North Carolina regulators have formally denied a Mitchell County quarry's effort to obtain a permit after it operated without one for months.
Earlier this month, a Mitchell County Superior Court judge issued an injunction directing mine operator Horizon 30, LLC, to cease digging at the Carter Quarry outside of Poplar.
The N.C. Division of Energy, Mining and Land Resources sought the injunction against Horizon 30 after trying unsuccessfully for months to get the company to stop digging on the site, which sits near the Nolichucky River.
Toby Vinson, the state mining division's director, cited the injunction as the primary reason to deny Horizon 30's permit. State mining law allows the division to deny a permit if regulators find that the applicant's parent company or its subsidiaries have not followed state regulations, resulting in a court order against the company.
"The department is required to notify your company of any modifications in the application that would make the application acceptable. However, as the current operation has not been in substantial compliance with the Mining Act, resulting in the issuance of a court order pursuant to N.C. G.S. §74-6 to cease mining and reclaim the site, the Department is not aware of any modifications which would make the application acceptable," Vinson wrote in a letter dated August 22.
Horizon 30 had told the state that material it dug up and crushed on the site would be used to help rebuild the base of a nearby CSX railroad that was destroyed by impacts from last September's Tropical Storm Helene. In its application, Horizon said it planned to operate the quarry for about three years, digging down an average 130 feet and a maximum 550 feet.
Horizon 30 submitted that permit application at least two months after starting operations. A permit is not automatically granted when it is submitted; it must be reviewed and approved by state regulators.
But Horizon continued to operate, resulting in a notice of violation from the state mining division in April, as well as a notice of continuing violation in June after state inspectors discovered that Horizon 30 was still operating without a permit.
State air regulators issued a separate notice of violation against Horizon on June 17, after an inspector found that it was fully operating the rock crushing operation it had described in an air permit application that had been submitted but not approved.
North Carolina's mining law gives state regulators the ability to fine anyone operating a mine or quarry without a permit up to $5,000 per day. State mining regulators first observed the mine in early February, and Judge Theodore McEntire formally directed it to stop operations on August 11.
That means the fine could top $900,000. The permit denial did not say anything about a fine or other punitive action against Horizon 30.
Kat Russell, a spokeswoman for the Division of Energy, Mining and Land Resources, said DEQ cannot comment on any possible future penalties.
McEntire also directed the company to file a formal reclamation plan for the site by September 13.
"DEQ has not made contact with Horizon 30 beyond converations with their counsel since the (August 11) hearing. They've given us no indication as to when they plan to submit a reclamation plan," Russell said.
Drone footage from local residents taken in recent days appears to show construction equipment moving around the mine site, burying trees and undertaking similar reclamation activity.
DEQ inspectors have visited the site several times since the August 11 hearing, Russell said. The department is awaiting the formal reclamation plan but, Russell said, is not going to stand in the way of Horizon 30 stabilizing the site.
"DEQ has visited the site several times since the hearing. No mining activity was observed at those times, and the activities that were observed were consistent with reclamation," Russell said.
