Gravel & Asphalt Plant Proposed in Emigrant Area

The Bozeman Chronicle published a story by staff writer, Michael Wright, regarding the gravel pit and asphalt plant here. The small, 23 acre gravel pit, would be located on Story Ranch. This is in between North and South Glastonbury and on the same side of the road. Wright states that the Missoula based company, Riverside, "has applied to mine and move about 250,000 cubic yards of gravel from the site over 20 years". This comes to 12,500 cubic yards or about 735 side dumper truckloads per year.  For context, Glastonbury is in the process of purchasing approximately 100 loads which is about 1,700 cubic yards of gravel. Our needs for gravel could provide Riverside with up to 14% of their gross sales per year. As a volume buyer we should receive a substantial discount.

Our current cost is $350.00 to $400.00 per 17 yard truckload. A large part of the high cost is due to transportation from Durgan's quarry in Pine Creek. If the new quarry had a similar quality product, GLA landowners should be able to save tens of thousands of dollars.

The paved loop in North Glastonbury is rapidly deteriorating. Rough estimates at replacing the asphalt and rebuilding the road center around $300,000.00 per mile. A facility that produces asphalt that is literally just down the street could reduce landowner costs substantially and even allow more sections of GLA roads to be paved with our limited budget. Do I hear a collective cheer and sigh of relief from everyone in North and the folks on Arcturus in South Glastonbury?

Asphalt driveways increase property values, are dust free and plow easily. Unfortunately they are usually quite expensive. A resident in High South had one installed and it cost a small fortune. The asphalt came all the way from Bozeman and was starting to cool by the time it reached his home. Once it started to cool it was difficult to spread, smooth and compact. Five years later the driveway is still in excellent condition. It is a pleasure to drive and park on. The snow usually melts quickly in the winter. During the summer the house windows can be left open because blowing driveway dust is no longer a problem.

What do you think?

Update from Michelle of the Park County Environmental Council:

Dear Neighbors,

I am writing to share an update on the proposed gravel pit and asphalt plant on Hwy 89 south of Emigrant. First, both the Enterprise and the Chronicle ran a story on Friday about the proposal and the June 20th public meeting. View the story here: Gravel Pit proposed in Paradise Valley.

Last week I spoke with DEQ's Opencut Administrator, Jana Gruber. (406-444-3920) and I wanted to share information from that call. Please don't hesitate to call Jana if you have any additional questions.

Opencut mining is governed by the Opencut Mining Act. According to Jana, they have no hard deadline for comments. Jana stressed that if you want to get a meaningful response, however, you should submit comments by June 27th. Ultimately, DEQ must make a decision on the permit by July 1st and they will review comments on an ongoing basis.

Please encourage all of your friends and neighbors to submit comments about the potential environmental, social and economic impacts from the project. View the permit:
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Permit.pdf
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It is important to include all of your concerns. The company also may read comments. Please do not feel like you have to be an expert to submit comments.

There are three potential outcomes for DEQ's July 1st decision:

(1) they return the permit for a deficiency (maybe the fact that there are several drinking wells that are not mentioned in the permit that are within 100ft of the proposed asphalt site and the lack analysis of cultural resources)
(2) they extend the review for another 30 days because they received substantive comments that require more time to analyze, or
(3) they permit the project as is.

PCEC will also encourage our members to submit comments and we are preparing a form comment letter that we will share on our website.

We are also encouraging folks to attend two community meetings. 1) June 14th growth policy meeting at Emigrant Hall, and 2) DEQ public meeting on the gravel pit and asphalt plant on June 20th (7-9pm)

PCEC's role will be to provide support and to encourage community involvement. We also believe that involvement in the growth policy is incredibly important to help create a shared community vision for development and clearer expectations about where gravel pits should be sited in the future.

ABOUT PCEC:

Park County Environmental Council is a not-for-profit community organization that aims to protect and enhance the quality of life in Park County by protecting our land, air, water and people. We have an all volunteer board and three part-time staff. We are here to support your efforts and to help find a solution. Please contact me, Michelle Uberuaga, with any additional questions.

To learn more about our work visit www.envirocouncil.org. To join and receive email updates from PCEC go HERE. We also created an invite to the June 20th public meeting on our Facebook page. Please RSVP and share with your friends: HERE

LEGAL:

Several neighbors have enlisted the help of professional legal counsel. They sent a letter to the company informing them that there was growing community concern about environmental impacts, public health issues and historical/cultural resources on the site. Please contact Bob Parker for more information, bparkermt@aol.com.

RESEARCH:

VIctor Francs is working to get in touch with Larry Lahren with the hopes of commissioning a cultural/historical resource study of the area. Please Contact Victor with any questions, vfrancs10@gmail.com.

Please let me know if you have any additional information to share. And feel free to forward this email to friends and neighbors. We need your help to reach as many people as possible.

Thank you,
Michelle