Grass Lake Halts New Mining as Neighbors Negotiate with Gravel Mine Owners

• Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy calls negotiations between concerned neighbors and current and prospective owners of Bohne Road Gravel Mine.
• Grass Lake Township declares a 6-month moratorium on new mining and extraction to review and revise local ordinances as a big Detroit company enters the picture.
• Video shows neighbor representative Bobbi Llewelyn describing Thursday's negotiations and the neighborhood, including the Bohne Road Gravel Mine.

Grass Lake Township is once again on edge about the Bohne Road Gravel Mine.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)

For years, neighbors have complained about the gravel mine behind their properties. And now, concerns are growing even more.

"The next big issue, with having a big company come in: are they going to expand?" says Grass Lake neighbor Bobbi Llewelyn.

The Bohne Road Gravel Mine currently operates with permits from both Grass Lake Township and Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, or EGLE.

Based on current plans, mining was due to wrap up within the decade. But now, a company called Sultan Mining — owned by the powerful Detroit-area Moroun family — is applying to take over the EGLE permit.

Neighbors had already appealed the renewal of the permit, citing weak regulation.

"The fugitive dust issues — the berms around the pit, the second berm — they're just tall, lumpy, full of thistle and weeds, and a fugitive dust issue."

Thursday, EGLE invited neighbors to an informal online negotiation with current and prospective owners of the mine.

We were asked not to attend the meeting. But I spoke with Bobbi Llewelyn, who says she's been asked to speak on behalf of Grass Lake neighbors.

She said Sultan Mining sounded amenable to concerns like dust and fume abatement, and restoring the land once mining is done.

But she's not convinced.

"Over the years, basically, it's been a lot of promises and nothing's happened. Lots of words, no action," says Llewelyn. "Evergreen trees around the pit that never happened — it would have helped with the fugitive dust issues."

I reached out to Target Trucking, which has owned the pit until now, as well as Matthew Moroun, who owns Sultan Mining, but did not hear back in time for this broadcast.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday the Grass Lake Township Board approved a six-month moratorium on new mining and extraction.

CHECK OUT OUR PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF THE GRASS LAKE GRAVEL MINE HERE .

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