Written by Liz Adams, Research Associate at the UNC Institute for the Environment

The NC Department of Environmental Quality provides an online community mapping system that allows you to see facilities that have permits for air and water quality emissions.

From this online map, I was able to access the Air Quality Permit for Wake Stone.

It states the following:

FUGITIVE DUST CONTROL REQUIREMENT- As required by 15A NCAC 20 .0540 "Particulates from Fugitive Dust Emission Sources," the Permittee shall not cause or allow fugitive dust emissions to cause or contribute to substantive complaints or excess visible emissions beyond the property boundary. If substantive complaints or excessive fugitive dust emissions from the facility are observed beyond the property boundaries for six minutes in any one hour (using Reference Method 22 in 40 CFR, Appendix A), the owner or operator may be required to submit a fugitive dust plan as described in 2D .0540(f).

"Fugitive dust emissions" means particulate matter that does not pass through a process stack or vent and that is generated within plant property boundaries from activities such as: unloading and loading areas, process areas stockpiles, stock pile working, plant parking lots, and plant roads (including access roads and haul roads).

It appears we would need to show that the dust emissions were visible for 6 minutes. If I were to do this testing, I would want to wear an air filtration mask with N99 Filters, as I suspect that the dust from the quarry contains silica.

There is also an environmental justice mapping system: https://ncdenr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/5b65176a2d494271a871563846c974d7?ObjectID=35500

This seems to indicate a higher than the state average Asthma Hospitalization Rate.

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