GUNTERSVILLE — The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) held a public hearing in Guntersville on Thursday night to give residents a chance to voice concerns about a proposed limestone quarry.
Dubbed Project New Road, Reed Materials, LLC has applied for a synthetic minor operating permit and a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, which would allow the company to crush and process limestone and discharge the waste into two unnamed nearby tributaries of Browns Creek and Shiloh Branch, which flow into Lake Guntersville. The quarry would be located at 7442 Warrenton Road in Guntersville, near the Red Hill community.
Chastain Reed, with Reed Materials, said the company would abide by all ADEM regulations and that it intended to be a “good neighbor” to the surrounding community.
Still, several area residents voiced strong opposition to the project, citing environmental, noise, and traffic concerns, as well as declines in property values and quality of life.
“There is no other explanation for it in my mind except for dirty hands and sticky fingers,” Bonita Kirkland said. “Most of us who live in the Red Hill and surrounding communities have worked all of our lives to have a little slice of Heaven that we call home… I feel like a blind eye and a deaf ear have been turned on the people of Warrenton Road, the people of Red Hill.”
With other rock quarries nearby, Jordan Bright questioned whether Project New Road and its potential for 12 new jobs in the area outweighed the interests of his family and community.
“Is that worth the houses of all these people? Is that worth our health? It makes no sense other than money. I don’t need money, and I don’t need rock. What I need is what my family settled in the late 1800s, and I try to maintain. I work my tail off for it, and someone comes in and destroys that.”
Randy Whitaker expressed concern for his great-grandchildren, who just moved into a newly built home directly adjacent to the proposed quarry site.
“With this dust, are my great-granddaughters going to have to wear a mask to get out and get on the swing set? Is there going to be a buzzer that goes off to tell them to put on their helmet or to get down when they blast?”
Ten people signed up to speak on Thursday night. Comments can still be submitted to ADEM online. The public comment period ends at 5 p.m. on May 29, after which ADEM will decide whether to grant the permits.
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