New home sought for hemmed-in gravel pit

Friday, Aug. 30, 2002 | 9:39 a.m.

Rinker Materials, the biggest producer of gravel for construction in Southern Nevada, is seeking Clark County's support for a planned relocation of its gravel pit on the west side of the Las Vegas Valley to a new site outside Sloan.

The commission will consider a resolution next week that would urge the Bureau of Land Management to endorse the planned move. The BLM is now evaluating the environmental impact of the move.

Rinker's gravel and sand mining operation at Buffalo Drive and Tropicana Avenue is the largest supplier of rock for construction of buildings, roads and other needs in the valley. But the operation is next door to housing subdivisions, and neighbors are unhappy with the blasting, noise and dust that the work brings.

The move would bring a full-scale gravel mining operation to about 1,000 acres on BLM land outside of Sloan, just south of the Las Vegas Valley off Interstate 15.

Ray Brown, a Rinker spokesman, said it is important that local officials show support for the move.

"We want to show the BLM that the local county government is in support of this process," he said. "It's more of a proclamation than anything else."

Brown said the company hopes to receive information from the BLM next week on the results of the scoping process for the move. Approval from the federal agency is needed before Rinker can go to the county government and ask for air-quality permits needed for the Sloan operation.

While Rinker's neighbors in Spring Valley would welcome the move, not everyone agrees that it will be good for the county.

John Hiatt, chairman of the Enterprise Town Advisory Board, said he is concerned that the operation -- and its trucks carrying tons of gravel -- would bring dust and noise to his township a few miles north of the planned new site.

"It's more than a simple relocation," Hiatt said. "It's a dramatic expansion.

"Our concern out there in the Enterprise area is that there will be 1,000 truckloads a day from the mine, and the dust and noise it will bring."

Rinker has received a handful of violation notices from the county for excessive dust at the existing site.

Hiatt said he is concerned that mining the site at Sloan could send plumes of dust throughout the entire Las Vegas Valley.

Two county commissioners would be directly affected: Erin Kenny, who has the existing site in her district, and Bruce Woodbury, who has the Sloan site in his. Woodbury was not immediately available for comment Wednesday, but Kenny indicated she supports the move.

"If we would be able to take that plant and move it out of a residential area ... that would be positive," Kenny said.

The commission is scheduled to consider the resolution on Tuesday.

Kenny said the company has a good track record in the Las Vegas area, and the jobs and materials it provides are essential to the region.

But she warned that air quality concerns could still affect moving the mining operation. The company could find itself competing with a proposed airport in Ivanpah Valley for permission to put dust in the air.

Federal limits on additional air pollution constrain any companies hoping to put new industry in the region south of the Las Vegas Valley, and county officials are keeping polluting industries to a minimum there to provide space for the new airport. The Ivanpah airport is scheduled to come on line in about a decade, after McCarran International Airport reaches its passenger capacity.

Mark Chatterton, BLM-Las Vegas assistant field manager for non-renewable resources, said his agency has no specific timeline for the environmental approval process.

He said Mark Morse, Las Vegas field manager, would make the final determination on whether to allow the new mine to operate.

Chatterton confirmed one issue of concern for Hiatt, who is active in environmental issues. He said the company is seeking approval under the BLM's mining regulations, which would mean that the company would not pay any royalties for profits derived from the mining operation.