Croell Inc. won three decisions at the end of a five-hour public meeting Wednesday in favor of its controversial mining proposal, but all three decisions will be considered again Friday.
At the conclusion of the meeting, which was attended by about 75 people in the Pennington County Administration Building in Rapid City, the Pennington County Planning Commission voted 5-2 to award two mining permits to Croell. Planning Director P.J. Conover also announced his approval of a construction permit for Croell.
The permits are for Croell’s proposed operation and expansion of the so-called Perli Pit Quarry, about 3.5 miles south of Rapid City along U.S. Highway 16. Croell sells redi-mix concrete, along with related products and services, and the company plans to mine limestone from the quarry.
One of the mining permits automatically goes to the Pennington County Commission for final consideration, and the other mining permit and construction permit were immediately appealed to the County Commission by opponents who were in attendance Wednesday night.
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The County Commission is scheduled to consider all three permits at 9 a.m. Friday in the Administration Building.
Wednesday’s hearing began at 3 p.m. and lasted until about 8 p.m. About a dozen people gave testimony in opposition to the issuance of the permits, including some people who live near the mine site. Representatives of Croell also spoke, after which the Planning Commission members conducted their own public discussion.
The testimony was impassioned. Opponents expressed concerns about potential traffic danger caused by the mine’s trucks on busy Highway 16, potential releases of radon and radium from mining activities, a potential degradation of the area’s natural beauty and its appeal to tourists (Highway 16 is a main route to Mount Rushmore), and a potential drawdown of water in nearby wells caused by the mine’s use of well water for dust control and other purposes.
“This is a really big operation that is not appropriate at this location,” said audience member Sylvia Cox.
Representatives of Croell and the state Department of Transportation said they are working together on plans to mitigate the danger of increased truck traffic. The turnoff for the mine is on the west side of U.S. 16 between Bear Country USA and the America’s Founding Fathers exhibit, along a hill and a curve.
Mitigation measures could include restricting truck traffic to non-peak traffic hours, installing flashing signs to warn motorists of trucks entering and leaving the highway, constructing extra acceleration and deceleration lanes for the trucks, or even more extreme measures such as prohibiting left turns out of the mine (the trucks would have to turn right, proceed up the hill, and turn left somewhere safer). The DOT representatives said they will decide what mitigation measures are necessary when they know whether the mine will be operational and the amount of truck traffic it will generate.
Croell’s lawyer, Tom Brady, said the radium issue was already considered by state regulators who awarded a well permit to the project, as was the potential impact to other wells in the area. Brady said trees, berms and setbacks would prevent passing motorists from seeing the mine.
“They no more want harm to come to the Black Hills or the community or to any citizen or any visitor than anyone else in this room,” Brady said of Croell's executives. “That’s the last thing they’d want, and they’re going to run their operations with that thought in mind, and with that responsibility in mind.”
All three of the permits that were considered Wednesday have numerous conditions attached, including those that require Croell to cooperate with the Department of Transportation and to attempt to conduct baseline testing of a nearby water well.
Voting “yes” on the mining permits Wednesday night were commissioners Rich Marsh, Travis Lasseter, Kathryn Johnson, Jim Coleman and Gary Drewes. Voting “no” were Sonny Rivers and Sandra Runde.
The Perli Pit Quarry has been mined periodically by other entities since 1966. A total of 33.5 acres are already disturbed at the site and appear mostly unreclaimed. Croell wants to mine roughly another 70 acres during the next several decades, reclaiming the land it mines along the way.
Production at the mine by other operators averaged 22,153 tons of material per year over the past 35 years, according to the Planning Department staff. Croell anticipates mining 50,000 to 100,000 tons of material annually and sending seven to 16 trucks per day onto Highway 16 when material is ready to haul.
Croell has been trying to obtain permits for the mine since 2015, through multiple rounds of consideration by county officials that resulted in litigation. One of the lawsuits, over the legality of mining ordinances that the county amended last year, is under consideration by the state Supreme Court.