On Nov. 26, several Chambers County farms filed a joint lawsuit against Nocoseekar, LLC and Rocky Glades, LLC—two mining companies. The companies are seeking permits to develop a quarry on privately owned land near Cusseta. The suit alleges in relevant part, that the surrounding farms will suffer significant losses because of disruptions in noise, air, water and environmental quality.
Flint Hill Farms, one of those bringing the lawsuit, boards 16 horses for members of the Auburn University Eventing Club and hosts club events on a regular basis. Members of the club claim the construction of a quarry on the proposed land would have major adverse effects on their horses and the local horse community.
The potential quarry will be up to 500 feet in depth and will be partially dug through repeated blasting to collect granite, according to permit applications filed by Rocky Glades. These applications suggest that the quarry could be active until 2070.
The lawsuit states that the proposed quarry will be situated in an area with active bald eagles, a federally protected species and a potential sore spot for the Auburn community after a local bald eagle nest was suddenly cut down by Hughston Homes, a housing developer, in November.
Before the mining companies can break ground on the project, they are required by state and federal law to go through a permitting process with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. According to ADEM records, they submitted an initial permit application on Aug. 1, 2024. Before ADEM makes any final judgments on these applications there will be a period for individuals to express their relevant environmental concerns to ADEM officials. A representative from ADEM, Jerome Hand, responded to a request for comment over email.
“Once a complete application is received and draft Air and NPDES permits are developed, the draft permits will be put on public notice for a minimum of 30 days. All relevant comments received during the public comment period will be considered before making final permit decisions,” wrote Hand.
Hand added that ADEM is primarily waiting on additional information for the air permit before the process moves toward the public comment period.
Regarding the permit application, the pending lawsuit’s complaint claims a granted permit will not be legally sufficient to justify the project.
"Alabama cases make clear that a defendant’s compliance with a statute or permit does not preclude a claim for harm," the complaint states.
The complaint mentions that the Auburn University Eventing Club, a group of 50+ members that receives university funding, would be among those harmed. Eventing is a sport in which riders compete on horseback in three phases, which require extensive land and appropriate facilities. Flint Hill Farms has hosted regular clinics for the club since Auburn Eventing’s inception in 2013. The club has been successful in competition—winning four intercollegiate championships since 2018—and has become a recruiting draw for the university.
“If something were to happen moving forward, it’s going to affect, not only the people that actually have their horses there, but everyone in the Auburn horse community and in the surrounding areas,” said Alayna Backel, president of the Auburn Eventing Club, about the importance of maintaining Flint Hill Farms.
“From what I understand with all of the different blastings and the big trucks going up and down the road, the quarry would be very bad not just for the horses’ health and safety but also our riders’ health and safety,” she added.
Popular support for stopping the potential quarry has been strong; hundreds of “Stop the Cusseta Quarry” signs have sprouted throughout Chambers County and beyond, and activists have regularly spoken out at Chambers County Commission meetings. Going forward the main recourse the community will have to support the cause will be in ADEM’s public comment period and through the outcome of litigation like the recently filed lawsuit.
The Plainsman will continue to report on this ongoing case and will provide updates if and when a date is set for the public comment period.
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