Environmental groups ask the legislature to pay attention to their own report.
The DOGM commissioned report ordered by the Legislature shows there is no shortage of aggregate and no urgent need for more gravel pits
Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment (UPHE), Save Our Canyons (SOC), Save Parley’s and HEAL Utah did an analysis of the just finished DOGM (Division of Oil, Gas and Mining) commissioned report ordered by the legislature (HB502).
“…fugitive dust is always present in the air, settling on property, vehicles, outdoor furniture, patios, and windows. During even the mildest storm events, rain leaves a muddy film on windows and vehicles. Residents with asthma or other respiratory illnesses complain of complications related to air quality and are not able to be outside for extended periods of time” — Stantec report
The aggregate industry has been claiming that an impending gravel shortage threatens the Salt Lake area economy with unaffordable high prices unless we essentially allow their industry to decide where gravel pits will be permitted. Two recent studies, including the one just commissioned by the Legislature, conclude that there is no threat to the economy from an aggregate shortage or unaffordable prices.
In the 2024 session of the Utah legislature, HB 502 was passed that required the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining (DOGM) to study the state’s future demand for critical infrastructure material, i.e. aggregate, in relation to future supply. That study was contracted to Stantec, a local consulting company. The study left important issues unaddressed and underestimated future supply and alternatives to aggregate, and it almost certainly overestimated demand. Nonetheless, three of the most important issues highlighted in the study were:
1. There is no looming shortage of aggregate that will cause economic harm or delay of construction projects. Stantec Report: “Most of the quarries that supply Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, and Weber counties have 10-20 years of reserves remaining… There is no county or region evaluated during this study that will run out of resources within proximity to demand in the next five years… The analysis indicates aggregate supply is adequate to meet current demand across the state.”
2. Land-use designation and permitting decisions should remain with local governments. Stantec Report: “The majority of representatives from counties, cities, and municipalities across Utah expressed some level of dissatisfaction with the current regulatory process, including a lack of enforcement authority, capacity, and/or capability to control the negative impacts of quarry operations.” Most local officials believe “they are best positioned to make these decisions, as they are more attuned to the needs and preferences of their communities… In Stantec’s opinion, land-use designations, rezoning, and permit decisions should remain with local officials where the benefits and impacts of quarries are most realized.”
3. DOGM and Division of Air Quality (DAQ) regulatory authority is too weak. “Many local officials said that compliance with and enforcement of air quality regulations is deficient,” but DAQ “does not have the resources to increase monitoring and enforcement activity.”
Even despite these conclusions, environmental groups noted the study likely overestimated aggregate demand, omitting any mention of new technologies and cement recycling projects by the state’s cement and construction companies that will decrease the future need for virgin limestone, like what would be produced in a proposed quarry in Parley’s Canyon.
“For 15 years UPHE has been approached for help from communities throughout the state, who have been blanketed by gravel pit dust. For far too long public health has been an afterthought within state regulations of these operations,” said Brian Moench MD, President of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. “This report admits the state needs a comprehensive plan for where these operations should be cited and regulated, that includes public health protection among all the considerations. The current system is essentially a grab bag that allows a few property owners to make these critical decisions for the entire community based on their self-interest.”
“The [Stantec] study confirms what we already know; the DAQ does not have the resources it needs to increase monitoring and enforcement of air quality standards, which would be absolutely necessary if we were to increase mining activity throughout the state,” said Lexi Tuddenham, Executive Director for HEAL Utah. “Utah must invest in DAQ if it is serious about protecting the health of its communities.”
Spencer Shaver, Executive Director, Save Our Canyons said, “This report clearly recommends that the issue of aggregate supply and demand deserves more careful study – there is no urgency to permit shoddy projects to meet demand in this generation or the next. Future generations should benefit from a thoughtful aggregate mining planning process, not rushed conclusions that lead to worse air quality in our communities, less available water for residents or less wildlife habitat in and around some of Utah’s fastest growing cities.”
Reflecting the magnitude of public concern about gravel pits, according to the DAQ Director Bryce Bird, complaints about gravel pit pollution is the number one source of public comments to DAQ. This is reflected in Stantec’s report.
Examples of comments from local officials in the report:
“Citizens complain about fugitive dust that is always present in the air, settling on property, vehicles, outdoor furniture, patios, and windows. During even the mildest storm events, rain leaves a muddy film on windows and vehicles. Residents with asthma or other respiratory illnesses complain of complications related to air quality and are not able to be outside for extended periods of time. Additionally, homes in the area require more frequent changes to furnace air filters due to the increased dust particles in the air from the operations.”
“The City has documented the visibility issue on the frontage road, Highway 89 and Interstate 15. Video shows the dust clouds produced by a local quarry on a clear, non-windy summer day, in which the roads were completely obscured by dust, much like a fog. Vehicles traveling 50-100 feet ahead, as well as any oncoming vehicles, are not visible to drivers.”
“Movement of heavy equipment to the upper entrance of the local pit causes safety issues due to the steepness of city roads…where several instances of trucks whose brakes have failed crash at the bottom of the hill near the roundabout… We had several near misses with the trucks driving through the new residential apartment area…”
“There are no regulations regarding the size of the charge, method of blasting, or maximum vibration allowed. The operators rely on ‘industry standards.’ Residents complain of cracked foundations, vibrations similar to earthquakes, pictures falling off walls, and items falling off shelves from the vibrations, all resulting in property owner/resident anxiety.”
The final DOGM report was made available Tuesday, 1/21/25.
Go to this site to download a copy.
Background and additional information:
During the 2024 legislative session, House Bill 502 was passed, directing the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining to study critical infrastructure materials operations and related mining to understand Utah’s current and future needs better. Critical infrastructure materials are sand, gravel, or rock aggregate, and operations are the extraction, excavation, processing, or reprocessing of those materials.
Because the HB502 report is missing critical information, it is too early to make major regulatory changes in 2025.
Once the crucial information gaps on aggregate supply in the HB502 report are filled in, it will be the right time for the key stakeholders (e.g. Association of Counties, League of Cities and Towns and the major municipalities, DOGM, et. al) to come together and make timely decisions about the long-term management of aggregate supply in Utah.
Even while not considering the missing supply options, the HB502 report points out that it will be a full generation of Utahns (18 years) before there are shortages of aggregate materials in Northern Utah and another generation of Utahns after that (36 years) before supply becomes an economic problem assuming there are no major improvements in aggregate supply and industry practices by then. There is time to get the right information in the hands of the right people and make the right decisions.
The current study is narrow and missing the 3 R’s (Rail, Replacement Technologies, Recycling)
The good news is that the missing information concerns new supply options not considered in the HB502 report specifically, the evaluation of: (1) the increased use of short haul rail to reduce transport costs, traffic loads and diesel emissions; (2) proving out and scaling up cement and concrete alternatives already being tested in Utah; and (3) evaluating the gradual expansion of recycled concrete demolition debris to replace at least 15% of virgin construction materials used on the Wasatch Front.
We believe that the combination of these important supply options which were not included in the first draft of the HB502 report will significantly improve the outlook for Utah aggregates and address concerns about eventual price escalation due to virgin material shortages in the 2050’s.
On the issue of affordability:
Stantec’s report claims that Utah’s urban counties will eventually have to import aggregate from outside their respective counties. It states that this could increase the total cost of a new home by $4,000. Though not insubstantial, it should be noted, given a median new home price of $560,000 in the Salt Lake Valley, this cost increase still would be well below 1% of the total cost of the home. This increase in total project cost would be a rounding error compared to a 1% increase in the interest rate on a mortgage loan. Similar calculations would apply to aggregate used for highway construction, i.e. the aggregate transportation costs would be well below 1% of the project costs.
Furthermore, this cost estimate is misleading because that figure is based on transportation cost of $0.34 per ton mile and a distance of 30-45 miles. But the distance between the NW Quadrant or the SLC airport (two areas of likely future construction activity) and gravel operations in Tooele County is about 35 miles. There are no gravel operations at the airport, the closest operation is the existing one in North Salt Lake. The distance between the Parley’s Canyon proposed quarry and the airport is about 12 miles. In this comparative scenario, in a worst case, the difference in cost is not $10 a ton, but $7.80, and there would be much heavier traffic transporting gravel from Parley’s Canyon to the airport, than from Grantsville to the airport.