IDL: Pit isn't impacting aquifer

SAGLE — A surface mine mired in controversy is not trespassing on neighboring parcels nor is it impacting the Sagle aquifer, according to the Idaho Department of Lands.

Concerns over Frank Linscott’s gravel pit were raised in March, but inspectors from IDL and the Idaho Department of Lands conducted a site visit the following month and determined it was not intersecting with the aquifer.

“There were no signs of ponding water or of the pit breaching or intersecting the water table or aquifer at the lowest spot,” the April 11 IDL inspection report said.

Opponents of the grandfathered surface mine and a planned asphalt batch plant operation, have argued that a 2008 DEQ report indicates the gravel pit is the source of human-caused impacts to the aquifer, although that study actually determined that the Southside Water & Sewer District was the potential source of anthropogenic impacts to the aquifer, according to a June 3 email written by Eric Wilson, IDL’s Resource Protection & Assistance bureau chief.

State regulators further determined that the pit was not trespassing on land to the north.

“It did not appear that mining activities were resulting in any trespass or crossing the property boundary shared with the neighbors to the north of the pit,” the report said.

Pit and plant foes maintained that a GPS reading showed an encroachment, although IDL observed survey monuments which contradict the claim.

“The neighbors’ attempted reliance on GPS instead of surveys and survey monuments produced by licensed professionals was misguided,” Wilson said in an earlier email message.

Moreover, the pit has been brought into compliance, records show. Its reclamation plan and $250,000 bond have been updated and IDL accepted a $10,000 settlement, according to IDL records.

News of the gravel pit’s compliance comes in the run-up to a court hearing over Bonner County’s approval of a plan for Interstate Concrete & Asphalt to relocate its asphalt plant from Sandpoint to Sagle to reduce transportation costs. Counsel for Bonner County is moving to dismiss the petition for judicial review because a deadline to bring the action had lapsed. Counsel for plan opponents counter that they filed in a timely manner, but the document was not correctly processed.

A hearing on the county’s motion is set for Thursday in 1st District Court.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.

Editor’s note: This story has been edited to correct the settlement amount.