Sumter County Mine Expansion

February 9, 2006
Sumter Commission disallows rehearings - Sumter County commissioners have voted unanimously to take wording out in two places of the county code that allows developers and businesses to request a rehearing when they are denied a permit or zoning for a project. Meanwhile, a Sumter County couple who filed a lawsuit against the Sumter County Commission because they granted a rehearing to a mining company that was denied expansion may drop their case. County Attorney Randall Thornton said he researched numerous Florida counties and found very few that had codes allowing developers a rehearing once it was denied by a board or commission - by Joe Callahan, The Star Banner.

Environmental Release Report: FLORIDA CRUSHED STONE CO. CEMENT Brooksville, FL
(OWNED BY RINKER MATERIALS)
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December 29, 2005
Florida Crushed Stone scraps rehearing plan with board Rinker Materials Corp. subsidiary ’must start over from scratch’ - Florida Crushed Stone, a lime-rock mining company, decided not to go through with a controversial rehearing this week before the Sumter County Commission. The company will improve its site plan before filing a new application to expand its operation. That means the expansion quest of the Rinker Materials Corp. subsidiary is over for now.

Despite the announcement, John Megan said he will not drop a lawsuit filed against Sumter County on the grounds the rehearing was unconstitutional. "We’re still going ahead with the lawsuit because we believe the ordinance allowing the rehearing should be changed," said Megan, who filed the lawsuit with his wife, Louise Racine. Megan and Racine launched the group Citizens Opposed to Rinker’s Expansion after Florida Crushed Stone announced in May that it wanted to expand its mining on property it owns off County Road 470 near the couple’s home. (Source: The Star Banner via www.ocala.com. Originally published Dec. 21, 2005, by Joe Callahan.)

December 18, 2005
Mine foes angered by Sumter - Opponents: Rehearing for company unconstitutional, man who filed a lawsuit against Sumter County this month says Tuesday’s rehearing of a mining operation is unconstitutional and there will be fierce opposition on hand in protest. "We will be there to protest the fact they are having the meeting and to again ask that they do not grant the request to expand mining," said John Megan, who along with his wife, Louise Racine, of Center Hill, is suing the County Commission - by Joe Callahan, The Star Banner.

December 20, 2005
Board of County Commissioners, Sumter County, Florida- Public Hearing - Rinker Rehearing, 6:00 p.m., Room 222 of the Historic Courthouse.

December 18, 2005
Mine foes angered by Sumter Opponents: Rehearing for company unconstitutional by Joe Callahan, Star-Banner - "We will be there to protest the fact they are having the meeting and to again ask that they do not grant the request to expand mining," said John Megan, who along with his wife, Louise Racine, of Center Hill, is suing the County Commission.

November 24, 2005
Is Limestone Mining Necessary in Sumter County? - Official Website of the Board of County Commissioners, Sumter County, Florida  - ...In a perfect world, all mining companies would operate in a safe manner and in full compliance with their respective operating agreements without a need for regular oversight. Unfortunately, as has been discovered in the most recent case to come before the Board, this is not always the case.

From TOOFAR’s November meeting:

Click on image to enlarge

Click on image to enlarge

Speakers:   Louise Racine & John Megan of CORE.

The rocks under us are full of passageways that no one knows. A cut made into the aquifer in one place can cause problems many miles away. When water is pulled from the ground by mining companies, lakes, streams, wells and homes miles away can be affected rather than places close to the mine.

Deep pit mining must be eliminated. This will be aggressively fought by the mining companies.

CORE stopped the expansion of the Rinker mine this past spring but the results are being challenged. There will be a rehearing on Dec. 20, 2005.

Dave Starnes a member of the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Council remarked that the mines are responsible for the damage to the lake that is now costing 26 million dollars to try to repair. Blasting can be felt many miles from the mines.

DAVID BEATS GOLIATH
SUMTER COUNTY MINE EXPANSION STOPPED
The Sumter County Commission has blocked plans by Rinker Materials to expand it’s Florida Crushed Stone Center Hill Mine into neighboring pastureland.

The public hearing went on for nearly six hours with the board spending most of that time listening to "experts" on both sides.

Rinker presented a hydrology consultant who told the board about plans for a "hydraulic barrier" a ditch that would be used to direct the mine water back into the aquifer. He also described a 15 foot high berm that would be built to shield some neighboring properties from mine operations. They also presented testimony from a seismologist –an authority on blasting– and an engineer.

The opposition was led by CORE, the group represented in some of our recent meetings by Louise Racine and John Megan.

They presented a hydro-ecologist with a slide show on Florida’s aquifer and the negative impacts of mining on lakes and wetlands. Also a hydrology consultant presented a critical review of the mine’s dewatering plan, citing inconsistencies in Rinkers application documents.

The mine had failed for nine years to comply with a groundwater recharge plan required by SWFWMD and failed to follow plans of SWFWMD and DEP.

A 4.4 billion dollar corporation’s plans stopped by a grassroots organization formed by regular people who care about their environment. (Sort of like TOOFAR?)

Note: John Megan of CORE (Citizens Against Rinker’s Expansion) will be one of the guest speakers at our November 17th meeting.