A train passes Tuesday in early March off Interstate 84 near Perry, the site of a proposed 250-acre quarry that would ship 2,000 tons of material per day. The Union County Planning Commission voted against the proposal March 22, and the property owner withdrew the application ahead of the county board of commissionersâ vote Wednesday, April 6. Alex Wittwer/The Observer
UNION COUNTY â James Smejkal of Banks withdrew his application for a rock quarry off Robbs Hill Road before Union County commissioners could vote on Wednesday morning, April 7.
The Union County Planning Commission on March 22 voted to recommend the county commissioners reject Smejkalâs application, citing the staff report that found numerous deficiencies in the 400-plus pages of the document. The county board had scheduled a public hearing to consider the application for the rock quarry about a mile from Perry. The quarry would have been at least 250 acres.
Students were yet again not mentioned in a Covid press conference yesterday, as Boris Johnson confirmed pubs would be reopening next Monday.
The government had previously said a decision would be made on the return to campus over Easter, but one Vice-Chancellor, calling the omission “frustrating”, said “the reality is students have been pushed aside to open pubs!”
UWE boss Steve West said universities had been led to expect a decision over the Easter weekend, rather than at the end of the Easter holidays, and added “I hope that we won’t have to wait much longer to provide clarity and certainty for tens of thousands of our students.”
Many local residents are aware of the proposed basalt quarry that would be on Robbs Hill Road just east of Perry. The large quarry would be constructed alongside the Robbs Hill Creek drainage, leading into the Grande Ronde River. The proposal is to remove more than 200 million tons of rock over the next 89 years (or 100, or 137 years, depending on which page of the application you read). Over time, the quarry would obliterate a mountainside by shipping basalt by rail to asphalt markets in California and the Midwest. As many as 46 additional trains would traverse our valleys daily to remove the rock.
Many local residents are aware of the proposed basalt quarry that would be located on Robbs Hill Road, just east of Perry. The large quarry would be constructed alongside the Robb Hill Creek drainage, leading into the Grande Ronde River. The proposal is to remove more than 200 million tons of rock over the next 89 years (or 100, or 137 years, depending on which page of the application you read). Over time, the quarry would obliterate a mountainside by shipping basalt by rail to asphalt markets in California and the Midwest. As many as 46 additional trains would traverse our valleys daily to remove the rock.