By Sonny Turner
The local legislative delegation will introduce one or more bills in the state Legislature early next year to try to block the proposed rock quarry at Tanner.
That was the word Wednesday from District 2 Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, who said local legislators have not yet decided from what direction they intend to attack the quarry. But, he assured residents the proposed legislation is coming.
“We’ve got to meet and look at all the concerns the people have told us about and we’ve got to meet with Tennessee Valley Authority and Nuclear Regulatory people to hear their concerns,” Butler said. “We’ve already asked the ADEM agency (Alabama Department of Environmental Management) to give us a public hearing.”
Rogers Group Inc. wants to close its quarry in Crosskey in northwestern Limestone County and move it to Laughmiller Road near Tanner.
A Tanner resident told Limestone County commissions Monday she fears the proposed quarry would threaten the health of some members of her family, and she will file a lawsuit to try to stop it.
“If necessary, we will take them to court,” said 88-year-old Georgia Crumbley who lives on Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road. “We know this quarry will cause a lot of dust, and when that happens, I have a grandson who has asthma, and another member of my family who suffers from allergies. I don’t want to go to court but my grandsons’ health means more to me than having a quarry down their making money.”
Limestone District 3 Commissioner Billy Latimer backed Crumbley.
“I want to go on record as standing by her,” he said. “I don’t mind them moving, they just need to move somewhere else. A quarry will increase our workload in my district tremendously.”
“I’m behind Bill 100 percent,” said Commission Chairman David Seibert. “But I want the people to know we are very limited in what we can do.”
Because blasting could cause problems at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, the legislative delegation is investigating is trying to draft legislation that would stop the quarry.
Butler, District 3 Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, Sen. District 5 Rep. Henry White, D-Athens, and District 4 Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, met with residents last week in a public hearing at the Tanner Fire Department.
Dozens of residents who live in the area oppose the proposed 200-acre quarry. They fear it would lower home values, discourage future development, jeopardize motorists and wildlife, including two species of fish on endangered species list, and foul the air with dust.
If approved by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the new quarry would be operating within 18 to 24 months.
In other action Wednesday, commissioners voted to employ Jason Dale Shawley as a corrections officer with the Limestone County Sheriff’s Department; Theresa McLemore as a tax-collection clerk; and Mike Hardaway as case manager for the Community Corrections Program.
