Pit & Quarry, February 2010

EDITED BY BRIAN RICHESSON Court rules against Lake Belt mining sites The 11th U S Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision of a federal district court to vacate limestone mining permits from an area of wetlands in Floridas Lake Belt region west of Miami The 57000 acre region produces about half of the total statewide production of construction grade limestone Rock has been mined in southern Miami Dade County since the 1950s In January 2009 a district court judge had ruled against the U S Army Corps of Engineers and the mining companies vacating the permits It had been the latest decision in an ongoing legal battle that started in 2002 when the Corps of Engineers issued the permits and the Sierra Club the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Parks Conservation Association challenged them In issuing permits the Corps must follow procedural requirements set forth in the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act The groups contended that the Corps failed to comply with these procedural requirements when it issued the permits for the companies to conduct mining activities for 10 years on 5712 acres of wetlands and uplands in 2002 Mining companies listed on the court document from the Jan 21 ruling are Rinker Materials of Florida Inc Miami Dade Limestone Products Association Inc Vecillio and Grogan Inc Tarmac America LLC Florida Rock Industries Inc Sawgrass Rock Quarry Inc APAC Florida Inc and Kendall Properties Investments Kentucky executive director earns NSSGA honor Upcoming Events 2010 SME Annual Meeting Exhibit Feb 28 March 3 Phoenix The Work Truck Show 2010 and NTEA Convention March 10 12 St Louis ACRI Seminar Understanding MSHA Inspections and Litigation April 6 8 Hershey Pa LAST MONTHS QUESTION WHAT IMPROVEMENT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE YOUR OPERATION TO MAKE IN 2010 Upgrade equipment 27 Create a better working environment 17 Add or rehire employees 33 Host more community events 4 Attend more industry events 6 None of the above 13 VISIT US ONLINE @ www pitandquarry com for the latest industry news and events information and to participate in this months Pit Quarry survey Submit news and events items for consideration to brichesson@ questex com Ronald H Gray executive director of the Kentucky Crushed Stone Association KCSA based in Frankfort Ky was named the National Stone Sand Gravel Associations NSSGA 2009 State Aggregates Association Executive of the Year Each year NSSGA recognizes Ronald H Gray one of its state counterparts for exemplary partnership service to the aggregates industry The award recognizes the beneficial input of the state associations work and leadership as an ally at the national level The Kentucky Crushed Stone Association is a strong partner of NSSGA We are impressed by Rons advocacy of transportation reauthorization through attending fly ins and personally visiting members of Congress as well as encouraging the participation of so many KCSA members said NSSGA President and CEO Joy Wilson We value all he is doing in Kentucky as well as nationally by contributing meaningful insights from Kentucky aggregates producers to the development of industry positions on federal policy This recognition is NSSGAs way of displaying how highly we respect the work of our state counterparts and of reaffirming that we can achieve much more for the aggregates industry and the American public by working together than by working alone KCSAs board of directors adopted NSSGAs safety pledge and obtained signatures from virtually all of the aggregates companies in Kentucky KCSA supported NSSGAs efforts to secure significant changes to the U S Environmental Protection Agencys visible air emissions dust rule by obtaining the states Environmental Protection Divisions support and KCSA working with the Kentucky legislature was able to obtain 150000 in funding to equip two underground mine rescue teams at the Central Kentucky Mine Rescue Association Gray has led KCSA since January 2005 4 PIT QUARRY February 2010 www pitandquarry com