Gravel pits: Not attractive, but you need them

The four most populated areas in Utah — Davis, Weber, Salt Lake and Utah counties — have the least amount of potential resources when it comes to sand and gravel.

Those components are necessary for road construction, home building and so much more.

But a report by the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining demonstrated these materials will have to be trucked in from elsewhere.

Even if it is a mere 30 miles for that trucking, it doubles the cost of the material, according to the report.

The Geneva Rock Point of the Mountain operation is one of the largest resources of aggregate for both Salt Lake and Utah counties.

Draper City and Geneva reached an agreement that secured Geneva’s ability to begin extracting material on roughly 75 acres while preserving 66 acres of Steep Mountain.

Without the agreement, both Salt Lake and Utah counties would have had to rely more heavily on imported materials from other counties. The agreement essentially opens additional acres on Geneva’s property to provide critical infrastructure materials to both counties.

Additionally, the agreement helped in some measure to quiet a controversy that has been happening for years — and help facilitate projects in Salt Lake and Utah counties for years to come.

The problem with sand and gravel supply

According to the report from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, there are some startling facts to consider:

• Demand is forecast to grow to over 70 million tons per year by 2060, with the Wasatch Front consuming the most aggregate. Between now and 2060, the state will need about 2 billion tons of aggregate.
• Davis, Salt Lake and Weber counties currently rely on imports of aggregate from Tooele and Box Elder counties due to the limited aggregate resources available within those counties relative to demand.
• Future aggregate supply throughout the state will be limited by regulatory policy and shipping distance to the markets. The 11 counties of focus in this study have over 2 trillion tons of rock that may be suitable for producing aggregate products. Still, several counties have less than 20 years of supply in areas zoned for mineral extraction.
• The future supply of aggregate in almost all counties will be dependent on the approval of zoning changes for future aggregate projects and the distance of resources to the market.

It is not just about supply, however. It is also about costs. The division’s report explains how expensive it is to truck this material.

Davis, Salt Lake and Weber counties are the only counties likely to face an aggregate deficit over the next 35 years that may require significant imports of aggregates from distances greater than 30 miles, the report said.

The report surveyed shipping costs for aggregates from three companies in Utah across 64 quarries. The estimates ranged between $0.30 to $0.77 per ton per mile, with an average of $0.34 per ton per mile.

What that means is with current aggregate pricing between $10-$15 per ton on average across the state, the shipping cost of aggregate is the same as the cost of the product, or the delivered price doubles at about 30-45 miles.

Addressing a problem that angers everyone

In the last legislative session, HB355, sponsored by House Majority Whip Casey Snider, R-Paradise, was crafted to allow sand and gravel pits to expand on property they own, but critics said it erases local control and ignores health and public safety concerns.

Testimony in committee hearings drew heated reaction.

Speaking before the Senate Tax and Revenue Committee, Snider conceded it was one of the most contentious issues he has worked on and difficult to achieve consensus.

He did stress the measure is not about the quarry proposed for Parley’s Canyon, which is the subject of a lawsuit by Salt Lake County.

But the bill angered some representatives from Tooele County who are fighting a Stockton sand and gravel pit and were successful in a lawsuit to fight the expansion.

“The roads won’t support it. We don’t have any input for infrastructure (supported) by this bill,” said Kendal Thomas, a Tooele County commissioner.

“All we want is to have input into it. Tooele County, the rural folks were not involved. … The need of it is supported by the gravel industry, plain and simple. I am very frustrated.”

Another Tooele County resident agreed.

“The bottom line is gravel pit owners already have enough power. This gives them all the power and does not allow the public to respond,” said Scott Hunter.

Snider said he found the problem with regulatory oversight of gravel pit operations is inconsistency. On one hand, there is the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, and then there are local governments that require a conditional use permit or some other mechanism to enforce compliance.

Snider said the measure strives for balance.

“So what I’m trying to balance here are those de facto mineral rights, which we’re trying to narrow the scope on. So the reason I outline that is, the legislative body does have the right to identify critical concerns relative to the particulars of the project, health, welfare and safety,” Snider said.

“They may identify mitigation measures that must be implemented. They can have those. They can impose any sort of regulation as consistent with state code, but they can’t prohibit the expansion if all of the terms and all of the faults are remedied that they outline in their public process.”

‘The painful reality’

“I’ll just dialogue for just a second, but it is interesting to realize those who have a home are really, really excited to prevent others from having homes near them. It really is a painful reality that we have entered into,” said Sen. Dan McKay, R-Riverton, the committee chairman.

“I worry that my generation is going to shift,” McKay said. “You know, we had the greatest generation not too long ago, and then, you know, their children, and then we’re going to get to my generation, which seems to be turning into one of the most selfish generations ever. I offer that just to say gravel is not attractive. Nobody wants it across the street from their house, but at the same time, they would never give up their own home that’s built on the foundation of gravel.”

Read the full story at deseret.com