Planning panel recommends reopening Berkeley quarry with rail condition and limited hours

The Madison County Planning and Zoning Commission voted on Sept. 15 to recommend approval of a conditional-use permit and reopening of the Berkeley quarry (Raw River Mining LLC) with conditions that a rail spur be approved and installed and that operations be limited to set daytime hours, with rail loading/time-limited shipping allowed outside those hours.

Blake Boggs, attorney representing Raw River Mining LLC, described plans to resume aggregate mining and processing on a 278.62-acre former quarry site. He told the commission the operation would use crushing and screening to produce construction aggregate and marine stone, and estimated 14 to 20 full-time jobs when the mine is fully operational. Boggs said much of the product would move by rail: "Based on the reserve modeling... we think roughly 75% of it is going to go out by rail," he said.

Boggs said the site will need multiple state and federal permits — including Georgia Environmental Protection Division permits, air-quality permits, industrial stormwater permits, and Mine Safety and Health Administration registration — and said the applicant expects those regulatory agencies will review blasting, slope stability and other technical safeguards in detail.

Residents and landowners expressed concerns during public comment about blasting, road and rail noise, potential effects on wells and groundwater, previous accidents at the site, and the prospect of heavy truck traffic if a rail spur were not built. "There's going to be a ton of noise grinding that rock," said one commenter, and another asked whether the site was the same quarry that had closed in the past following a fatal accident.

Boggs and other representatives said the site already has a long history of quarry use, that surrounding parcels are largely zoned conservation and unlikely to develop, and that federal and state regulators will closely review safety plans and mitigation measures. He acknowledged that if the previously identified geologic weakness at the site cannot be mitigated, state or federal permits would not be issued.

Commissioners debated requiring the rail spur as a condition and how to limit nighttime impacts. One commissioner proposed the permit be conditioned on the spur's approval and installation and the limitation of most site operations to 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday while allowing rail loading and transport outside those hours. The commission approved the conditional-use permit with those specific conditions and forwarded that recommendation to the Board of Commissioners.

The commission's recommendation is advisory. The applicant must obtain all required state and federal permits before full operations; the county-recommended conditions will be considered by the Board of Commissioners on Oct. 6.