- Concerns about gravel mining reemerge as a powerful player enters the picture.
- What does the interest of a company managed by Matthew Moroun spell for Grass Lake?
- Watch the video for reactions from Chair of the Township Planning Commission Tim Golding and Trustee Candidate Brent Koors.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
"Apparently, a company from the Detroit area wants to purchase the Target Trucking mining operation," says Tim Golding, Chair of the Grass Lake Township Planning Commission.
We first told you that plans to expand the gravel mine at Bohne Road were met with a contentious community debate.
But after the Township Planning Commission issued a permit to Target Trucking, a conclusion seemed close.
"We had a lot of input from the community, a lot of buy-in for what we came up with, and everybody was happy when we left the table, for the most part," notes Golding.
WATCH THE EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH GOLDING:
But now, that may have changed.
A document provided by Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, or "EGLE", shows a company called Sultan Mining asking for transfer of Target Trucking's EGLE permit.
The application is signed by the name Matthew Moroun — which has at least one resident concerned.
"This is an organization that has a reputation of taking advantage of local units of government and the people in those communities," says Koors.
WATCH THE EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH KOORS:
Township Trustee Candidate Brent Koors is worried that the Moroun family, which has a huge imprint in the state and owns the Ambassador Bridge, among other assets, has a history of legal issues and deep pockets that could spell trouble for Grass Lake neighbors' interests.
"Operators like this just consider it…part of their operating expenses is litigating," says Koors. "So they can dig deeper, they can extract more, and the onus is on the people and local communities to have deep enough pockets to take them to court, to fight, and win."
The question on Koors mind is: will Grass Lake have the means and will to enforce its rules for such mining?
"They can take advantage of the rules, stretch the limits if not step over the line without fear of repercussion," warns Koors.
I reached out to Matthew Moroun for comment, but did not receive a response. Kenneth Dobson, Vice-President of Detroit International Bridge Company, sent the following reply:
CHECK OUT OUR PREVIOUS COVERAGE OF THE GRASS LAKE GRAVEL MINE DEBATE AND DECISION HERE.
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