Walker County residents meet with proposed quarry owners
WALKER COUNTY, Ga. (WDEF) – Residents in southern Walker County got a chance to directly question two owners who are planning to build a rock quarry in their backyard.
The proposed rock quarry owned by John Cross and Hans Dawson will be along Ridgeway Road in far southern Walker County.
Residents are concerned about the noise impacts and environmental impacts on our daily lives.
Several residents and farmers at or near the Blue Mountain Airpark voiced similar concerns about noise to the quarry owners.
Residents meeting with quarry owners John Cross and Hans Dawson at Blue Mountain Airpark Thursday.
One resident told the owners, “We moved from Kennesaw to get away from noise, to get away from traffic, to get out into nature, and you’re taking that away from us!”
Nearby resident and blueberry farmer Joe Shire added, “This is a very peaceful community all the way around here, nighttime it is quiet all the way around here and most of the day, there is no noise.”
There were also frustrations over the lack of communication from county officials in relation to the project, which is no surprise to Jerry Bruce who has lived here for 75 years.
He said, “This end of Walker County, we seemed to get left out of everything. They won’t pave our roads.”
Bruce says he is concerned about the activity will affect his property.
He said, “It wouldn’t bother me if I knew that it wouldn’t bust my window lights out and crack my foundation, I’ve got a basement. I’m just afraid it’s going to hurt my house.”
Concerns extended to Joe Shire’s blueberry farm and the potential for dust.
He said, “This river valley is very susceptible to wind flow up and down the river valley. I own a blueberry farm. Blueberries don’t do very well with lime.”
The owners told residents they’re working to go above and beyond Georgia’s environmental standards as they await state approval for the project.
Hans Dawson, who is a part of a family of quarry owners from Wisconsin, said, “We are very emphatic to the idea that something new and different is obviously going to raise concerns. But I can tell you having grown up next to a quarry, working in one as a very young person, I am still here. My family is here. All of our neighbors are here, they’re all in very good health. We all are living to long ages. This is a highly regulated industry.”
Both the quarry owners and local residents say they’d like to have further community meetings to further discuss how to mitigate the impact of the quarry in Walker County.
