News Update
Corps publishes Draft EIS for proposed King Road mine
Staff report
Enviro-Net
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, has published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Titan/Tarmac America King Road Limestone Mine in west-central Florida.
The document is available at www.kingroadeis.com and was published in the Federal Register May 11, beginning a 60-day public review and comment period.
Titan/Tarmac America LLC has applied for a permit to impact wetlands in order to mine limestone within southwest Levy County. The proposed mine is located along the western Gulf coast of Florida, about 80 miles north of Tampa. The site is located in southwest Levy County, off King Road west of U.S. Route 19, approximately five miles north of the town of Inglis.
About 3,900 acres of a 4,800-acre area would be mined or otherwise impacted over an approximate 100-year period. Under Sec. 404 of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulates certain dredge and fill activities in waters of the United States, including wetlands, through Department of the Army permits.
Because the corps determined that the scope of the project could significantly affect the environment, a Draft EIS was developed to provide full and fair discussion of the impacts. Concerns expressed to date include water quality and supply, ecosystem degradation, threatened and endangered species, increased truck traffic, dust and noise, air quality, cumulative impacts, increased greenhouse gases and effects on global warming, and the potential for damage to property from blasting.
A public meeting for the Draft EIS will be held on Thursday, May 31 at 6:30 p.m. at the Inglis Community Center, 137 Highway 40 West, Inglis, FL 34449.