Wake Stone seeks to overturn state’s decision to block proposed RDU quarry near Umstead
Wake Stone Corp. is fighting the state’s decision to deny a permit for a quarry on property Raleigh-Durham International Airport owns next to Umstead State Park.
The company this week asked the state Office of Administrative Hearings to direct the state to reverse course and issue the permit. In a three-page appeal, the company says the Department of Environmental Quality erred and exceeded its authority when it concluded the proposed quarry would have a “significantly adverse effect” on the park.
The company says it provided DEQ’s Division of Energy, Mining and Land Resources detailed plans for how it would operate the quarry in the coming decades without harming the adjacent park. The quarry would be an expansion of the Triangle Quarry, which the company has run between the park and Interstate 40 since the early 1980s.
The state agency renewed the mining permit for the Triangle Quarry in 1991, 2001 and 2011, the company says, “and no denial criteria or other issues arose during those renewals.”
The proposed quarry would be across Crabtree Creek from the existing one, on 105 acres Wake Stone 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 Triangle Quarry off North Harrison Avenue, where it would be crushed and washed and shipped by truck to customers.
The RDU Airport Authority approved the mining lease 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.
The quarry has been vigorously opposed by people who worry about its impact on Umstead and Old Reedy Creek Road, which is used by hikers and cyclists and is part of the East Coast Greenway trail. They’d like to see the property remain forested and added to Umstead.
Opponents, led by the Umstead Coalition, went to court to contest RDU’s authority to lease the property without consulting the four local governments that own the airport. That strategy failed, as the courts ruled the mining lease was legal.
Opponents also urged the state to deny the mining permit, which Wake Stone requested in April 2020. DEQ held virtual public hearings and requested additional information from the company seven times, extending the review process for nearly two years.
It denied the permit last month, citing increased noise, “continued loss of natural buffer” and other potential impacts on the park. An administrative law judge will now hear the company’s appeal.
The process was different in 1980 when state regulators denied a mining permit for the original Wake Stone quarry, citing its potential impacts on Umstead State Park.
That decision was overturned by the state Mining Commission, and the permit for the Triangle Quarry was issued in 1981.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 1:02 PM.
