SRM Materials Rock Quarry west of Cleveland became a hot topic of discussion by the White County Board of Commissioners during their meeting Monday.
The commissioners expressed top concerns about mining operations disrupting community life, the close proximity to the county’s emergency communication towers, and aesthetics.
White County District 3 commissioner Edwin Nix said his phone has been ringing off the hook from people whose lives have been disrupted by the quarry operation. Nix expressed his concern about the communication towers on the mountain falling. There are cell phone towers and other communication towers up there, including White County 9-1-1 radios, all located close to the mining operation.
White County Public Safety Director David Murphy said he was concerned about the emergency communications but also the aesthetics of the area.
Commission Chairman Travis Turner called the aesthetics “atrocious.”
Commissioner Nix said he has contacted state officials that regulate land and mining and they said they would do a spot check of the operation, but Nix said he hasn’t heard back from them.
“I think this board needs to investigate a little bit,” said Nix.
Chairman Turner said he, Commissioner Nix, and County Manager Billy Pittard would be contacting the Environmental Protection Division about the situation.
“This is embarrassing. It’s an eyesore. I know we may be limited on what we can do because of action 20 years ago, but when it’s intruding upon our towers there has to be some setback,” commented Turner.
Turner said they want to get some facts together and meet with the current owners. Nix said he wants to assure citizens they are working on this.
“I don’t know what our options are,” he said, “but I would like to be able to tell somebody that we are at least doing our due diligence on our side and trying to come up with something.”
