Asphalt plant owner withdraws application

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The asphalt plant permit application for the Tinaja Pit location on State Route 53 was withdrawn because the area residents who opposed the plant made him change his mind, said Walter Meech, president of C & E Concrete, Inc., in Grants.

He said he and his family are looking at other rural county locations where there are not a lot of residents and the plant will not impact people much.

"The plant is a portable one," he said. "The permit travels with the plant."

Meech said having the plant would have created three to four jobs paying about $10-$15 per hour and increased jobs for trucking companies.

Opponents from the area recently showed up at a Cibola County board of supervisors meeting to oppose the asphalt plant permit application even though the commission has no oversight or authority to stop the permit. It is strictly a state permit.

The residents of the area expressed concerns about pollution and air quality created by the plant.

Meech said some of the things the residents said he did not know about and he is going to lay down the law to the contract truck drivers who bring in and take out gravel from the pit.

"The residents of that area did what they needed to do. They made me change my mind about the asphalt plant permit," he said.

"I learned some things like the problems with the trucks that I didn't know about," he said.

"I encouraged them to call me if there are problems. I want to know and stay on top of it," he said.

"We put in the permit that the plant could operate 18 hours a day seven days a week, but we would not have operated it that much because this is a supply and demand business," he said.

"For instance, Vernon Hamilton has an asphalt plant near Gallup (which) has been down all winter. He is doing maintenance since there is no demand right now," Meech said.

"We had to have the opportunity to run the plant other than a few hours a day in case there was a demand. If you operate the plant outside of the window granted to you by the EPA, you are in violation," he said.

Meech said he expected the plant to produce about 20,000-30,000 tons of asphalt per year

He said when the company built the quarry on the highway there were no subdivisions, no people. Now, many years later, people are moving in, and they don't like the scar the open mining is leaving on the mountain.

"We are hoping to find a site that has enough room to place a plant. We are looking at all our options," he said.

C & E will apply for a new permit once a new location has been found, he said.