SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Residents in southeastern North Carolina will have the opportunity to provide feedback about Martin Marietta Materials Inc.’s proposed expansion of a limestone quarry in Castle Hayne.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources will host a public hearing on July 14 in the Heide Trask Senior High School auditorium to discuss water quality impacts of the expansion.
Martin Marietta is proposing to expand the quarry by 358 acres, which would impact over 143 acres of wetlands considered medium or high quality and 9.7 acres of open water. The quarry comprises more than 1,400 acres of land of the northeastern section of the Cape Fear River.
The company is currently seeking Clean Water Act Section 401 Individual Water Quality Certification, which is required to assess if the proposal has avoided or minimized impacts to surface waters, wetlands and other environmental factors. The following is required to receive the certification:
- The project minimizes adverse impacts to surface waters and wetlands based on existing topography, vegetation, fish and wildlife resources and hydrological conditions.
- The project will not degrade groundwaters or surface waters.
- The project will not negatively impact or violate downstream water quality standards.
- The project replaces permanent impacts through mitigation.
In addition to providing feedback at the public hearing, community members can also submit comments until 5 p.m. on August 13. Comments can be submitted here under the project name “Castle Hayne.”
The address for mail-in comments is: Stephanie Goss, 401 Permitting, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC, 27699-1617.
The application and proposal documents can be found here.
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