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Development on the rocks: Olympia vs. the quarry
Trucks continue to rattle
Residents say plan to reroute traffic has stalled, a delay they worry could hinder revitalization
By GINA SMITH Staff Writer
April 07, 2005 - Residents of the Olympia mill neighborhoods say plans to revitalize their community could be in jeopardy if the nearby quarry does not make good on its promises.
Neighbors, who held a press conference Wednesday, said they have waited nearly three years for Vulcan Material Co., owner of the gravel quarry, to reroute its truck traffic from Olympia’s mills and onto Rosewood Drive Extension.
A Vulcan spokesman said safety concerns have stymied plans to pave a road for the trucks. It could be up to eight months before the road is ready.
A $30 million renovation is transforming the old textile mills on Olympia Avenue into high-end apartments. The renovation is seen as the key to attracting residents and businesses to the historic mill community.
In recent years, Olympia School has been revamped and opened to students, a new condominium complex has opened at Whaley and Lincoln streets, and Granby Park has been linked to the Congaree River through the Three Rivers Greenway.
Granby and Olympia mills are next on the list. Later this month, prospective tenants can sign apartment leases at Granby Mill, and in June they can move in.
But representatives of Philadelphia Management, which is renovating the mill, and Olympia residents are getting antsy that the 700 or so trucks, which kick up dust and rumble by the mills each day, will deter potential tenants.
In 2002, officials from the quarry, county and others agreed to reroute the trucks away from the mills to Rosewood Drive Extension. Richland County since has spent about $2 million improving the road to handle the heavy quarry truck traffic.
But Vulcan Material Co. has yet to upgrade River Road, which connects the quarry and Rosewood Drive Extension.
“Vulcan has made a mockery of their promises,” said Bob Guild, an Olympia community leader.
No timeline exists for Vulcan to complete work on the road, nor are there penalties for the company not complying.
“It’s not an issue of whether Vulcan is dragging its feet,” said Jimmy Fleming, manager of governmental affairs for the southeast division of Vulcan.
After input from engineers and talks with Vulcan, Richland County requested that SCE&G do a $25,000 study to determine whether six transmission towers along River Road will remain stable once the road is graded and paved.
The towers might have to be moved and new ones built farther from the road so trucks are less likely to hit them or so they don’t fall over in inclement weather, said Ashley Bloom, county assistant administrator.
Guardrails also will be installed along the road, Fleming said.
Once a plan for the towers is made, it will take about six months to make improvements and pave River Road, Bloom said.
Columbia City Council has asked for an update on the situation from city staff. By early next week, it hopes to determine whether the SCE&G study is needed and to set a schedule for the road’s completion.
“The time frame needs to be that the road is finished as the Olympia Mills is being finished and marketed,” Columbia Mayor Bob Coble said.
Olympia residents say they are frustrated with what they feel is stalling by Vulcan.
Each day, Sally Yandle of Olympia watches quarry dust settle on her porch and worries what she’s breathing in.
The crystalline silica in crushed stone and asphalt mix has been linked to respiratory disease.
“I’d love it if these trucks were gone,” Yandle said.
Reach Smith at (803) 771-8462 or gnsmith@thestate.com.
Anglo asked to waive claim time
Johannesburg - July 05 2005 - An Australian law firm has asked mining giant Anglo American to waive a three-year limit for claims by victims of lung disease, pending the outcome of nine test cases.
It said on Monday the nine cases had already been delayed for about a year because of technical objections by Anglo over the precise wording of the claims.
Time could now be running out for thousands of other respiratory illness victims awaiting the results of the test cases, said Richard Meeran, a lawyer attached to the Australian firm Slater and Gordon.
Meeran said: "Anglo American can elect to enforce or waive a strict three-year time limit on claims under South African prescription law.
"If Anglo enforces prescription, the entitlements of thousands of injured miners could be lost."
Refusing the request, Anglo American, said it believed it "inappropriate and unreasonable" to suspend the limit.
The limit was a recognised legal doctrine throughout the world.
Meeran said that the company did not believe it was liable for an indeterminate number of claimants, for an indefinite and unquantifiable risk.
So far, eight miners have sought compensation for contracting silicosis and phthisis allegedly during their employment on the company's mines.
A ninth miner, Samuel Kokosa Kubu 59, died last year, two weeks after the legal action began. He was retrenched in 2001 after contracting silicosis.
The Johannesburg High Court dismissed their claims in June, but granted them leave to amend these after studying documents it ordered Anglo American to provide.
In an open letter to Webber, Wentzel Bowens, Slater and Gordon noted that the test case litigation "seems destined to be drawn out.
Slater and Gordon said: "This gives rise to a concern that, unless action is taken or Anglo agrees to suspend prescription, the three-year prescription period applicable under South African law may expire for literally thousands of silicosis victims before the test cases are resolved."
Responding to the letter on Tuesday, Anglo American said South African legislation provided for the payment of compensation for occupational diseases through statutory compensation schemes.
The purpose of these was to provide a government-administered process for the payment of compensation to workers out of a fund to which gold mining and other companies had, for many years, been legally obliged to contribute.
Trade unions and the government were trying to find practical and sustainable solutions to the difficulties miners affected by silicosis - particularly former miners in rural areas - appeared to be experiencing in obtaining benefit examinations, treatment and statutory compensation benefits.
"Anglo American believes that this solution oriented approach is likely to result in a speedier and more equitable outcome for all miners affected by silicosis than protracted and expensive litigation," it said.
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