Utah is the state with the fastest growing population in the country, with a significant population growth of almost 24% since 2010.
With that rate of growth comes the need for new housing, new roads and other necessary infrastructure such as utilities to provide sewer, water and other services to the rapidly growing population.
Additionally, Utah consumers are very interested in solar panels. According to Ecowatch, the state ranked ninth in the U.S. for solar panel installations in the first quarter of 2021.
All this growth is accompanied by the need for composite materials – cement, gravel and sand – necessary components for construction and renewable energy.
The problem is that no one wants a quarry or gravel pit near their community, even though their community is heavily dependent on it to grow and prosper – whether you like it or not. In most communities, the needed material is not far from their homes, scattered in alluvial deposits along the Wasatch Front that form the remaining footprint of Lake Bonneville, a vast Ice Age lake.
The NIMBY Syndrome, Zoning and Mining
Under political pressure over noise, truck traffic, air quality and other concerns, Tooele County has established an aggregate mining zone.
In 2022, Salt Lake County passed an ordinance banning mines in the Wasatch Hills. It is a preventative measure to stop the issuance of conditional use permits for Tree Farms LLC. Tree Farms LLC had received a small mine permit from the state to develop 50 acres for a quarry in Parleys Canyon.
The ordinance directly contradicted a law passed by the state Legislature in 2019 that prohibits counties and cities from amending ordinances to exclude gravel pits or quarries. Against that backdrop, and despite strong opposition to the operation, the company filed suit.
Granite Construction has argued that it has both historic and property rights to the project. Opponents, however, argue that such an operation in the hills is incompatible with protecting water and air quality and with recreation.
Shelley Thayne Rich, a teacher at Hawthorne Elementary in Salt Lake City, said she has been an avid fan of Parleys Canyon for years and that such an operation would destroy a quality of life she has come to cherish.
Rich spoke out against a bill by Rep. Casey Snider, R-Paradise, HB502, which would direct the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining to conduct a study of the aggregate mining industry, including how many operations there are in Utah, production, available supply, ability to meet demand and to investigate what restrictions may be on the books that are hampering operations.
Snider said his measure, which inevitably passed despite some opposition from his Democratic colleagues, is not a mining-specific bill but a look at the health of the industry overall and its needs going forward.
Deborah Gardner said at the same Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that it was “not right to do an investigation,” especially one that smacked of one-sidedness given the players at the table. She said the study, which is due to take place in November, is rushed and designed to help the people it would benefit most while furthering damage to the environment.
Snider stressed that his bill does not specifically address mines.
“It makes me a little angry that this is somehow aimed at Parleys,” Snider said, adding that there is a gravel pit a half mile from his northern Utah farm and a rock quarry in his barn.
Later, Snider told the Deseret News that the state needs a better understanding of the industry, including the challenges and what lies ahead.
“I mean, no one wants this in their backyard. But we’re all driving back and forth on roads and we’re going to need even more materials as we build houses and everything else. So I just want a better understanding of the situation,” he said. “There is a lot of incomplete information on both sides of the issue. And so coming up with something – working with the agencies and legislating from there – is a better path, I think.
Dave Kallas, director of the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Coalition and lobbyist for Lobby Utah, said it is becoming increasingly difficult to pass regulations for a new mine or gravel pit in Utah.
He said the state should not do the same as other regions, which have banned local mining and preferred to bring the material in by truck or other means from elsewhere.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the construction boom there is being sustained by rocks and sand shipped about 1,400 miles from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, even though the material is locally available and plentiful. Kallas said such an arrangement drives up costs dramatically, with transportation far exceeding the actual cost of transporting the material. The federal government has closed 4,300 acres of land in New Mexico to new gravel pits, mining or oil exploration to protect Native American cultural resources.
Plans to add an asphalt plant to an aggregate mine in Colorado were put on hold after county planners received angry threats at local grocery stores and gas stations. The failed plans came as the state government prepared to tap $4 billion in federal funds available for new roads and spend money to help ease the housing crisis, the Colorado Sun reported.
Location, location, location
A 2019 Utah Foundation report, commissioned by the largest players in the aggregates industry, found that most material is harvested within 50 miles of where it’s needed. Otherwise, costs skyrocket.
“Unlike many other industries where boundaries are fluid and companies can choose where to expand and contract, the aggregates industry is dependent on the location of the natural resources being mined. The aggregates industry is strongly connected to local communities,” the report said.
Washington, Weber and Utah counties benefit most from the jobs the sector provides, but Salt Lake County stands out as the biggest economic beneficiary, despite the “dirty” nature of the industry.
Geneva wanted to expand its mining operations on land it already owned, but this was met with fierce opposition from the town of Draper and its residents, who wanted to stop mining.
Kallas said the reality is that the Staker Parson operation on the north side of Salt Lake County and Geneva’s Point of the Mountain location have been around for decades, with surrounding communities growing up around them.
“There is a push now that says, we allowed housing and other uses next to these operations, and now people want them gone. And so the question is: do we want to protect those resources? And you know, you have a city that, ironically, when they do a road construction project, they hire the lowest bidder, right?” Kallas said. “And the lowest bidder is usually the person who can get the material closest, because transportation is such a high cost. Yet, in their zoning decisions, they choose to exclude or refuse any form of expansion or continuation of activities.”
The aggregates industry is one of the most heavily regulated, subject to state air quality and water quality permits and dust abatement and control plans. Many operators try to be the best neighbors they can be, despite what residents perceive as an unwanted intrusion and unsightly feature of their community.
Geneva uses a number of methods to control dust, including using water trucks to hose down transportation routes and material stockpiles, sealed containers and buildings. All trucks are also washed before leaving the location.
Parent company Clyde Companies has conducted nearly 100 inspections of its facilities over the past year, most of them random and unannounced, and has not incurred any fines or violations, the company said.
However, SaveParleys.org argued that dust from proposed or existing mining operations in Parleys Canyon would have enormous impacts on a region already struggling with air quality problems.
The group says the dust carries toxins and that despite all efforts to limit it, it would be impossible to prevent the winds from the slopes from carrying it to neighboring communities. In addition, the group said it has little confidence in the state’s fugitive dust control program and that there is a lack of sufficient staff to ensure enforcement of regulations. The group cited a litany of concerns, including potential water pollution, increased truck traffic and land uses that simply don’t blend with the foothills’ landscape.
Snider stressed that these escalating conflicts and the growth of the state demonstrate the need for the investigation.
“We need this material. To have the quality of life that we have, we just have to make good decisions about allowing it and allowing it, but also just having the discussion.”
The state should also look at it from a fair point of view, he added.
“I don’t believe it’s appropriate for rural Utah to bear all of the costs associated with these materials, whether it’s traffic, environmental, whatever,” he said. “If the same assets exist along the Wasatch Front and are only being held up because of regulatory obstacles, that’s not appropriate.”
