By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspodent
A gravel pit ordinance needs to be enforced and some gravel pit owners in the county need to understand just what is expected. However, some of those pit operators may not be doing business under the same ordinance. “The ordinance has changed over the years,” said Ryan Peters, Juab County attorney. He said that some of the gravel pits may have been permitted under past ordinances but that would need to be researched. The ordinance does state: “Exception: sites having a valid, current permit at the time of passage of this ordinance shall be completed according to the terms of such permit and any bonding agreements appurtenant thereto.” At first, as he addressed the topic of out-of-compliance gravel pits, Richard Hansen, Juab County Commission Chairman, proposed writing all the gravel pit operators in the county to let them know that they needed to be in compliance. “We need to make them aware of requirements,” said Hansen. Ordinance 12-1-18 states that: “No cut or fill shall result in a final slope that exceeds the critical angle of repose (e.g. 33 degrees) for gravel deposits. Where grading work will produce temporary cuts and fills that exceed the angle of repose, a cash or surety bond in the amount set below to cover the cost of reclamation, $10,000 per acres for any pit over 7 acres or less and a $15,000 per acres for any pit over seven acres...” He said that the county needed to make certain that owners were playing by the rules so that it would be fair for everyone. Inspections needed to be made and compliance required. Hansen said that he thought that some gravel pits were not even permitted but that someone had just decided to scoop up gravel and had not bothered to get a permit. If the county commission knew of such an activity, said Peters, they could request that he send a “cease and desist” letter and, if the owner did not desist then the sheriff could be sent. A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity (cease) and not to restart it (desist). Colby Park, county planning director, said that the ordinance states that there is supposed to be an annual inspection of all gravel pits. But there were two questions about that: who was to do the inspections, and which ordinance were the operators being held to? “Historical research needs to be done,” said Peters. “Then we will know how to proceed.” Hansen said that a pit operator should not just make a depression and then walk away. There needed to be reclamation required. In his opinion, the operator should dig back into the hillside and not just make a hole. Marvin Kenison, commissioner, said that in a mine reclamation he was familiar with, the company spread chopped hay over the abandoned site and then reseeded the area so that it was not an eyesore. Another thing that bothered him, said Hansen, was that the companies took the gravel out of the county and the county made nothing. They did not get sales tax because the tax was collected at the site of the sale. “We are required to have a bond through the state for our [Azomite] operation,” said Clinton Painter. The bond is for reclamation. In the past only large mining operations were required to post reclamation sureties, but now, by law all mining operations need to be bonded to ensure reclamation. In 2003, the Utah State Legislature amended the Utah Mined Land Reclamation Act (UCA 40-8) to require reclamation sureties on all mining operations. He thought, said Hansen, that the county could impose a fee at the site of the mine. However, that may not be the case. “We try to keep our roads usable, but the gravel trucks beat them up and we don’t get anything from the sale of the gravel to help with the upkeep,” Hansen said. It was decided that Peters and Park will work together to review the history of the gravel pits in operation. They will find out if the pits are permitted under different ordinances, if they are permitted at all and will review the ordinance dealing with gravel pits and will return to the commission with the results.
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