Blasting at a controversial quarry site east of Vancouver is winding down, and a deadline to remove material looms. It’s unclear, however, whether that deadline will be met.
Clark County hosted a forum Tuesday night, one in a series of similar meetings, that mostly centered on mining at the Livingston quarry site. A representative of J.L. Storedahl & Sons, the operator at the site, responded to questions from the audience on some long-standing issues that neighbors have had with the mining operations, including truck traffic, blasting and communication between the operator and neighbors.
The gravel mine north of Camas and east of Vancouver is divided into two sides at Livingston Mountain. Livingston Quarry is owned by the state Department of Natural Resources, which leases it to the county. Tower Rock Products, a subsidiary of Tapani Inc., owns the other side, called Livingston Mountain Quarry. The county contracts with Tower Rock to mine its side, and Tower Rock contracts with J.L. Storedahl & Sons to operate both sites.
Bo Storedahl, a representative of J.L. Storedahl & Sons, said that blasting should wrap up in the next couple of weeks. But one issue that kept coming up was a Dec. 31 deadline, part of a contract between Tower Rock and the county, for mine operators to complete all loaded truck trips from Livingston Quarry.
Storedahl said the company has “every intention” of moving rock products by the end of the year and that it is selling them “as fast as possible.” He estimated that the quarry contains 400,000 tons of rock left to haul.
