LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Construction on a controversial rock quarry will remain at a standstill in the community of Belle Mina and frustrated homeowners will live to fight another day in the year-long battle.
A Limestone County judge decided to extend a temporary restraining order imposed last week that stopped construction on the quarry in Belle Mina marking another small victory for people living there.
“We have been awakened at 11 p.m. at night and my wife is looking at me like what was that baby, I don’t know,” said Larry Fletcher who lives in Belle Mina.
Fletcher explained how disruptive it was like living near the rock quarry prior to construction being stopped.
He along with his neighbors packed the Limestone County Courthouse Thursday witnessing arguments from the Plaintiff and Grayson Carter and Son along with Stone LLC, the two companies involved with the quarry.
Pastor Cody Gilliam has been vouching for the community and says the Alabama Department of Environmental Management did not properly determine the racial and economic makeup of the area prior to issuing a permit for the quarry.
Gilliam and the rest of Belle Mina are pursuing multiple ways to prevent it from becoming a reality.
“The Title IX complaint was filed against the EPA against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management alleging racial discrimination,” Gilliam told News 19. “We have a majority-minority community that is majority impoverished.”
What’s most concerning for residents like Fletcher is how they say the quarry’s presence will impact daily life if the order is lifted and construction resumes.
“It’s disrupting our lifestyle and our homes,” Fletcher said. “We don’t know if our homes are going to be affected by the blasting, we all have old historic homes.”
The people of Belle Mina are anxiously awaiting a judge’s decision hoping operations at the quarry will remain halted during the litigation process. However, after this latest injunction, it’s unclear when that ruling will happen.
