Castle Hayne quarry expansion faces state environmental review after public hearing

ROCKY POINT, N.C. (WECT) - Martin Marietta Materials Inc.’s proposed expansion of its Castle Hayne limestone quarry cannot move forward until the state certifies it will not degrade ground or surface water, minimizes adverse impacts, and provides adequate environmental mitigation, state officials said Tuesday.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality held a public hearing Tuesday night in New Hanover County to gather comment on the proposal, which would expand the quarry by 358 acres, affecting more than 143 acres of wetlands and nearly 10 acres of open water near the Northeast Cape Fear River.

Roger Shew, with the UNCW Department of Geology, addressed the hearing.

“We want to keep nature as it was here first, and nature drives everything else. If we don’t have healthy nature, we don’t have healthy people or environments for people to live in,“ said Shew. ”What we need to do is work together to try to come up with some sort of resolution that will allow businesses, people and nature to coexist.”

Those who did not attend Tuesday’s hearing can still submit written comments online or by mail through Aug. 13. Comments should reference Project No. 20260387, version 1, and list the project name as “Castle Hayne.”

Mailed comments can be sent to: Stephanie Goss, 401 Permitting, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1617.

The application and related materials are available online.