A recent article I found that shows a potential shortage for limestone and related mining products in the SE...
Ruling may rock builders
Jacksonville Business Journal - July 27, 2007by Rachel WitkowskiStaff Writer
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NORTHEAST FLORIDA -- Florida's construction industry is bracing for what could be a major loss in limestone supply for concrete if an appellate court does not overturn a U.S. District Court order.
"The order has shut down three Miami quarries and the remaining seven in the Lake Belt area of South Florida are under investigation. The 10 quarries produce about 50 percent of the state's supply of construction aggregates.
Northeast Florida could face a 25 percent to 50 percent production loss if permitting of mining in the Miami area is discontinued.
Affected aggregate suppliers, including Jacksonville-based Florida Rock Industries Inc. (NYSE: FRK), recently filed an appeal and a motion for stay in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta. If the appeal fails and the investigation stops mining permitting, it likely will create a shortage resulting in higher construction costs, incomplete and fewer projects, employee cuts and a detrimental effect on the state's growth.
Construction industry officials said a delay in the appellate court's decision also could have a short-term effect on supply and increase construction costs.
Environmentalists worry that the Lake Belt mining activity might have contributed to the destruction of 5,400 acres of wetlands and contaminated the public water supply because benzene was detected in the aquifer near the mines. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service filed the suit that led to the court order.
Sam Joiner, vice president of Archer Western Contractors Ltd., said he is watching the case closely because his company has two interstate projects in Jacksonville, requiring concrete and totaling about $175 million, under construction. The limestone miner and concrete supplier for both projects is Tarmac America LLC, one of the companies ordered to shut down its Miami-area mine July 17.
The Florida Department of Transportation contracted Archer Western, a subsidiary of Chicago-based The Walsh Group, to build the new Interstate 10 and Interstate 95 interchange and help widen I-95 north of the Trout River to Interstate 295.
Joiner said it is too early to determine the impact the case will have on the projects since an appeal is pending. But if there were an interruption in the supply of materials, the company would lose thousands of dollars each day the project was delayed.
Limestone, a main ingredient of concrete, is heavily used in the state for road projects and for building construction. It is typically more affordable than asphalt, and the limestone produced in the Miami area is a better quality, Joiner said.
The rock costs from $20 to $25 a ton in Florida.
"The cost of construction materials is already as high or higher than any other state," he said. Limited resources coupled with a growing construction market will cause "prices to get higher and the bad thing is that state budgets don't stretch as far" to pay for public projects such as roads."
"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." C.S. Lewis
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