Representatives from the Tennessee Department of Environment Conservation Division held a public hearing on March 25 at Coffee County Administrative Plaza to receive public comments on a controversial limestone extraction and processing facility in Beech Grove.

The Division of Mineral & Geologic Resources staff member Roxanne Riley said the proposed NPDES permit is for the discharge oftreatedminewastewater and storm water from a limestone extraction and processing facility for Terrell Waterson’s Waterson Farm Lakes site.

Riley said the permit only regulates the quality of the water discharged from the facility and does not regulate aspects of the project such as noise, dust, traffic, blasting or zoning.

She added that the permit in no way determines if a facility is considered a quarry or the purposes of zoning.

One key takeaway from the meeting was Riley’s description of the site. She said that the discharge will be treated in settling ponds prior to discharge.

“The sediment control structures and all appropriate best management practices meet or exceed the division design criteria,” Riley said.

“The application asserts the proposed activity will only cause de minimus degradation of parameters that are available and will not cause degradation of parameters that are unavailable,” she said.