North Carolina DENR approves expansion of a crushed-stone quarry on Shewbird Mountain in western North Carolina
An 87-acre area that is to be mined up to 755 feet deep
By Tom Bennett
Special to Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition
Hayesville, N.C., Jan. 30, 2008 – Harrison Construction Company has won the right to expand its crushed stone quarry on 2,902-foot Shewbird Mountain here in Clay County in the far reaches of western North Carolina.
Jim Simons, State Geologist and Director of the Division of Land Resources of the state Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources, told me by telephone today that his division gave permission on January 18 for Harrison Construction to go ahead.
“The total permit is for 297 acres, of which 87 can be affected,” Simons said.
Within those 87 acres, the depth of the mine, at first estimated at 500 foot by the company, could reach 755 feet, according to an article by Lois Tomas in the Clay County Progress newspaper here. Any way you look at it, this is a sizable cut into the Blue Ridge.
Harrison Construction submitted an erosion and sediment control plan that is “intended to protect surrounding areas and watercourses”, according to the official summary of an April 2007 public hearing. I’ve had trouble learning the details. I asked Jim Simons: “What are the aspects of the company’s plans that reassured you that natural resources would be protected leading you to approve the mountain-top mining?”
“It went through several iterations,” Simons told me. “I can’t tell you what I liked or didn’t like. The sediment plan can be viewed here (in Raleigh) or at our Asheville office. Our engineers went through it with a fine-toothed comb.”
Harrison Construction is located here in Hayesville and also in nearby Andrews, N.C., in Cherokee County, according to the telephone book. It is a part of an Alcoa, Tenn. mining operation that itself is a part of APAC Atlantic Inc., a private Virginia firm that builds highways, streets, bridges and sidewalks, according to its Company Profile.
APAC Atlantic Inc. also operates 13 asphalt plants in North Carolina, according to the web site of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League of Glendale Springs, N.C.
Recent news articles give an idea of where the gravel from Shewbird is headed as it gets trucked around the Hiwassee River watershed. Harrison Construction-APAC Atlantic recently won a $2.2 million contract from N.C. Department of Construction to widen and resurface 9.5 miles of N.C. 294 in Cherokee County, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. The total value of this project is $35.5 million, according to the Cherokee Scout newspaper of Murphy, N.C.
There were more than 125 attendees at the public hearing on April 2, 2007 at the Clay County Senior Center on Ritter Road. Almost every speaker expressed concerns about expansion of the operation. The concerns included visual disturbance, structural damage to homes in the vicinity of the mine, degraded water quality in area streams and Lake Chatuge, and changes in the water table resulting in low-yielding drinking water wells.
There is a striking entry in the summary of public comment on the mining proposal. It illustrates just how far-reaching the harm can be to the beauty of the mountains when someone digs a mine at almost 3,000 feet above sea level. Bill Kendall submitted written comments. The summary states: “His concern is the lack of effective visual screening of the mine, which can be seen from Towns County, Georgia” (where he is sole commissioner).
According to the Clay County Progress, “The approval carries several pages of limitations”, one of which is to “make sure mining operations are kept out of view from the Lake Chatuge side of the mountain.” Apparently, Commissioner Kendall’s concerns were heard by state officials. But, regardless of whether or not you can see the operation, in time the mountain’s top will still be gone.
Being a volunteer during a time of high gas prices, I can’t afford to drive to Asheville or Raleigh to view a document (that should be posted on the state’s web site). So I don’t know whether the good suggestion Callie Moore made during the public hearing was followed or not. She is executive director of the Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition. She “reported seeing white sediment in [Crooked Creek downstream of the existing mining operation] and requested that stream monitoring be associated with the new permit, if granted.”
Tom Bennett of the Martins Creek community near Murphy, N.C., was a retired newsman, Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition member/volunteer/donor and recipient of the 2015 Holman Water Quality Stewardship Award. Tom died on December 28, 2020.