Sep. 29—Residents have until Oct. 7 to send written comments to the state on Crab Orchard Sand Quarry's pursuit of a water discharge permit.

The quarry, owned by SRM Materials LLC of Nashville, is a construction sand and gravel mining and processing facility on Cox Valley Rd. The company is seeking the permit to discharge treated mine wastewater and storm water into an unnamed tributary of Meadow Creek.

"Most mines do not want to lose water," said Chris Pracheil, a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation biologist who addressed residents during a Tuesday technical presentation that preceded a public hearing at Crab Orchard City Hall. "They were shut down today because they ran out of water."

The five-year permit will also put the quarry back into state compliance. Pracheil stressed the noncompliance is for discharging without a permit, not for materials discharged into the stream.

He said the company had begun the process of applying for the permit in February 2020, a month before COVID-19 shut down businesses and agencies across the state and country.

"They have done a lot to get this facility back into compliance," he noted.

SRM Materials LLC is also in the process of expanding the quarry to 149 permitted acres. The expansion calls for the construction of two holding ponds in addition to the two now onsite, adding 37 permitted acres to its operation.

Pracheil said the state's last assessment of Meadow Creek in 2017 showed it fully supportive of its designated uses. He said sampling takes place upstream from the quarry, something that posed concerns among those at the hearing.

"You couldn't sample where their outfall location is," Pracheil replied. "The stream isn't big enough."

In addition, the company is required to adhere to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations by monitoring the water twice monthly for pH and total suspended solids, and reporting their flow. The results must be reported quarterly and are made available online by TDEC.

The ponds on site and under construction will be used by the quarry to collect precipitation.

"They need the water for their processing," Pracheil said. "They don't want to discharge water if at all possible."

A couple of residents spoke about the mountains surrounding Crab Orchard during the public hearing.

Patricia Lewis of Crossville said it was the beauty of those mountains that drew her and her husband to retire to the area. She listed her concerns about the application for a lapsed permit, as well as lack of fines for operating with no permit.

"While I appreciate the jobs and income that's brought to this community, my concern is the long-term impact on environment where water is one of our most precious resources and is now endangered worldwide," she said. "I hope that when the permit is issued, the issuer and the people receiving the permit recognize their responsibility to all of us and to the wildlife that's impacted."

Jean Cheeley, who owns property in Crab Orchard, had similar concerns. She noted quarrying in the Crab Orchard area has grown from family operations to out-of-town companies like SRM Materials.

"They take off the face of our mountain, and that's how they leave it," she said. "There's no bonding. There's no reclamation."

She said her interest is in raising community awareness, taking action on the local level and holding companies responsible for the damage they do to the environment.

"We are trying to attract people. We're not trying to show them the guts of our mountains," Cheeley said. "And that's forever. Yes, it's a necessary industry. It's got to be done, but why does it always have to come to Crab Orchard and our poor sections of the community? They don't do it in Fairfield Glade or Lake Tansi. It's tearing everybody's property values down."

Send comments on the permit application to Dennis.Conger@tn.gov or TDEC Mining Section, 3711 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville, TN 37921; and refer to Permit No. TN0063622.