When confronted at the March 24 Albion meeting with the photographic evidence of past erosion control problems at Yaharas Meinholz Quarry north of Middleton. The Yahara Materials rep said that the photos were taken after a heavy rain and implied that photographer and environmental blogger David H. Thompson had exploited an isolated incident, he also said the problem had been cured.
When then confronted with photographic evidence of continued erosion and sediment control problems at Meinholz years after, in photos taken on March 21st, just days before this Town of Albion meeting, the Yahara rep first tried to imply that the photos were not recent and the erosion did not now exist. When confronted by the photographer, a concerned Albion citizen, the Yahara rep changed his story and said it was due to recent weather. As if they are somehow not responsible to control erosion under ALL weather conditions.
Weather is what causes erosion, and quarries are required to maintain erosion and sediment control in all weather conditions. Yahara has not done this at their Meinholz quarry. Why should we believe they would do any better in following the erosion control plan on this site, above our beautiful wetlands, it takes only one misstep in erosion control to cause a sediment flow into our delicate wetlands causing irreversible damage, and we have evidence of an ongoing problem with Yaharas Meinholz Quarry site. Yahara Materials has had problems reported at a site in Cottage Grove Township too, click here to read court affidavits and see photos. Oppose CUP 2260!
Photos by permission of David H. Thompson
DO YOU WANT THIS IN OUR ALBION PROTECTED WETLAND CORRIDOR?
Photos taken by a concerned Albion citizen from the public roadway of Yahara Materials
Meinholz Quarry north of Middleton on Friday March 21, 2014
Yahara Materials, Accidents? Oversights? OR a pattern of abuse of our environment for financial gain? Should a business that has been operating quarries for decades still be having so much trouble following erosion plans? Read and judge for yourself.
False Weight Tickets for Materials on Federal-aid Project.
•U.S. v Daniel Benkert: In January 1999, Benkert, a supervisor for Yahara Materials Company (YMO)in Wisconsin, received 18 months imprisonment, a $5,000 fine, $4,893 restitution, and 36 months supervised release for false statements on a Federal-aid highway construction project. As a supervisor for YMO’s aggregate pits, he directed pit operators to prepare false weight tickets for truckloads of gravel and other aggregates
