Quarry near Lowell back before Benton County Planning Board

File Photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF A standing room crowd, including Jeff Hottinger (right) of Lowell, hears comment in December 2018 at a Benton County Planning Board meeting regarding a proposed limestone quarry near Lowell. County planners will hear a new proposal for the quarry almost a year after it was tabled indefinitely.
File Photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF A standing room crowd, including Jeff Hottinger (right) of Lowell, hears comment in December 2018 at a Benton County Planning Board meeting regarding a proposed limestone quarry near Lowell. County planners will hear a new proposal for the quarry almost a year after it was tabled indefinitely.

BENTONVILLE -- A contentious limestone quarry plan is back before Benton County's Planning Commission almost a year after it was tabled indefinitely.

The commission will take up the proposal at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The Planning Board voted 6-1 Dec. 19 to table the project. The board also deferred the item at two other meetings last year to get more information.

Red dirt is taken from the Cross Hollows mine at 1425 N. Old Wire Road. The area is just northeast of Lowell. It has been used as a dirt mine since 2008.

Part of the 135 acres owned by David Covington is laid out in 10-acre sections. Each section represents a five-year operating period for proposed limestone production, according to the Planning Department's summary on the project.

The Planning Board last December asked for a road agreement, more information on the historical and cultural significance of the area, a private drinking water source warranty and an environmental impact assessment before the proposal could come back for discussion.

New paperwork submitted to the Planning Department by Sand Creek Engineering shows updates to all the areas of concern. Sand Creek represented Anchor Stone at Planning Board meetings last year. Anchor Stone of Tulsa, Okla., the project applicant, would lease the land and quarry the stone.

The use of Old Wire Road has been removed from consideration. A new, private haul road is planned across private property to access South First Street. The process to get a permit from the Arkansas Department of Transportation to connect with South First Street also has started, according to the plan. The new road would be in place before quarry work began.

That update was listed under the historical and cultural significance of the area the board wanted addressed.

The Cherokee Nation and Trail of Tears Association have voiced concerns about the proposed quarry being 900 feet from a section of the trail, according to letters from both. The trail commemorates the forced removal of the Cherokee from the southeastern United States to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma in 1838 and 1839, according to the Trail of Tears Association website.

County Judge Barry Moehring said in August the county won't pave a portion of North Old Wire Road near the quarry. The county has since put up signs marking the Trail of Tears Historic Route, including four at the Cross Hollows site.

The private road is west of Old Wire and away from the trail segment.

The Anchor Stone letter also noted karst and aquifer studies were completed, and a storm-water permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality secured.

Opposition to the quarry is coordinated and vociferous. Many residents who live in the area expressed concerns about possible well-water contamination, noise from blasting and increased heavy truck traffic on Old Wire Road. Lowell's City Council voted in December 2018 to opposed the quarry.

Two Planning Board meetings last December were held in a courtroom to accommodate overflow crowds. Many in attendance wore T-shirts with the words "Please Vote No. Stop The Quarry." Others wore red buttons that said, "Don't Blast Our Past."

The county had received more than 50 email messages about the quarry as of Friday. None were in favor of the plan, Moehring said.

Two Lowell residents and former Benton County Circuit Judge Jon Comstock spoke in opposition of the quarry Tuesday during the public comment period during Rogers' City Council meeting. Comstock is running for the District 3 seat in the state Senate.

Greg Marshall asked the council to pass a resolution opposing the quarry.

"This would be a terrible mistake and would do irreparable damage to a neighborhood that is our shared asset. This area of exceptional beauty and historical significance is the future of southeast Rogers and east Lowell," he said.

Benton County Planning Board.

What: To consider a limestone quarry proposal near Lowell

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Benton Circuit Judge Robin Green’s courtroom

NW News on 12/15/2019

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