Extraction pit project to fill coal ash ponds at Lansing Generating Station approved by Board of Adjustment

Project scheduled to run May-November this year

by Ellen Modersohn

It appears an extraction pit project south of Lansing will go ahead after the Allamakee County Board of Adjustment voted unanimously to grant a conditional use permit for it during a Monday, April 3 meeting. The board placed eight conditions on its approval of a petition to remove common fill from the Randy Gaunitz farm at 2074 Lafayette Ridge Drive and haul it to the defunct Alliant Energy plant on Power Plant Road. The soil will be used to fill and cap ash ponds.

Board members Bernard Pratte, chair, Gene Averhoff, Ann Klees and Shawn Gibbs heard comments on the project, mostly from property owners near the extraction pit site or along the route to Power Plant Road. Several people spoke for the allotted three minutes each, and three people ceded their speaking time to Dale Reeves, whose mother owns property near the Gaunitz farm.

Most of the speakers, including Reeves, raised objections to the project. Among the concerns cited were traffic dangers and road damage caused by the up to 300 semi-truck loads per day traversing the seven-mile route - plus driving back when empty, possible silicon dust raised by the earth removal, noise from truck brakes, and potential contamination of wells.

Ames Construction, of Burnsville, MN, filed an application for the project, which they referred to as a borrow pit, under the parameters of Section 305, Extraction Pits, of the Allamakee County Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations. Many of Reeves’ objections had to do with specific points in Section 305, pertaining to distances of other extraction sites such as quarries, well sites, excavation near karst formations, quality of water being brought to the site, wetlands locations, proximity to a scenic byway and air pollution.

In her Review of Public Comments report and at the April 3 meeting, Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Stephanie Runkle stated that the extraction pit ordinance “was not created for a borrow pit, but to stop frac sand mining and therefore doesn’t exactly fit for this project, but the County was using it, as they had nothing else.”

The board’s approval reads: “We recognize that the language of section 305.4 subparagraph 5 of the Allamakee County Zoning Ordinance includes language to prohibit large scale extraction pits within one mile or viewshed of any stream or scenic byway, and that section 305.8(5)(b) includes language to prohibit a large scale extraction pit within a 5-mile radius of any other large scale extraction pit or within 2000 feet of an existing residence unless the setback requirement is waived in writing by the owners/occupants.

“However, we also recognize that chapter 305 of the Zoning Ordinance was written with the express intent and purpose of restricting frac sand mining in Allamakee County, that the application being considered today is being submitted for a purpose other than that originally contemplated to be prohibited by chapter 305, and that the benefits to Allamakee County of making an exception to the strict language of these portions of the Zoning Ordinance significantly outweigh the concerns of not strictly holding the applicant to each and every single prohibition/requirement set forth in chapter 305. Furthermore, the application being considered today is for a project that is a temporary, non-invasive use of the land.”

The eight conditions placed by the board on the approval of the permit are that:
1. A road impact agreement between Ames Construction and Allamakee County be approved by the County Board of Supervisors with Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour’s recommendation;
2. A safety plan be developed, including a four-way stop and widening of the intersection at Lafayette Ridge Drive and Great River Road;
3. Only water, drawn from the Mississippi River, be used to control dust;
4. Ames Construction will have a spill containment kit on site for emergency spills;
5. The ending date be November 15, 2023, with possibility of extension due to extenuating circumstances;
6. The County conduct monthly site visits;
7. There be a $300,000 reclamation bond in place (for any damage caused);
8. There be an updated stormwater pollution prevention plan.

During the hearing, Runkle expressed gratitude to Ames Construction for working with the County on this project. “These guys - and anybody who had won this project - could have gone to an existing quarry and gotten the dirt,” she said. “Even after they knew that, they came to us and said, we’d rather do it this way. This is a safer option for the area.”

In an email after the meeting, Runkle said: “A quarry which existed before the frac sand ordinance was adopted by the County does not have the same requirements as a new ‘quarry’ or in this case a borrow pit. There is no requirement as to what time the quarry can run loads (the frac sand ordinance states Monday- Friday 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.), or if they need to have a road impact agreement, or road safety plan, a reclamation bond, or any other considerations the Board of Adjustments asks of them. Ames Construction could have gone to any existing quarry and loaded up the dirt and hauled 23,000 loads at their discretion. Because the County used the frac sand ordinance, and technically we could because of the amount of dirt coming out of that borrow pit on a daily basis, all of these requirements will be met. Ames Construction has come to every meeting willing and wanting to work with Allamakee County.”

In reaction to the board’s vote, Reeves wrote in an email: “The parts of the ordinance that were waived were meant to protect the safety of drinking water; the health of waterways; the safety of roadways, especially near residences; the beauty of the area and those people who depend on tourism for their livelihoods. These are reasonable concerns and considerations of zoning, no matter the size of a project.

“The conditions the County Board of Adjustment put on their approval of the Lafayette Ridge Drive borrow pit do very little to help the safety of residents and travelers. While I’m thankful the County will be adding four-way stop signs at the junction of Lafayette Ridge Drive and the Great River Road, which I think will save lives, I am still gravely concerned for the children, the school buses, the families and the older residents who travel those roads daily. … I am very thankful that Ames Construction agreed not to use any chemicals on the land.”

Runkle stated at the meeting in the Review of Public Comments report that any future borrow bit or large-scale extraction that meets the criteria outlined in the County Zoning Ordinance will have to go through the same process as the Lafayette Ridge Drive project. Neighbors will receive letters and there will be a notice of public meeting published in area papers followed by an informational meeting and a 30-day comment period.