The Perli Quarry, operated by Croell Redi Mix Inc., would expand four-fold if proposal succeeds. Photo courtesy Duane Abata
Gravel pit opponents seek Indian support
By Talli Nauman
Native Sun News
Health & Environment Editor
www.nsweekly.com RAPID CITY –– Opponents of a proposed four-fold expansion at a Black Hills gravel pit in an area earmarked for conservation use are calling on Native Americans to consider supporting them at a Pennington County Board of Commissioners hearing set for April 5 here. Croell Redi Mix Inc., a private family business based in New Hampton, Iowa, has obtained a South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources Mine License good to 2041, as well as several other permits for the proposal to expand the Perli Quarry site, which it operates about five miles south of Rapid City on U.S. Highway 16. “We would very much like the support of as many people as we can gather,” said Duane Abata, one of dozens who appealed the Pennington County Planning Commission’s Feb. 8 agreement with staff to approve a construction permit for the quarry. “We’re not opposed to mining in general, but we are opposed to the location,” said Abata, who is the former Mining and Engineering Department head at Michigan Technological University and now a professor at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. “They want to turn this small pit into a large operation, and we know that the Black Hills is a special place for Native Americans. We don’t know why they are going right there. They can find that gravel anyplace,” he told the Native Sun News on March 4.
Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Gravel pit opponents seek Indian support (Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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