Sophia Mertson
Staff Writer
Sewanee is known for being environmentally conscious, surrounded by the Domain and all the hiking trails and hidden natural treasures. There are multiple offices on Sewanee’s campus that work with the Domain to ensure it is healthy and thriving. However, community members and students became concerned about the possibility of a sand and gravel quarry being built when the environmental effects, as well as the health effects of that remain unknown.
On October 8, 2024, The South Cumberland Trust held a public hearing about a proposed sand quarry being built in Sewanee, discussing Tinsey Sand and Gravel Company petitioning to build a sand and gravel quarry near Jump Off Creek. The public hearing was created to give members of the community a place to voice their thoughts and concerns about the project. The meeting had an impressive turnout, with approximately 20 Sewanee students and 70 community members in attendance. However, when people began to ask questions about the project, problems about the concern of air and water pollution became the forefront of the hearing. Many people were concerned with how the sand quarry would affect the environment and citizens’ health.
Additionally, many were not satisfied with the level of preparedness from the company. Those who attended the meeting began to feel frustrated as they felt dismissed by the responses. Community member and retired microbiologist Dr. Shari Lydy, recalled how “For many questions their blanket answer was, ‘that question was outside of our subject matter.’”
Other people admitted to the unsubstantial answers given by the company but looked at the experience optimistically. A student at the college, Davis Peltier (C’ 27), stated, “My experience was very good, not in an uplifting, emotional way but in a way where the people couldn’t give you the best answers they still tried to answer your questions.” While representatives at the meeting attempted to give definitive answers, Peltier said, “If you asked a question that proved they were doing something wrong, they would turn the question away and they wouldn’t answer it.”
Members of the community had many questions about the environmental effects the quarry would have on those living in the surrounding area. “A common question asked was something along the lines of ‘your mission statement says you are for our health yet you are trying to allow a sand quarry, how is that for us?’” said Peltier. The quarry poses several health threats to the environment and the health of those living around it.
Questions about what exactly these health threats are and what Tinsey plans to do to prevent them are called into question. Dr. Shari Lydy explained the hazards associated with the quarry’s pollution. “They’re silicates. The micro-silicates are smaller than PM 2.5. Those are going to be very damaging. The micro-particulates get down into lung tissue, and those are not going to settle.”
Particulate matter in the lungs is known to cause chronic cough, asthma, respiratory infections, and decreased lung development. These pollutants will harm the health primarily of the younger and older generations of Sewanee. “TDEC [Tennessee Department of Energy and Conservation] had the audacity to say that the particulates are only going to be in the air during the work day. We said, ‘Really?’ Once they’re in the air, they travel depending on the size for hundreds of miles for up to weeks and months in the air. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there,” Lydy continued. The legitimacy of the representatives’ statements becomes problematic when looked into further. If the particulates were to somehow only be in the air during the work day, a standard 40-hour work week is a long time to have harmful particulates in the air. The current standards for particulate matter regarding (PM 2.5) for the state of Tennessee is 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter.
Peltier further explained how the new regulations enforced on Tinsley would be monitored. “They said that there is someone who is trained to look at the color of the cloud of dust and determine if it is exceeding regulation levels, and I thought that was silly because it’s weird to do it completely on visuals and not air monitors. Also, [my issue with] the fact that they would see if pollution crossed the property lines is that weather is variable. If it’s a really windy day, the surveyor goes out when it’s a really calm day, it’s a really sunny day and they can see through the dust better, the cloud isn’t going anywhere.”
TDEC’s stance on maintaining regulations was weak and did not appear adequate to accurately measure the damage that might be caused. Peltier followed up his statement by saying, “A lot of people brought up the fact that the quarry in Monteagle already doesn’t follow regulations and dust goes everywhere. The law allowed this quarry so how are we gonna know that the next quarry isn’t gonna do the same thing…They’re not under the same company but they are supposed to follow the same regulations.” This leaves residents unhopeful that the Tinsley quarry will be more ethical than the Monteagle quarry.
Besides air pollution, the creation of water pollution is also a major factor to consider when implementing a sand quarry. The quarry would be built next to JumpOff Creek, which flows into Battle Creek. Lake Jackson, which is the secondary water source for the area, is also only 2.5 miles away from the proposed site. All three of these water sources will be affected by the quarries’ pollutants. While the pollutants affect those who have to drink from these water sources, the most unknown victim of water pollution is wildlife. Peltier explained, “The biggest [problem] that comes to mind is runoff. If they are spraying all this dust with water or with water that sprays in the air and lands on the ground, say it rains and all of that dust and particulates get washed away into streams. I’m big into reptiles and amphibians, and I know salamanders need clean water to reproduce, and if sediment covers their eggs, their eggs die. Same with fish. So if this runoff happens, then the runoff will run down the mountain where there is a lot of diversity in fish and salamander.”
When asked about the importance of preserving the diversity of these fish and salamander populations, Peltier stated, “Especially down the mountain towards Cowan where I assume these creeks would drain, we have an incredibly high diversity of fish species. There are some creeks down the mountain that hold endangered or near-threatened [species] to the state of Tennessee and [near-threatened] in the world. Species of fish would definitely be impacted by sedimentation.”
Furthermore, when considering the benefits of a sand quarry, two that may come to mind are the creation of materials like concrete and asphalt and economic growth. While the Tinsley quarry would certainly create materials that would be sold off to other companies and projects, the economic growth is far less likely to materialize. Tinsley proposed that the quarry would create 14 new jobs for the Sewanee community. However, Sewanee Professor Dr. Paige Schneider noted, “14 jobs is not a lot, at least some of those positions do tend to come from outside [Sewanee]. What we would argue is that when you look at the destruction and damage from the quarry, 14 jobs is not a lot to offer.” The job creation from the project would not create large enough economic growth to adequately satisfy the community. “There’s going to be some tax revenue that flows into the county but JumpOff will not benefit from that. We are not going to see any benefit of that up here from that money,” Schneider continued.
While the community is intensively involved in the debate, further problems arise in preventing the creation of a quarry. Sewanee student Max McCloud (C’ 26), stated, “I learned that the state is legally obligated to approve the permit if their application says that they will meet state regulations, whether or not these regulations are met doesn’t really seem to matter.” This leaves community members hopeless about what they can do. However, involvement from students and community members is key to solving this issue. Lydy urged people to “start writing to the governor, the senator, and the state representatives. The state is advocating outdoor recreation on one hand while on the other you want to put this quarry here.”
The hope is that with enough participation from the community, the government will be urged to halt the development of the quarry. Lydy proposed, “We might be able to attack this quarry on the stance of us being an underserved rural community up here. There is no industrial development between Sewanee and south Pittsburgh. It’s an unspoiled area. Mainly a lot of the people here are seniors on lower fixed incomes.”
McCloud further stresses the importance of stopping developments. “Particularly in this moment when we just saw Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina get wiped out by a hurricane, clearly we are in the era of climate instability and purging the land makes us even more vulnerable to climate change.” The pollutants put into the environment will leave the plateau more susceptible to extreme weather conditions. The removal of vegetation in the area will cause the area to be easily eroded which allows harmful sedimentation to get into waterways, especially in an area exposed to extreme weather conditions. Moreover, the project would naturally release carbon dioxide, but the vegetation’s removal would prevent its release..
Tourism is another major aspect of Sewanee’s industry that must be considered when debating a sand quarry. Sewanee has been rated 9th in Outside Magazine‘s Top Ten Biking Towns in the U.S. Dr Schneider noted, “It took a lot of people and a lot of money to create the Mountain Goat Trail and already we have seen increased heavy traffic on 41 A…Believe it or not, 156 is designated a bike route by the state of Tennessee.” The consistent back and forth of dump trucks, conveyors, and wheel loaders will make Highway 156 and the surrounding area less accessible to biking, lowering Sewanee’s biking friendliness.
The second public hearing will be held on Nov. 21, 2024, in South Pittsburgh, Tenn. at the Princess Theatre. The location of the second hearing could be a concern for some Sewanee residents, as many people in the immediate area will find it hard to conveniently make it to South Pittsburgh. Dr. Lydy commented, “Going down 156 when it’s dark…it gets curvy down there. It’s got narrow winding curves down there…I’m older, I’m a senior and I have trouble seeing at night. We argued that we wanted it up here because we are the affected community.”
Community members voiced that since Sewanee will be the community that faces the brunt of the consequences of the sand quarry’s construction, the meeting should be held in Sewanee. As the second meeting draws closer members of the University of The South, like the Green House, are in the process of finding accessible ways to bring people to the meeting. Members of the Green House are working out the details to carpool students to the meeting for those interested in attending.