Enon Sand and Gravel has filed a lawsuit against the Clark County Commissioners and Thomas Hale as the Clark County Zoning Administrator in the U. S. District Court Southern District of Ohio. Judge William O. Bertelsman will be hearing the case that the company hopes will put an end to the opposition regarding the quarry located in Mad River Township.
Clark County Commissioner Rick Lohnes maintains that the company must submit their request to the Clark County Board of Zoning Appeals. To date, the filing of detailed descriptions of the property along with a request has not be submitted at the county level. Lohnes noted that it has been more than two years since any mining has been conducted on the property and a review is required.
Enon Sand and Gravel has submitted a number of documents to the District Court which outline information related to the property back to the 1970’s and history prior to this time. A letter from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources dated December 14, 2015 maintains that Enon Sand and Gravel LLC received an amendment to the Mine Permit originally issued to Demmy Sand and Gravel which states “the issuance of this transfer means only that the application to conduct a surface mining operation meets the requirements of Chapter 1514 of the Revised Code and as such DOES NOT RELIEVE the operator of any obligation to meet other federal, state or local requirements”.
This information was also conveyed to the company in a recent letter from ODNR which also maintains the need to meet the same governmental agency requirements before beginning the process to continue mining the property