The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division of Mineral and Geologic Resources is holding another public hearing for another proposed rock quarry in the area. This meeting will be held on March 27, 2025 over a water discharge permit for the proposed Smyrna Ready Mix (SRM) on Highway 70 at Snow Hill between Smithville and Dowelltown.
This meeting will be held at the DeKalb County Complex at 712 South Congress Boulevard, Smithville, starting at 5 p.m., with an information session to allow participants to ask questions formally and receive input from the TDEC staff. The formal hearing will begin at 6 p.m. The meeting is being held over the state’s issuance of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and the potential impact on human health and the environment from treated mine wastewater and storm water on the 30-acre site. The receiving stream for the proposed discharge is Drivers Branch.
Once the formal public hearing begins, the question-and-answer format will end, and all public comments will be collected for the hearing record without response from TDEC during the hearing. The public may also join the hearing by computer or phone conference at 1-629-209-4396. Written comments may be submitted by mail or emailed to DMGR.Publicnotice@tn.gov. The last day to submit comments for the hearing is April 7, 2025. If you have questions related to the draft NPDES permit: TN0070737 contact Daniel Lawrence at 865-803-1206 or Daniel.Lawrence@tn.gov
The purpose of the hearing is to gather information from the public relevant to a final decision on the permit application. Comments not related to water quality, or the information contained in the permit application will not be considered in the decision-making process. Issues such as air quality, zoning, blasting, noise, dust, and traffic are not related to water quality and are not regulated by the Division of Mineral and Geologic Resources or the NPDES program; therefore, consideration of these issues would not contribute relevant information for the proposed permit. TDEC does not take in account any city or county regulations when issuing permits.
This is the second such meeting locally for TDEC. The first concerned a proposed Jones Brothers quarry in the Liberty area. That permit was eventually issued, though TDEC officials say that they only consider water run off from the property, and do not take up issues such as air pollution, blasting, well water, and noise … only the water pollution issue. They do not take into consideration any city or county regulations that might prohibit quarries from operating.
The SRM quarry first came to the attention of area residents last summer after a blast from the proposed site rocked local homes. Complaints were filed with the state and county, and in August the state ruled that SRM had been crushing without issuance of an NPDES permits.
SRM submitted an application in September after which the site was determined to be inactive. In November SRM activity at the site was again halted after the state found SRM to be in non-compliance for operating without a permit.
According to the state, the permit application was deemed to be complete December 2, but SRM must wait until a permit is approved and in place before proceeding. SRM must also control drainage from the disturbed area.
IN DeKalb County, the County Powers Act was approved prohibiting rock quarries from operating from within 5,000 feet of a home or business. Only quarries that were operational would be grandfathered in from the regulations. Local residents argue that while the quarry site at SRM is a former quarry from when Highway 70 expansion occurred, the quarry was not operational by SRM because they did not have the proper permits from the state. Any operations at the site were illegal and should not be considered in the grandfather clause.
