I have to respond to the article written by Elliot Hughes on Oct. 16 concerning the review of the Hamm-Buchheim Quarry’s conditional use permit. He quoted me as saying “the crushing and grinding is unbelievable.” Very true, I did say that and it is true.  However, that was not the big point of my letter to the commissioners.

The big point is that the Hamm Quarry has been operating since November 2012 in violation of their CUP and not much has been done about it. Yes, there has been good progress (thanks to the efforts of the neighbors and the county planning office), but they are still in violation.

I do not understand how a huge company owned by another huge company can be so complacent when it comes to following the regulations set up between the county and Hamm to protect the residents of the county. And who is making sure that they are following those regulations? Well, it is not Hamm and it is not the county. We the residents of this county have to do it ourselves. Wednesday night (the same as last year’s review)  the county commissioners signed off on the CUP that has been violated over and over by the Hamm and Summit Companies. I don’t get it.