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Local experts say the proposal added to the transportation bill would have minimal impact on mining oversight in the county.
By JOSH ZIMMER
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 18, 2000
LECANTO -- During the final days of the recent legislative session, lawmakers put a proposal in a major transportation bill to remove local oversight over mine blasting. The issue is an explosive one in counties with extensive mining operations, such as Citrus County.
But after reading the document for the first time Wednesday, a Citrus development official and an Inverness lawyer who represents local mine owners predicted the proposed changes would have little effect in the county.
"I think it's long overdue," Development Services Director Gary Maidhof said.
The proposal would place blasting oversight under the state fire marshal's office, which would rely on federal regulations relating to the operation and handling of explosives along with the ground vibrations and air blasts created by them.
Maidhof and lawyer Clark Stillwell, who is paid by Florida Rock Industries to handle its ongoing feuds with residents in south Citrus, say county regulations closely mirror those federal standards.
"It doesn't affect the county that much that I can see on first blush," Stillwell said.
He and Maidhof agreed that the bill, if signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush, probably would leave other important mining issues to be decided by local governments, such as setbacks, locations of mines and permitted noise levels from everyday operations.
By setting statewide standards, the state would be accomplishing two worthy goals, they said.
First, many smaller governmental entities do not have the resources to hire experts to justify their local regulations. Second, the move would help reduce controversy between residents who often think the local regulations don't go far enough and mine operators who think those regulations are unfair.
Blasting in Citrus takes place primarily at limestone mines, which dot Red Level, Crystal River, Lecanto and south Citrus near the Hernando County border. Nearby residents frequently complain to the county about the noise, and Heatherwood homeowners for years have been waging battles within the courtroom and halls of government to stop Florida Rock from mining in that area.
But Joyce Valentino, one of Florida Rock's most vocal opponents, said she was disappointed by the lawmakers' action. She is convinced the current blasting standards are not tough enough.
Valentino and other Heatherwood residents are trying to prevent Florida Rock from restarting mining operations in hundreds of acres of pits in southern Citrus. In the past, the residents have tried to convince Citrus commissioners to lower the sound levels allowed during blasting.
"We would have liked tougher standards," Valentino said. "When they (Florida Rock) blasted, the windows blew out and it didn't matter . . . they were in compliance."
Maidhof acknowledged that meeting regulations and pleasing residents can be two different matters.
"I get calls from the folks in the Yankeetown, Inglis and West River Road area on a fairly regular basis when they blast out there," he said. "Nothing we have seen to date exceeds our standards. You can blast up there and not be in violation but still shake your neighbor."
While the proposed law places blasting oversight in the hands of state government, local governments would probably retain regulatory power over the noise mining trucks makes, as well as the noise put out by loudspeakers, Maidhof and Stillwell said.
Most likely, they would be able to say where the mines can be located and how close they can operate to residential areas.
Maidhof said other issues, such as pit depth, reclamation and effects on wildlife, would appear to remain with a bevy of state and federal entities, such as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.