Letter to the Editor

Citrus County Chronicle – February 6, 2008


By ALBERT TOWNSEND

In the face of a growing state shortage of construction materials for highways, homes and commercial buildings, Tarmac America has proposed opening a limestone mine in unincorporated Levy County.

The King Road Mine is a project that accomplishes two things — produces greatly needed aggregate supplies for fast-growing North and Central Florida while initiating significant gains for Levy County in jobs and tax revenues, projected at more than $100 million a year.

Tarmac is taking the project through the rigorous permitting review. Local, state and federal agencies will study the plans to see how they affect the environment, to ensure that plant operations show the highest regard for safety and to be satisfied that mine activities, such as putting trucks on the road, will not stress public services.

In all its projects, Tarmac makes it a priority to minimize any impact to local communities. That includes traffic.

For example, after discussions with regional officials, our plan now includes generating only about half the originally anticipated truck trips a day from the mine. Once those trucks exit King Road to U.S. 19, those numbers split north and south, and a few miles away they further disperse on highways headed to Gainesville, Ocala, North Tampa and Northwest Orlando. This means minimal travel on any county or local roads.

Protecting natural resources is another core component of Tarmac’s plans. In the King Road Mine plans, the company proposes setting aside more than 5,000 acres for conservation. Tarmac will rely on a processing system designed to cycle water from its lake pits — recirculating about 22 million gallons back and forth daily to turn limestone into quality grade aggregate. Only about 1 million gallons of new water a day will be needed to replenish what is lost from the process and evaporation.

While Tarmac America is new in Levy County, the company is a longtime partner with communities across Florida. From the start, Tarmac wants to work with its neighbors — to hear their questions and satisfy their need to know that the company’s plans make sense for business and for the community.

Al Townsend is the Director of Real Estate and Environmental Services for Tarmac America.


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