Hi, it’s me, Barley. I’ve heard people tell my mom they’re not concerned about the Jurgensen quarry because it would just be a big lake where they’ll scoop out sand and gravel. It might be noisy and dirty but not generally harmful to themselves or their property. Not so with a limestone quarry….Sand and gravel deposits lie close to the earth’s surface and can be mined by dredging a river or scooping from an open pit. On dry land sand and gravel can be removed without disrupting the water table. According to the U. S. Geological Survey “Except for temporarily disturbing the immediate area while mining operations are active, sand and gravel mining usually has limited environmental impact”1. What they don’t explain is that “temporary” means up to 40 years! BUT the limestone at this Jurgensen quarry site is buried under about 122 feet of earth: 14.5 feet of clay, 30.5 feet of dolomite rock (a type of limestone) and 30.5 feet of shale2 (also known as “mud”). Even worse, this limestone sits above the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer3 and the water will be pumped out 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. That’s a lot of our wasted precious drinking water eventually dumped into Mud Run Creek and flowing on to the Mad River…..but that’s a story for another day. The mining permit application says the mining would be a max of 133 feet and 141 feet. How deep is that? These photos might help you imagine just how deep it is! Deeds Carillon in Dayton is 151 feet tall. Can you picture it in a hole with only the top 10 feet above ground?Next week I’ll talk about the location of this quarry…

1 https://www.usgs.gov/…/silica-statistics-and-information

2 https://citizensagainstmining.org/…/Terran-Feb-1-2018…

3 https://gwconsortium.org/where…/gmbva-information-page/