PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Environmentalists opposed to plans to construct a rock quarry in western Palm Beach County now have a federal agency expressing some of their same concerns.
We have been pushing for answers on the mine's impact when the plan was announced.
WATCH BELOW: Army Corps voices 'concerns' about proposed rock mine
Now, Col. Brandon Bowman with the Army Corps of Engineers wrote to U.S. Rep. Brian Mast to voice his concerns about the proposed project, but stopped short of opposing the mine.
The proposed rock mine doesn't sit far from the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir, a $4 billion public works project that is under construction.
The reservoir is designed to take overflow from Lake Okeechobee and restore the Everglades with clean water.
Environmentalists told WPTV they fear the proposed rock mine sits on land less than a quarter mile from the reservoir.
The proposed site — owned by U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals — said it will be used to mine limestone, which will then be crushed and used to build roads.
We interviewed Mast last month about the plans for the mine.
"Does it make sense to have a quarrying operation where they will be doing explosive quarrying, explosions to blow dirt and rock out of the ground, and do that directly next to a reservoir?" Mast said. "That's a very important question."
Bowman is heading up the ongoing reservoir project for the Army Corps of Engineers.
In his letter to Mast, he said the Corps "does have concerns about the proposed project's impacts on Everglades restoration."
The colonel expressed concerns over how the mine could affect water management and potential seepage of mine water into the reservoir and the Everglades.
On a Zoom call Friday, members of the Army Corps showed how far the EAA reservoir has progressed. That reservoir is still at least four years away from completion.
Engineers behind the rock mine, known as the Southland Water Resource Project, promised Palm Beach County commissioners that the plan is environmentally safe.
Commissioners unanimously approved the plan in May, but it still needs approval from other agencies.
