WATER

The King Road Mine will recycle the vast majority of the water used in its quarry operations. Water will be circulated back into lakes created by the excavation of limestone. Less than one percent (1%) of the water needed in the mining process will leave the site with the finished limestone product. The demand for water will be about 123,000 gallons a day for the 4,800-acre mine site; less than the water needed annually for a 100 acre crop farm found in Levy County.

Tarmac has conducted extensive research on the groundwater flowing through the region surrounding the proposed mine site, and has determined that local groundwater flows in a generally westerly direction from near the Levy/Marion County border to the Waccasassa and Withlacoochee Bays. This western flow means groundwater from the site will not flow to local wells or drinking water wells in surrounding communities. Surface water from the property also drains in a westerly direction as it makes its way to the two bays. Hydrogeologic studies concluded there will be no adverse impact to local rivers or flow ways, or Little King Springs and Big King Spring, which are the headwaters of Spring Run.

Because chemicals are not used in the processing of aggregates, and food grade mineral oil is used in blasting, there will be no impact on water quality. Numerous water quality tests on active limestone mines located throughout Florida have shown that blasting agents cause no detrimental effects to water quality.

Areas of Levy County, including Cedar Key, are known for their shellfish industry. Tarmac recognizes the fragile balance needed to sustain this eco-environment. With this in mind, renowned hydrogeologist, Dr. Todd Kincaid, was hired to address the concerns of this industry and prepare a report on the surface and ground water flows from the King Road Mine site into the Gulf of Mexico.

After studying water flows, Dr. Kincaid determined that the vast majority of the water coming into the aquatic environment is from surface water runoff—and most of this surface water comes from the natural flow ways on the mine site, which will be protected and left undisturbed. After numerous days spent on site, Dr. Kincaid concluded there would be no significant change in fresh water flowing into fishing estuaries and no significant change in salinity of the seawater in the Withlacoochee or Waccasassa Bays as a result of mining operations.

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AN EXPERT REVIEW: PROFILE OF TODD R. KINCAID, PhD.

Dr. Kincaid has a solid background in geology and hydrogeology and has extensive knowledge of the complex Karst hydrogeologic issues. His experience includes groundwater tracing and mapping in the Wakulla Springs region of north Florida and the western Santa Fe River basin of north-central Florida as well as modeling and simulation of Karst and other complex aquifers in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and Nevada.

Dr. Kincaid received his BS and MS degrees from the University of Florida in Geology and Hydrogeology and his PhD from the University of Wyoming in Karst Hydrogeology. In 1999 he formed Hazlett-Kincaid (now known as H2H Associates), which specializes in geological and hydrogeological modeling.