COLLEGE TOWNSHIP — Residents can voice their opinions about a controversial proposal to extend the depth of the Oak Hall Quarry at a public hearing scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27.
The state Department of Environmental Protection set the hearing date after receiving multiple requests from residents concerned about an application by the limestone quarry’s operators to extend its depth by 200 feet.
The hearing will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Mount Nittany Middle School, 656 Brandywine Drive, State College.
A number of residents say they worry about the impact deeper mining at the quarry off Boalsburg Road could have on Spring Creek. Potential damage to homes from increased blasting is another concern.
“I’m hoping that there will be a huge crowd there,” said Lemont resident Sue Smith, who helped lead a petition drive calling for the hearing. She estimated that about 50 people circulated petitions.
The project is “not going to be stopped because we don’t like blasting, noise and trucks,” she said. “It’s going to be stopped because it’s doing damage to people’s houses, the water supply and Spring Creek.”
Lemont resident James Marden has said that residents have “major concerns about the way a deeper quarry will affect ground water and possible subsidence and formation of sink holes.”
Hanson Aggregates Pennsylvania LLC has applied to the DEP’s Moshannon District Mining Office in Philipsburg to revise its permits. According to a public legal notice, the application includes a request to increase the depth of mining at the quarry 200 feet below the existing approved pit floor elevation. The proposed permit area involves 315 acres. The current permit area is 331 acres.
A spokesman for Lehigh Hanson, the Irving, Texas-based U.S. parent company of the quarry operator, said the company has done “extensive hydrologic testing” that focused on ensuring “there would not be depletion or adverse impacts on Spring Creek.”
“There is not going to be any additional impact beyond what we’re doing now,” Jeff Sieg, director of corporate communications for Lehigh Hanson, said last month.
Sieg said the company, which has about 15 local employees, is open to answering residents’ questions at a hearing or at other times.
According to the DEP, the hearing will open with a brief presentation describing the proposal and explaining the permit revision process. Those wishing to provide oral testimony will be required to sign up at the beginning of the meeting and will be limited to a maximum of five minutes. Written comments may also be submitted.
