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Scientists: Pollution of area groundwater from mines a valid concern 
By CHARLIE WHITEHEAD

Naples Daily News
Originally published 05:42 p.m., May 15, 2008
Updated 05:42 p.m., May 15, 2008

The ground in southeast Lee County is porous enough to worry about mine lakes contaminating wellfields, scientists say.
That’s what they thought in Dade County , too, before studies by the United States Geological Survey showed groundwater moving through aquifers much faster than thought, leaving them vulnerable to pollution.
Instead of about 15 feet a day, the scientists found carcinogenic pathogens could travel as far as 1,200 feet.
That information got a federal judge to order 6,000 acres in Dade County ’s Lake Belt area closed to mining, a move that heightened already heavy pressure for mining here. There are only four areas in the state where construction-quality limerock can be mined, which includes Lake Belt and southeast Lee.
The situation is different here, USGS local office director Robert Renken told a county land use group Wednesday, in part because the issue in Miami-Dade had been studied for years.
The first thing USGS scientists will do here is test the veracity of the county and other groundwater models, Renken said. That means drilling test wells and using the latest technology to track actual groundwater movement.
Renken stressed the USGS produces unbiased pure science.
“We are not consultants,” he said.
Tom Missimer is. He’s also a former instructor of Renken’s and the guy who headed the first USGS effort at mapping local aquifers in 1973. He said that work has been updated over the years and needs to be a starting point.
Missimer said a full 78 percent of American drinking water comes from surface waters, not aquifers, and some communities like Marco Island get their water from old mine lakes.
Estero resident Peggy Schmitt said she’s worried the USGS will succumb to pressure from miners and those thirsty for limerock.
“There’s a tremendous amount of pressure for rock mining, and I think that pressure reverberates at the USGS,” she said. “I think there is a very strong mental model that supports mining.”
Renken said that’s interesting, given Missimer recently emailed him, saying the opposite is true.
The Lake Belt issue in Dade County was politically-charged, Renken said, but when he works under a county contract, like he did there and like he will here, he lets the county handle the questions.
“The strength of USGS in general is a record of unbiased science,” he said.
Scott McCaleb, a Florida Rock executive, said he wants to share raw data as USGS scientists gather it.
“I think it’s good to share as you progress along so stakeholders can make their own interpretation,” he said.
The county continues to move toward land use changes in the 80,000-acre portion of southeast Lee where mining is allowed. A moratorium on mine applications ends in September, and the county committee on which Schmitt and McCaleb sit is working on recommendations for commissioners.
The USGS study is longer-term. It’s meant to help update the county Wellfield Protection Ordinance, an update that could further restrict uses like mining.

© Naples News

from Ocala.com Monday Mar. 24,  2008
Published Mar. 17, 2008

Their Mine must have our input

A battle is brewing in neighboring Levy County. Some Inglis residents are gearing up to fight a
proposal by Tarmac America, a leading concrete maker, to operate a limerock mine spanning
some 4,000 acres, a quarter of which are wetlands.

The company, the Gainesville Sun reports, argues the mine would bring jobs, enhance the tax
base and would not harm the water supply. Many in the community dispute that, saying the
environmental risk from pumping 22 million gallons of water a day - almost all of which, the
company maintains, would be pumped back into the ground - is too great and that the invasion
of truck traffic, an estimated 1,000 dump trucks per work day, would ruin their town.

Beyond the pending joust between a small town and a giant company, the critical action
regarding this project is happening far from Inglis. In Tallahassee state Sen. Mike Bennett, a
Bradenton Republican, has introduced a measure to strangle opposition like that building in
Inglis in the cradle.

Bennett's bill (SB 2406) would block local governments from adopting or enforcing regulations
to prohibit or prevent the construction or operation of limerock mines on property approved for
mining. The bill, citing "the state's critical infrastructure needs and the potential shortfall" in
construction materials, would allow mining companies to seek fast-track approval from state
environmental regulators.

In other words, Bennett thinks the cost of road projects is too high and wants to bulldoze over
those pesky local government officials so the roadbuilders can access this material more
quickly, and theoretically more cheaply.

The reason for Bennett's bill was undermined by Cragin Mosteller, spokeswoman for the
Florida Association of Counties, who told the Sun the demand for mining materials has
dropped 40 percent over the past year. Yet that's not what is most important.

Here in Marion County, we have watched residents fight, largely unsuccessfully, similar mining
operations. Along the way, though, the operators of such mines had to appear before the
County Commission and the public to explain the need for their mine, the details of its
operation and its impact on the environment. That local input was vital, even if it was not
always heeded.

But look at this through another lens. Suppose for limerock we substituted the word "water."
The County Commission has asserted its right to approve with a special-use permit water
mining projects that draw more than 100,000 gallons a day, a power the state Supreme Court
has agreed they can exercise. Were it not for such local oversight, our community's landscape
would likely be littered with water bottling outfits, given the water management districts'
proclivity for green-lighting such plans.

Mining is not inherently bad. But it requires public oversight. Thus, we call on lawmakers to
see Bennett's bill for what it is - an attempt to cater to big business by stripping local
communities of their voice and the power to contest plans with potentially adverse effects -
and reject it accordingly.

Author: inky 
Date:   03-08-08 19:58

As Levy County officials prepare to decide whether to permit a massive mine, a state lawmaker is trying to strip them of that power.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled two meetings on a 4,000-acre mine proposed in southern Levy County.

The first meeting will be held March 26 at 6 p.m. in the Inglis Community Center, 137 Highway 40 West, Inglis, FL 34449, (352) 447-2203. To pre-register for the meeting, visit http:// www.kingroadeis.com/meeting1.htm

The second meeting will be held March 27 at 6 p.m. in the Tommy Usher Community Center, 506 Southwest 4th Avenue, Chiefland, FL 32626, (352) 493-6711. To pre-register for the meeting, click http://www.kingroadeis.com/meeting2.htm

Tarmac America is proposing a limestone mine on timber land about five miles north of Inglis. About 4,000 acres would be used for the mining operation, impacting about 1,150 acres of wetlands, according to the Deerfield Beach-based company's permit application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Company officials say the mine would boost the local economy and provide material needed to build roads in the region. But some environmental advocates and local officials say the mine would crowd roads and cause pollution and saltwater intrusion in groundwater.

"In 15 years, no one will be able to live here anymore," said Inglis town commissioner Betty Berger. "We won't have any water."

The mine is in the midst of a lengthy federal, state and water district permitting process. Even greater scrutiny might be required if the state decides the project is a development of regional impact. Meantime, the Levy County planning commission is preparing to consider a special-use permit in the coming months.

If state Sen. Mike Bennett gets his mining bill passed, however, Levy and other counties will lose local control of mining. Bennett, R-Bradenton, introduced a bill last month that would prevent local governments from taking almost any action to stop the construction or operation of a limestone mine.

He said the bill would ensure that local political concerns don't prevent an owner of land designated for mining from using the property. The measure is needed because the rising cost of the crushed road-building material called aggregate means higher costs for road projects, Bennett said.
"We need that aggregate," he said. "It doesn't make sense that the cost of road building should go up two or three times."

The need for such a measure is lessened by the fact the demand for mining material has dropped about 40 percent as growth has slowed in the past year, said Cragin Mosteller, spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Counties.

An analysis by the association found the bill would strip local governments from making decisions on any land zoned to allow mining or even classified by a property appraiser as mining land. The group opposes the one-size-fits-all nature of the measure, Mosteller said.

"We feel like local government provides an added layer of environmental protection to their communities," she said.

Al Townsend, manager of the project for Tarmac, said he hadn't read the bill and couldn't comment on it. He said the mine would benefit Levy County and disputed any suggestion of adverse impact on groundwater.

February 25, 2008 

Levy County Planning Commission
c/o Levy County Development Department
P.O. Box 672
Bronson, Florida 32621

 Re:            Special Exception 9-07
                  Tarmac America, LLC 

Dear Planning Commission members: 

It is my understanding that the above referenced application has been brought before you for consideration of approval of a special exception to allow limestone mining on 4,796.4 acres of a 9,377.7 acre tract of land in southern Levy County. As the elected officials of Citrus County, your neighbor to the south, I have been asked at the direction of our Board to express concern over approval of this application. 

Both Levy and Citrus Counties derive their drinking water from the Floridan aquifer, a resource of groundwater that is vulnerable to both pollution and depletion. Further, both our Counties have the unique environmental phenomenon of numerous first magnitude springs for which their very survival is dependent upon stewardship of the springsheds that feed them. The authorization for a mine of this size and impact must be carefully considered within the context of long-term water quantity and quality impacts.

In addition, the dictates of growth management require that the applicant’s project be deemed concurrent on every manner of supporting infrastructure, including both the local and regional road network. 

The projected impacts of the projected truck traffic will clearly impact on both Levy and Citrus County‘s roads. We applaud you for transmitting this project to DCA for evaluation under DRI provisions. Regardless of their final determination, the full deliberation of their impact is imperative to ensure that our respective Counties are not faced with capacity and maintenance costs that would be borne by anyone other than the applicant. 

The responsibility you have taken as a Planning Commission member is a credit to your commitment to your County and its residents. The Citrus County Commission encourages you to carefully deliberate and evaluate the application before you and to not render a decision until you are fully satisfied that you have all the facts necessary to reach a decision. The impacts of this mine, if approved, will affect generations of Levy County residents not yet born.  

Based on the information, the applicant has provided to date, we believe approval of this project is not in the best interest of your residents or ours. 

Sincerely, 

Joyce Valentino, Chairwoman
Citrus County Board of Commissioners 

JV/ma
cc:       Levy County Board of Commissioners
            Robert Corbitt, Levy County Development Department Director;
            Michael Moehlmann, WRPC Director
            Thomas Pelham, DCA Director

Editorial: Friday February 15, 2008

THE ISSUE: Tarmac King Road rock mine