Pennsylvania

Pit & Quarry, July, 2004

A quarry's plan to expand would risk the geology of a nearby state park, according to civic and environmental groups. Quality Aggregates Inc. has a permit to blast near McConnells Mill State Park in Lawrence County (near Pittsburgh), but is limited to a 50-acre section more than 1,000 ft. from the park boundary. The company is seeking a revision that would allow blasting on the remainder of the permit area--about 90 acres containing 7-million tons of limestone, reports the Associated Press.

* The East Penn Township Planning Commission is discussing whether to recommend to the township Zoning Hearing Board that a request from Lehigh Asphalt Paving and Construction Co. to quarry sandstone along Hollow Road be denied or approved with strict conditions. Commission Chairman Jay Kline suggested that the board deny the request for a special exception and listed numerous reasons why. The township zoning board in 2001 held hearings on Lehigh Asphalt's request and denied a special exception permit, saying the company could not proceed because it lacked a state Department of Environmental Protection permit. The company obtained the permit and appealed the zoning board's decision, which was upheld. Lehigh Asphalt appealed to Commonwealth Court, which said the case should go back to the zoning board to determine whether the company should get a special exception under the original 1996 zoning ordinance. The ordinance had been amended in 1999 after Lehigh Asphalt's application to allow mining as a conditional use, reports The Morning Call.