Residents near Oxford and Heflin say they were blindsided by a proposal to build a new limestone quarry near residential areas, and are organizing to fight the project.

Jake Mathews — who said he would be able to see the entrance to the quarry from his house — told AL.com he was concerned about issues including noise and dust from blasting near residential areas.

Mathews also worries about traffic entering the facility on U.S. 431 in Heflin and environmental damages to nearby creeks and his drinking water well.

“We live out in the country, we have a well, and our neighbors that are right near us also have wells,” Mathews said.

“It impacts plant and animal life and there’s a reservoir there within short distance and you’ve got subdivisions that will be affected by the blasting.”

Mathews, an attorney who practices in Anniston, is also concerned that drivers to and from the quarry would take the same exit off of Interstate 20 that thousands of travelers use to get to Cheaha State Park, home of Alabama’s highest peak, as well as other popular hiking trails in the Talladega National Forest.

“It’s the gateway to Cheaha State Park,” Mathews said. “So if you’re going to come to Cheaha State Park and the scenic drive, you’re going to get off there.

“If you’re on I-20, you’re going to get off on this exit and the first thing that you’re going to have to deal with there’s gonna be an industrial-type setting where you’ve got heavy equipment, trucks and things of that nature coming in to the to the highway.”

Mystery website to oppose project

A website noquarryinoxford.com, has emerged in the past weeks to garner opposition to the project, which it calls a “385-acre mega-rock quarry” that it says is “not compatible with surrounding uses,” such as the Cedar Ridge Golf Course and hiking trails in the Talladega National Forest.

The website lists no names or information about who created the site, but provides a direct link for users to submit comments to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and cites potential deterioration of property values and quality of life as reasons to oppose the project.

Mathews said he is not affiliated with the website and does not know who created it. He said residents in the area have also been receiving robo-calls urging them to oppose the project.

ADEM has proposed approvals of water and air pollution permits for the facility that would allow the project to move forward.

According to the ADEM draft permits, the quarry would harvest dolomite limestone, which would be crushed and screened into aggregate material. The facility would be called 431 Quarry and located off of U.S. 431 in Heflin, Cleburne County.

Environmental concerns

Coosa Riverkeeper Executive Director Justinn Overton said she is concerned about pollution from the quarry into Jackson and Choccolocco Creeks, both Coosa River tributaries, and has heard from many property owners who are concerned about the project.

“I have had a number of people with concerns about impacts to their wells, about impacts their property value, about impacts to Choccolocco Creek, which is an impaired creek, as well,” Overton said.

Overton said Chocolocco Creek is home to three species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act as threatened — the blue shiner, the painted rocksnail and the finelined pocketbook mussel — as well as the alligator snapping turtle, which has been proposed for Endangered Species protections.

“We’re concerned about the permit limitations and the lack of monitoring requirements that are within the permit,” Overton said. “And then, of course, the impact of the threatened and endangered species.”

Public comment deadline extended, but no public hearing

Alabama environmental regulations require a public comment period before these permits are issued for new facilities, but residents said they felt blindsided by the proposal. Many weren’t even aware of the project until ADEM’s initial public comment period was nearly over.

Mathews said he only learned of the project when a reporter asked his wife how she felt about it.

Mathews filed comments asking ADEM to extend the comment deadline and to host a public hearing.

On Wednesday, ADEM denied the request for a public hearing, but agreed to extend the comment period an extra 30 days, through Dec. 22.

“The Department received few requests for a public hearing and therefore, a hearing is not warranted,” said an email sent to those who had already submitted comments on the draft permits for the new quarry.

“However, the Department was requested to extend the public comment period and agrees to extend the date until December 22, 2023.”

ADEM External Affairs Chief Lynn Battle told AL.com that written comments are given the same consideration by ADEM as comments made verbally during a public hearing.

Mathews said he appreciates the extension, but feels a public hearing is still needed.

“I’m glad that they’ve given us that [extension] in order to get the general public aware,” Mathews said. “I disagree that there’s not enough interest to have a public hearing but, be that as it may, I’m pleased to get the 30 days in order to generate comments.”

Mathews said the extension would give him and others time to examine the permits and prepare their responses.

Air and water pollution permits are very technical documents that set specific limits on how much pollution can be discharged into the environment, and what legal requirements are in place for specific facility to operate. They can be difficult to understand for those who aren’t familiar with them.

“[The developers] have been working on this project for a couple of years,” Mathews said. “They’ve got an engineering report in there, and of course I want to be able to look at stuff like that.”

Should public notices be improved?

Overton said in addition to the environmental concerns about the project, the comment process shows that ADEM should do more to inform people of proposals like this one. ADEM rules no longer require public notices to be published in printed newspapers, as they once did.

“This is an incredible example of how ADEM’s quote-unquote public notification fails the people of Alabama,” Overton said.

“Because yes, they put it on their website. And yes, if you were signed up on their website to receive the public notifications, you got it. But a lot of people that are in the community that are going to be impacted by this quarry, were completely unaware.”

Mathews said he has been speaking to neighbors and elected officials about the project, trying to organize awareness of the proposal. He said many people living close to the facility have no idea about the proposal to build a rock quarry, and a public hearing would help raise awareness in the community.

“We still think there is a great need for a public hearing,” he said. “A public hearing helps makes the public aware and gives other groups the opportunity to get involved.”

Comments must be received by ADEM by 5 p.m. on Dec. 22. They can be submitted electronically or sent my mail.