A quarry that had been operating along the Nolichucky River must stop digging up and crushing rock immediately, a Mitchell County Superior Court judge ordered this week.
Judge Theodore McEntire issued a preliminary injunction against Horizon 30, LLC, on Monday. McEntire also directed Horizon 30 to establish ground cover on any land it had disturbed on the site and to submit a reclamation plan to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Energy, Minerals and Land Resources within 30 days.
State records show that Horizon 30 has been digging the quarry and processing rock at the site for months, potentially as early as January.
At no point had the company obtained North Carolina environmental permits for any of that activity, despite repeated warnings from state regulators that it needed them.
State mining officials issued a notice of violation against Horizon 30 in April and a notice of continuing violation for the mining activity in June. Still, Horizon 30 kept blasting, digging and crushing rock at the site.
The continued operations led DEQ along with the N.C. Attorney General's Office to sue in July, seeking to immediately stop the quarry.
"Horizon 30 has repeatedly disregarded state law and refused to work with DEQ to come into compliance with the Mining Act. (Monday’s) ruling is a win for the residents of North Carolina and our air, water, and land," DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson wrote in a Tuesday press release.
Wilson vowed to continue working with the Department of Justice to "hold the company responsible for past violations" and make sure that it upheld its cleanup obligations.
Despite the notices of violation, DEQ has not levied a financial penalty against Horizon 30. State law allows the state to fine someone mining without a permit up to $5,000 for each day they were in operation.
A May 27 inspection report describes Horizon 30 official Brent Fernandes recalling how he'd told state mining officials to levy the $5,000 daily fine. That inspection led to the notice of continuing violation.
If DEQ issued the maximum daily fine from the Feb. 6 date it first inspected the site to this week, it would total about $900,000.
Horizon 30 has told state regulators its activity was needed to help rebuild a nearby CSX railbed that was destroyed during Helene. The quarry location was crucial, Horizon 30 Chief Financial Officer Sean Chipman wrote in May, because it offered almost direct access to the CSX site.
Chipman claimed Horizon 30 was operating based on emergency permits, waivers and executive orders from the Trump Administration.
But none of those permits were from North Carolina state officials, as the State Mining Act requires.
“Companies don't get to make up their own rules and ignore safeguards that are in place to protect the public and the environment — it's against the law,” N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson wrote in a statement.
State mining officials have not made a final decision about whether to issue a mining permit to Horizon 30. Regulators consider the permit process ongoing because Horizon 30 did not send a hard copy in response to a request for additional information, according to DEQ's press release.
Horizon 30 representatives did not immediately reply to a request for comment from the NC Newsroom on Wednesday, including a question about whether the company planned to continue seeking permits for the quarry.
Another notice of violation
In addition to the two notices for failing to obtain a mining permit, regulators previously issued a third notice of violation against Horizon 30.
That notice involved air quality. The company has applied for the air permit North Carolina state laws require it to obtain before beginning operations, but the N.C. Division of Air Quality still has not decided whether to grant the permit.
Horizon 30 submitted the air quality permit application on May 2, but took more than a month to send a $400 check needed to process the permit. On May 29, an inspector from DEQ's Division of Air Quality visited the Mitchell County site.
That inspector found what a June 17 notice of violation described as a "fully operational" facility. Horizon 30's operation included a jaw crusher capable of handling 310 tons of stone per hour, a screening station, a pair of conveyor stackers and a cone crusher.
In its application, Horizon 30 had described plans to spray or mist water to limit dust emissions from the crushing and conveying operation.
Michael Koerschner, the regional supervisor of DAQ's Asheville regional office, addressed the notice of violation to Fernandes.
Koerschner wrote: "All equipment listed in the air permit application was observed in use. Based on conversations (the inspector) had with you at the time of the complaint investigation, the facility began operating in January 2025."
