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Vulcan Materials Co. is taking its dispute with the city of Maryville directly to neighbors of its quarry between Duncan and Montvale roads.

In a letter mailed Wednesday to about 4,000 households near the quarry, Vulcan accused the city of holding up an agreement on the future direction of the quarry operation.

"Reaching an agreement would stop the hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and expenses being incurred by the city, which are funded by tax dollars," said the letter signed by Vulcan executives Stan G. Bass and Carl Van Hoozier Jr.

"Unfortunately, negotiations have broken down again, and it appears that our final resort is continued litigation to protect our property rights."

Vulcan executives also expressed opposition to a nuisance ordinance passed on first reading by Maryville City Council on Jan. 1. "Although Vulcan is clearly the target, the ordinance would have serious and negative consequences for all types of businesses, including manufacturing and residential and commercial construction, among many others," the letter said.

Vulcan wants to move its quarry operations more toward the center of its leased property toward Montvale Road. But the city of Maryville says Vulcan cannot expand toward Montvale because the land has not previously been used as a quarry and thus is not grandfathered under current laws.

Vulcan has had a lawsuit in federal court disputing the city's position since October 2004, but the case has not proceeded while the parties tried to reach a settlement.

"We believe that the vested rights run concurrent with the land and the property owners have the right to use the land," said Bass, president of the Vulcan Midsouth Division, on Wednesday in an interview he requested with The Daily Times.

According to Bass, Sam Lambert previously owned the property and sold it to Sen. J.T. Trotter in 1947, who leased the land to Vulcan. The Trotter heirs still own the 350 acres and continue to lease it to Vulcan.

Vulcan also purchased the adjacent acreage known as the Goddard tract, which contains 150 to 180 acres.

Bass said Wednesday that as Vulcan goes deeper into the ground it takes more property. Since the talks with Maryville about moving toward Montvale Road reached an impasse, Vulcan has moved its entrance one-half mile down Duncan Road to property that is outside the city limits.

Also, APAC Harrison's, which buys stone from Vulcan for its nearby paving operation, moved its asphalt plant so that Vulcan can now mine stone in that area,

These moves cost $1 million, Bass said.

The quarry pit is about 300 feet deep and has "unlimited good quality stone a long way down," said Carl Van Hoozier Jr., manager, process improvement, community and government relations for the Vulcan Midsouth Division.

"If we win the vested-rights issue we'll be able to expand toward Montvale Road," Bass said.

The compromise Vulcan proposed to Maryville was to give up mining in the APAC Harrison area near Duncan Road and build a large buffer beside Montvale Road to disguise mining operations in that direction.

"If we lose, we'll be limited to mining in the footprint where we're located now and where Harrison's is located," he added. "Even if we lose the lawsuit, we'll be here for more than 50 years."

Maryville passed an ordinance on first reading in January which "declared that quarry operations within the city of Maryville constitute a nuisance because of the emission of dust, sound and vibration and the creation of dangerous excavation areas."

Under the ordinance, which is on the council work session agenda for discussion on Feb. 22, quarries would have to make "every effort to reduce materials pulled off any business or processing area on public roads," Maryville City Manager Greg McClain said before the ordinance was passed on first reading.

Second reading on the ordinance will likely be in March or April.

Ordinance restrictions

The ordinance would set noise restrictions and blasting schedules would have to be conveyed to every resident living within one-half mile of the proposed blasting site by certified mail. Minimum standards for ground vibration and air-blast overpressure would be set by the ordinance.

Reclamation of the land would also be required.

A buffer area would be required between the activity and residential property and quarry operations could not interfere with or impede streams,

City officials said they have received more complaints from residents about the quarry than any other in the city.

The ordinance "determined and declared that the expansion of such operations are declared to be a nuisance as well and is prohibited."

Asked if Vulcan worked with Maryville on drafting the proposed ordinances, Bass said, "We did not work with the city during the drafting process. We did not even know they were going to be proposed. As part of the compromise negotiations, we did discuss some self-imposed restrictions that we would be willing to agree on if the litigation was settled."

He said the Maryville ordinances would affect a wide variety of other businesses, including landscapers cutting grass, gas stations, construction sites and industrial parks.

Vulcan did not send a representative to the Maryville City Council work session Jan. 24 to discuss the ordinances to regulate quarry operations, but Bass sent Maryville a letter objecting to the proposed changes and threatening a lawsuit.

"We've done a pretty good job dealing with dust and blasting," Bass said. "We currently blast at 25 percent of the legal limit, and many times at 10 percent. We comply with air and water standards every day with TDEC (Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation)."

Generally, the Duncan Road quarry sells 800,000 to 1.2 million tons of stone annually and employs 20 to 25 people. The Midsouth Division of Vulcan employs in excess of 80 Blount residents.

Duncan Branch

Another issue the city raises is the level of water in Duncan Branch which flows through the quarry property.

Bass said most of the water in the pit comes from drainage on the Vulcan-leased property. Vulcan uses only 20 percent of the water and the remainder is put in the creek every day,

"We're not required to put back water, but the mayor (of Maryville) said that's important. It costs us $40,000 to $60,000 annual just to put water in that creek," Bass said.

It is done 24 hours a day, seven days a week, not just when Vulcan is open.

"We're not hoarding this water and not being irresponsible to the desires of the community," he added.

"Without anything being done (to expand) we're going to be here a long time. We would like to do more of the mining activities in the middle of our property so we would have more buffer area. We don't want to be in a position of having a dispute with city government," Bass said.

In the letter he wrote, "we regret that we have to proceed with litigation to resolve our dispute with the city. Regardless of the outcome of the litigation, Vulcan Materials will be part of this community for decades to come and we remain committed to this area and to being a good corporate citizens. We will continue to run our facilities to meet or surpass every valid law, regulation and standard governing our operations and we will do everything we can to continue to be a good neighbor."