‘Relief from the Nightmare’: Alabama Judge Halts Operations at a Quarry Residents Say Is Ruining Their Community

For Brad Vice and his family, the nightmare is over, at least for a while. 

Nine years ago, Vice and his wife, Brittney, moved into the rural, unincorporated Belle Mina community in north Alabama. The house was built by Brittney’s great-grandparents and the couple welcomed their first child there two years ago. 

But for the past 12 months, the dream became a nightmare when a massive 199-acre limestone quarry began blasting operations across the street. 

Since then, Vice and his neighbors, including four churches, have been inundated by waves of dust that make outdoor living spaces unlivable, loud noises and bright lights that keep them awake at night, vibrations and explosions from daytime blasting and heavy truck traffic that causes backups and safety hazards on the small two-lane road that runs past the quarry. 

In a Jan. 7 court hearing about the quarry, Vice testified about the impacts, called the amount of dust entering his property “unimaginable” and said that he didn’t know how much longer he could continue living in the area. 

“We don’t let our daughter play outside,” Vice testified in the hearing. “The dust has altered our lifestyle completely.”  

Now, he will finally get some relief. 

Late Friday, Limestone County Judge Matthew Huggins partially granted a motion for a preliminary injunction to halt operations at the quarry until several conditions are met to reduce the impacts of dust, noise, traffic and bright lights on the surrounding community. 

The plaintiffs—four churches and three individuals living in the small community of Belle Mina—are seeking an injunction to permanently shut down the quarry. They alleged that the dust, noise, vibrations and other impacts violated Alabama’s nuisance laws. 

“We are grateful for this immediate relief from the nightmare we’ve been living for months,” Vice said in a news release after the decision. “I’m worried about my child’s health and my family’s well-being enduring constant noise, air pollution, and sleepless nights.”

The nuisance complaint names multiple companies involved with the quarry as defendants: Stoned LLC, Elephants R Us LLC, Landquest Properties LLC and Grayson Carter & Son Contracting, Inc.

Attorneys representing Stoned LLC in the matter told Inside Climate News their clients did not wish to comment on the case at this time. 

The injunction requires the quarry to meet the following conditions before resuming operations:

• The quarry must move a temporary rock crushing area at least 1,200 feet from any of the plaintiffs’ properties. 
• The quarry cannot erect any artificial light source to a height visible from the plaintiffs’ properties. 
• The quarry cannot conduct operations that produce a loud noise described in testimony and videos taken by the plaintiffs between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
• The quarry is prohibited from allowing its trucks to block traffic or drive on the wrong side of the road.
• The quarry is ordered to “expedite the development” of a new entrance and additional turn lane on the main road. 

In a hearing on the preliminary injunction earlier this month, residents and pastors from the churches testified on how the quarry has impacted their lives, introducing photos of mailboxes, cars, boats and other surfaces coated in dust, and videos that depict bright lights and loud noises coming from the quarry at night. 

Expert witnesses testified for both sides about the levels of noise and dust coming from the quarry compared to other sites, and about the potential of subsidence or structural damage from blasting at the quarry. 

In his ruling, Huggins held that the plaintiffs’ health concerns were not sufficiently documented to be considered in the case and that concerns about vibrations from quarry blasting and the potential for sinkholes did not meet the standards of Alabama’s nuisance law. 

However, he ruled the fugitive dust entering the plaintiffs’ properties “substantially and unreasonably inconveniences” the plaintiffs, as did the noises, bright lights and traffic coming from the quarry. 

Huggins said in the ruling that the plaintiffs had established a “reasonable chance of success” on the public nuisance claim, granting the preliminary injunction. The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the Southern Environmental Law Center. 

“We’re very pleased the judge heard the evidence and applied the law to limit the unnecessary mayhem community members are enduring because of this nuisance,” Sarah Stokes, a senior attorney at SELC, said in a news release. “Belle Mina residents—just like any community—are entitled to the safe, peaceful use of their homes and property. They did nothing to deserve this chaos. That’s why they intend to fight this to the end.”

The ruling is the latest chapter in the residents’ long struggle against the quarry. 

Last year, some of the plaintiffs in the nuisance complaint found themselves as defendants in a lawsuit in Indiana filed by the quarry operators. 

Elephants R Us, LLC, filed a lawsuit against Belle Mina Methodist Church, New Covenant Ministries and a resident in the state of Indiana for reasons that weren’t altogether clear, seeking $1.6 million plus attorneys’ fees, arguing that their speaking against the quarry had interfered with a contract and negatively impacted the business. Court documents show Elephants R Us is a registered LLC in Indiana, but lists Alabama as its primary place of business. 

That suit was dismissed by an Indiana judge last year. SELC attorneys said the lawsuit was an example of a SLAPP suit, or a strategic lawsuit against public participation, “designed to intimidate or silence opposition to the quarry,” by dragging the churches into legal proceedings in another state. 

The Alabama case is scheduled to go to trial beginning April 21. 

“The judge heard what this quarry has done to our lives, and gave us some relief,” Nina Perez, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a release. “No one deserves to have their lives upended because a rock quarry invaded their community.”