Oakridge residents and city officials are speaking out against a potential gravel mine on TV Butte.
The chattering of birds rang out over the drone of the nearby highway. On 1st Street in Oakridge, signs opposing a quarry stood in front of homes, businesses, and even City Hall.
“Help us save TV Butte,” a sign read. “Stop Ed King!”
The Old Hazeldell Quarry would be located on over 100 acres in Lane County, around 900 feet from Oakridge City Limits. The company behind the project, Stonebroke, says this would create new jobs.
However, many residents argue the risks outweigh the benefits. They’re concerned about noise from the rock crusher, air pollution, and impacts on the local elk population.
Michelle Emmons is the Vice President of the Oakridge Westfir Area Chamber of Commerce.
“The people who came here to invest their retirement and to raise their children came because of the access to the forests, the rivers, the streams, and the peace,” Emmons said. “The idea that we would set up a gravel quarry on the edge of town is a huge disruption.”
Sabrina Ratkowski, the Director of Save TV Butte, said the Oakridge community has been working to attract tourists, which is helping the former milling town recover financially. She's worried that the quarry would push visitors out.
"If the economy starts to fall because of this, all the stuff that we've built up is just going to slowly melt away,” Ratkowski said.
Meanwhile, there’s a closed-down landfill within the proposed mining boundary. Oakridge Mayor Bryan Cutchen said if it leaks, the city may be liable due to a previous sale agreement.
Cutchen said before a quarry moves forward, there needs to be a survey to determine the potential impacts on that area.
“The activity at the quarry could release some of those toxins,” he said, “which would immediately flow downhill into our aquifer, which is our main source for potable water.”
Stonebroke has proposed a 25-foot buffer between the landfill and any gravel processing operations.
The company’s application also includes other mitigation efforts to reduce the quarry’s impacts, such as spraying water to minimize dust at the site, actively monitoring blast noise, and submitting regular noise readings to the county.
Community members in Oakridge say these plans don’t go far enough. Earlier this year, the City Council unanimously voted to send a letter to the county opposing the project.
"We have a strong community here," said Emmons. "We're going to continue to say no, and we're going to continue to fight."
The County's Decision
In 2021, Lane County’s Board of County Commissioners rejected the quarry proposal in a 3-2 vote. Stonebroke re-applied for approval in 2023.
Now county staff have released a report, concluding that the current application is below county standards. They said the plans to address noise and loss of habitat are incomplete, and the application doesn’t identify all potential conflicts.
On Thursday, Lane County’s Planning Commission is expected to make its recommendation about the application. However, the Board of County Commissioners could have the final word on the quarry’s approval.
Of the currently-serving commissioners who were in office in 2021, Pat Farr voted for the quarry, while Heather Buch and Laurie Trieger voted against it.
In their most recent election campaigns, Farr, Ryan Ceniga, and David Loveall all received financial contributions from either Crown Properties or its manager Ed King. That company is listed as a “member” of Stonebroke on state documents.
Buch and Trieger have also received donations from King, but not in their most recent re-election campaigns.
A potential review of the quarry by the County Commissioners hasn't been scheduled. Representatives of the Old Hazeldell Quarry didn’t respond to KLCC's requests for comment.
