Project Description: Specialty Granules LLC (SGI) seeks authorization to conduct grading, filling and quarry operations in waters of the United States for their proposed Annapolis quarry expansion, within a 329-acre site south of their existing quarry. The Annapolis Plant is an open-pit quarry and mineral processing facility (Site) that has been in operation since 1965. The Site produces high-quality rhyolite for use as roofing granules on asphalt shingles. Rhyolite, an igneous (volcanic) rock, is relatively uncommon due to its requirement to be extruded onto the earth’s surface during formation, often in the form of lava. In comparison, granite, the intrusive (non-extruded) equivalent of rhyolite, is much more common. One of the top two producers of roofing granules in the United States, SGI operates a total of four quarries (Missouri, California, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania). However, only 1 of these four mines produce rhyolite, as rhyolite occurrence in the US is primarily restricted to portions of the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains, the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico, the Bullfrog Hills in southwest Nevada, the northeast coast of Maine, and the St. Francois Mountains in southeast Missouri (where this Site is located).
At the Site processing facility, SGI crushes and screens the quarried rhyolite to acquire particle sizes ranging from 0.5 to 2.4mm for use as roofing granules. Material processing produces by-products (fines and ultrafines) at a ratio of approximately 1:1 with the desired materials. These by-product materials (fines) are those below the desired particle size range. For every ton of appropriately-sized roofing granules that are produced, a ton of fines is produced, which must be properly disposed. These by-product materials are stockpiled on-Site in designated areas prior to grading and seeding in accordance with the approved Site Land Reclamation Act Permit (#0520). As rhyolite has been quarried from the Site, SGI has expanded from the West Peak Quarry to the Mid-Peak Quarry and now looks to expand southward into the Mid-Peak South Quarry area. As mining activities extend into the Mid-Peak South Quarry, SGI will transport the overburden/cap rock to the proposed Northeast Stockpile area. Processed ultra- fines will be placed in the West Peak Quarry until this area reaches capacity. Processed fines will be placed in the South Stockpile Area. A map of the current Site indicating the location of the Mid-Peak and West Peak Quarries, as well as the overburden/cap rock and processed fines and ultra-fines stockpile/storage areas is found in the attachments.
At the Mid-Peak Quarry, SGI produces approximately 530,000-tons of roofing granules on an annual basis. SGI has produced roofing granules from the Annapolis Plant since 1965, and projects that an estimated 4.975-million granule tons of marketable material remain in the currently active Mid-Peak Quarry. As a result, SGI plans to expand the quarry operations southward to create the Mid-Peak South Quarry area. Expansion southward includes not only the expansion of the Mid-Peak Quarry, but also the necessary creation of additional stockpile and storage areas for overburden, cap rock and processed mining by-products, including fines and ultrafines, along with site access roads, drainage control structures, above and below-ground utilities and other associated infrastructure. The overall southward expansion area is approximately 329-acres, with the Mid-Peak South Quarry itself being approximately 135-acres and expected to produce an additional estimated 41.8-million tons of marketable rhyolite roofing granules.
The proposed expansion would impact up to 7,116-linear feet of an unnamed, jurisdictional streams, as well as impacting a relatively small area of igneous glade habitat, a state vulnerable (S3) habitat type. There are two streams that would be impacted by the project. The first is an ephemeral channel, 797-linear feet in length. The second stream totals 6,319-linear feet but has been separated into four reaches. The upper reach, which is the headwaters of the channel, consists of 294-feet of ephemeral channel. As the stream continues to flow to the northeast it exists as an intermittent channel for 4,152-linear feet. The channel continues through the glade habitat with perennial flow for 1,685-linear feet. From here, the channel continues west within the project footprint and the flow changes to intermittent through the fourth and final 118-feet of the impacted channel. SGI has considered multiple alternatives, avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures for the proposed impacts. The stream impacts have been ran through the Missouri Stream Mitigation Method and have generated a total of 31,001.16 credits required to provide compensatory mitigation for the project. The applicant has proposed to purchase the total credit required from two approved In-Lie-Fee programs within the Ozark/Upper St. Francis/Castor River EDU.
The project is located south of Annapolis, Missouri and east of Hwy 149 (Funk Branch Road) heading southeast out of Annapolis. More specifically, the project site occurs in Sections 22 & 27, Township 31 North, Range 3 East, Iron County, Missouri. The approximate geographic coordinates of the site are 37.342918° north, -90.705035° east. The public notice comment period is from August 25, 2016, through September 15, 2016.