I am so angry right now, it is difficult to think.  I mean absolutely full of rage.  It is affecting what I do around the ranch (can't concentrate, forgetting what I am doing, etc.), because this quarry is constantly on my mind.  I wake up thinking about it.  I think about it all day.  I goto bed thinking about it.  I even dream about the darn thing.  It has all encompassed my thoughts, and won't go away, can't go away.  I don't read forum posts like I used to, my mind wanders to the quarry.  I don't enjoy or even watch tv like I used to.  It is difficult to have day to day conversations with my wife, parents, or friends, I feel like I am putting on a face, forcing smiles, not actually conversing, when all I can think of is this quarry.

A little background may help.  My wife and I purchased 72 acres of high desert land in Colorado, 17 years ago, when I was 29, and she 31.  The land is in a square mile subdivision, meant to promote rural living (one square mile equals 640 acres, for those that don't know).  We were trying to think and plan ahead for our lives.  We found a nice little piece of land, far enough away from civilization, but close enough to a little town for groceries, etc. (About 10 miles away).  We enjoy the quiet, the views, the clean air, clear skies, and natural wildlife.  It took us awhile, but we finally started building our "forever" home last year.  We have no intentions of ever moving again, content to live the rest of our days here on the prairie, on our little slice of heaven.. We have spent the last year building this home (we still are, texture, interior paint and carpet is what is left).  We received our certificate of occupancy on Oct 23.  We were ecstatic to finally move in.

Then came the legal notice on Oct. 24 in our little local paper.  Little tiny print, buried among court notices, budgets, and other legal postings.  "Proposed gravel quarry", name of the company doing it, and township and range numbers.  So, I put on my surveyor hat, and dug around looking to see where this quarry would be.  Lo and behold, next door to me.  Less than a mile away, a 2 square mile area, to completely demolish a mesa I have looked at for the last 17 years.. The mesa also has a seasonal reservoir next to it.  My wife and I have enjoyed watching all the different wildlife that visits and calls the mesa home.  The companys plan is to completely demolish the mesa, to inclide blasting up to 90 feet down, for the next 45 years.  45 years, the rest of my wifes and my life.  They plan to move 1,000,000 tons of gravel a year by both 24 and 48 ton trucks.  They also want to work 7 am to 7 pm Monday thru Saturday.  I did the math.  66 trucks in, 66 trucks out, a day, minimum. 132 trucks in and out a day, 6 days a week, for 45 years.......  Also, they want to put in a rock crushing plant, concrete plant, asphalt plant, and will have multiple dozers, excavators, etc.. Basically, put a 2 square mile industrial plant less than a mile from my new home.  The noise, dust (winds here are atrocious) truck traffic and taking away my view would be unacceptable to me and my wife.

We are currently attending County Commissioner and Land Use board meetings and voicing our concern.  I have passed out flyers to nearby residents.  I have written a letter to the State, requesting studies this company didn't do. I have mailed letters to property owners whom may be affected.  I am trying to fight the implementation of the proposed quarry, but it appears I am up against a well funded, well lawyered company that has multiple mines and quarries across the state.  The impression I get of this company is that they are bullies, and will get their way.  Money talks, I suppose.

So.....while I sit here with despair over my fight, I have fleeting moments of just saying, "screw it" and running away.  I have caught myself looking for bigger property, far, far away from anything.  Something with a few miles of driveway.  Fight or flight response, I suppose.  I am going to fight this quarry with all I have.  However, if I lose, I am not sure what I will do.  My wife can't leave, as she is taking care of her father with dementia in Denver every other month (her sister helps the other months).  I have convinced my parents to leave CA, and they have bought a home and moved here.  If I run, I will be giving up on everyone and everything.  Perhaps that is where part of my anger comes from.  I have been put in a very difficult place, with few options.  Even if this quarry is stopped, what is to stop someone else a few years down the road trying the same thing?  I guess there are no guarantees in life.

There is probably more I should type, explain, or express right now, but for the moment, I just wanted to get this frustration off my chest.  I won't be suck starting a .45 or anything like that, but I do feel desperation at this situation, pinned in a corner, so to say.  Again, fight or flight.  It is taking a toll on me physically, psychologically, mentally.  I will continue to fight it, I have to, for me, for my wife, and for my familys future.  I am just unsure what the future may hold if I lose.

Thanks for reading and letting me vent.  

I feel for you, man. When I bought our house, on an acre, in a rural area, the dirt road upon which it's located was pretty as a dirt road can be. Tree-lined. Woods across the street. Woods behind us.

Then, two years into living here surveyors appeared. Long story short: Somebody purchased the property across the street to put in relatively high-density site condos. We knew we couldn't stop it, but we hoped to at least moderate it. We were pissin' into the wind.

Not a pimple on the ass of the problem you're facing, though I wish you luck.

(At least the property behind us is unlikely ever to be built on, being as it's registered wetlands and most of it probably isn't feasible to make buildable even were it not. And, even if it is, we have about 60-75' of "wilderness" between the back of our back yard and the property line.)

It sounds like you're in a real crappy situation. Unfortunately, staying up all night worrying about it, isn't going to change anything except your health.

I don’t know how many miles away it was but a quarry opened where I grew up and when they were blasting it shook our house. Out on a dead end road, no traffic, wooded land and tobacco fields as far as you could see. Once the blasting started it wrecked that rural tranquility. My dad raised hell about it and did everything he could to be a thorn in their side for 20 years. It accomplished nothing unfortunately.

There was a company that wanted to put in a sand mine about 3 miles from my house. No studies on the effect on the water table, wildlife or anything else. Thankfully, a grass roots effort was put together and stopped them. The company is currently suing the county (for what I can't remember.)

Well if you are going to bail and get out, get out while you can still sell the place as once the noise starts it may be impossible to find a buyer.

Get the Sierra Club involved and bring in the Sandalistas from Denver.

what time is it when they start blasting in your neighborhood ?
time to get a new neighborhood

Find an endangered or protected animal, bug over there and it's over for them.

I also have land that the land next door changed my idea of future.
It turned out not so bad. I was still able to enjoy life just not as I had envisioned.

Get the local media involved if you can. They can reach far more people than your private mailings. I would think the good folks Colorado would be dead set against leveling a mesa.

Push for an Environment Impact study. Maybe an endangered species will be found. The longer you can drag it out is better. The company may think it is not worth the while and go somewhere else. Contact you states Environmental Protection Agency. I wouldn't trust the town to do that as they most likely are looking at the tax benefit.

Thanks guys, some comments give me hope for this battle against this quarry.

I have written the State Mined Land Reclamation Board in regards to their permit with them. I have a copy of the rules, and a copy of their application. They were supposed to submit things like a mining plan, wildlife impacts, vegetative and soil studies, climate, etc. I found some of their submissions severely lacking, and stated so. They will have to do a few wildlife studies, only one endangered critter to hope for, the burrowing owl, especially if there are prairie dog towns near. I don't believe there are. I also requested a vegetative study done (theirs was a google earth photo), a climate study, to include wind (no wind report at all), and a full Environmental Impact Study, with special concern to my subdivision. I requested these studies be done for at least one year. I have yet to hear back from the State, but know they received my complaint. A few others I have contacted have also written the State with some of the same concerns. Things like dust, noise, traffic, etc, have to be taken up with the county.

I have also thought of contacting the Sierra club and reaching out to a few of the local news outlets. I have been poring over pages of information on anything and everything that may affect the opening of this quarry. Like I said before, I will fight it, and they are in for one heck of a fight. I have read every rule and regulation I can, and have a comprehensive list of valid concerns. I suppose all I can do is be prepared and take it one step at a time.

Thanks again all.

That is a horrible turn of events.

I hope that you are able to achieve a good resolution.

We bitch and moan about the EPA, but they might be your friends in this instance. You might be able to tie things up for a long time, by demanding environmental impact studies.

Mike, best of luck with your battle. Sounds like you're doing all the right things.

All that said don't let the stress of frustration along the way cause a heart attack. Stress was the cause of mine back in 2006. No #$%^&* fun at all.

There's a documentary I just watched on Amazon Prime called The Price of Sand that looks at the impacts of open pitting sand mining in rural Wisconsin and Minnesota. My gut feeling is you are going to have to find a way to make peace with what is happening.

Sorry to hear all that.
When I first saw this thread I wondered if it pertained to something similar proposed for a site a few miles from where I live. I first became aware of it from a notice posted on a public bulletin board at one of our local businesses by someone who was objecting to the thing. No prairie dogs around here as far as I know, though, but I wonder if it is the same company. Best to you in your efforts.

I feel for you bigpond I hate to see tranquil areas affected by an industrial site moving in. I suppose I would be most concerned about the noise and truck traffic, would the bulk of the trucks be going toward and past your house? Or possibly another way?
There's a quarry probably 20 miles from me, so far enough it's no problem, but the little paved road which runs between us carries a lot of their trucks so is in a constant state of disrepair. The state weight limit is something like 80-90,000 pounds and most of those tri-axle dumps weigh close to that or over.
If possible I'd request them or the state do an impact study to see how the roads will be affected and who will be paying all the added cost.

Bald1, thanks. Popping aspirin like candy, no health insurance, so am trying to take care of myself as best I can. You are right though, this thing gets my heart racing.

Trapper, thanks for the info on the movie, will try and watch it soon.

Sigfreund, sent you an email.

Ridewv, yes, our biggests concerns are dust, noise, and traffic. The proposed quarry is about a mile west of our property. Our winds here mostly blow from the west, so dust will be constant. They then access a ranchers road (at closest distance, .5 miles from our property) for about 4-5 miles to the north of here, traveling east. Then they will be using a county road to our east, traveling south 8 miles to get to the state highway. From there, will be transporting the gravel about 70 miles west to their business, the next county over. So, really, they will surround us with truck traffic. West to north to east to south.

This will be a big concern for the county. I am not sure they can maintain the county road (and a bridge) with that much traffic, especially after it rains or snows, it will be a muddy mess. It is also the only access to the area. We will be requesting that the county or state do a traffic study, and certify the bridge will be able to handle the increased traffic.

As the county road sits now, with just local traffic, it is always rutted. The county brings out a grader, perhaps once every 2-3 months, and re-crowns it, sprinkling a little gravel here or there. It also sits on an old railroad grade, so sharp rocks and railroad spikes are always puncturing tires. I would imagine with 130+ big trucks a day, the county would have to re-grade at least once a week. Very doubtful that would happen. I have thought that maybe this company will offer to pave it, but the cost of paving 8 miles of road will be high (millions of $).

Here is a short list of every group you should contact. You need to get them and every environmental splinter group up to speed on the project and get them involved.

https://www.outsideonline.com/...-donate-better-world

If you are lucky they or one of the groups will file the injunctions and lawsuits, on their dime, making you the plaintiff in the case. Downside, if it is a "job creator" for the area, you may not be the most popular person in town.

On a side note, I really appreciate everyone chiming in. I think just getting some of this info out on the forum and bouncing ideas around, has helped me. Getting all riled up about it and having few to talk to was dragging me down. Again, thank you all.