural buffers” would result in a “significantly adverse effect on the recreation, conservation and education purposes of the park.”
The RDU Airport Authority approved the mining lease with Wake Stone in March 2019. In return for allowing the company to mine for up to 35 years, RDU expected to received $24 million, mostly in royalty payments as stone is removed and sold.
RDU acquired the Odd Fellows property in the 1970s for a planned runway that was never built. In 2016, the airport’s 25-year master plan, called Vision 2040, identified the future use of the property as “industrial/quarry.”
The following year, the Airport Authority turned down an offer from The Conservation Fund, a national environmental organization, to buy the 105 acres for $6.46 million so it could be added to Umstead. Airport officials said they were not interested in selling, even if the property was to remain undeveloped.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 5:20 PM with the headline "State agency denies permit for proposed Wake Stone quarry on RDU airport property."
