Officials with N.R. Hamm Quarry Inc. pulled a controversial request today to put a quarry in near Lecompton.

Hamm officials ultimately decided that opening the quarry wouldn’t be a benefit.

“The biggest thing it came down to is this quarry would be exclusively used for the turnpike project,” Ramon Gonzalez, a rock sales manager, said. “This was purely a business decision.”

Hamm wanted the quarry on a 175-acre property near the intersection of North 1825 and East 350 roads in northeast Douglas County. The site is on the north side of the turnpike.

Quarry officials said they wanted the once proposed site to supply rock for the widening of Interstate 70 between Lecompton and Topeka. The Kansas Turnpike Authority designated Hamm its rock supplier for the project. Putting a quarry in near Lecompton would have eliminated truck traffic, Gonzalez said.

Lawrence attorney Charles Benjamin, who represented property owners near the proposed site, commended Hamm for its decision.

“My clients obviously are delighted and I think Hamm made a smart decision business wise but politically as well,” Benjamin said. “I think it would have been a nasty fight and the residents had no intention of backing down. I commend Hamm for their decision and wish them the best.”

For more on this story, see the 6News reports at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunflower Broadband’s channel 6.