A company that wants to build a controversial quarry in Parleys Canyon asked the state for permission to alter a stream that provides water for Salt Lake City.
But last week, the state said it can’t approve the application — yet.
Granite Construction, based in California, wants to build a limestone quarry in Parleys Canyon called the I-80 South Quarry. To build it, the company says it needs to reroute and improve an access road in the canyon. Granite applied to the Utah Division of Water Rights in May, asking for permission to install a new culvert on a stream to accommodate the rerouted road.
But the company didn’t provide enough information about the new culvert, according to a letter last week from the Division of Water Rights, leading the division to keep Granite’s application in an “unapproved status.” The application could still be approved if Granite addresses the division’s concerns.
“Streams in the Wasatch Mountains should be protected, and we’re glad that the Division is upholding stream protections while not allowing landowners to alter streams that supply Salt Lake City’s water as they see fit,” said Spencer Shaver, executive director of the local nonprofit Save Our Canyons.
Granite says that its limestone quarry, if built, will provide aggregate materials for the Wasatch Front’s growing population.
But the mine has been met with mighty opposition from residents, local officials and nonprofits, who contend that the mine threatens air quality, water and wildlife. The Parleys Creek watershed provides about 20% of Salt Lake City’s water, according to the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.
Brian Moench, a physician and president of the nonprofit Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, called the quarry “by far the most destructive project ever proposed in our beloved mountains of the Wasatch Front.”
“It is deeply disappointing that Granite Construction continues to treat the massive public opposition with such callousness and contempt by continuing to pursue this,” he added.
Granite has been working with Salt Lake City developer Jesse Lassley since January 2022 to try to build the I-80 South Quarry.
The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining permitted the quarry in August 2022, but the project still needs final approval from the Utah Division of Air Quality and a conditional use permit from Salt Lake County.
The county has indicated that it will not grant that permit, but Granite isn’t giving up.
“We are working through the process with all applicable permitting agencies to progress the plans for I-80 South Quarry,” a Granite spokesperson wrote in an email.