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<br />(5) "Land" shall include submerged lands underlying any river, stream,
<br /> lake, sound, or other body of water and shall specifically include,
<br /> among others, estuarine and tidal lands.
<br />(6) "Minerals" means soil, clay, coal, stone, gravel, sand, phosphate,
<br /> rock, metallic ore, and any other solid material or substance of
<br /> commercial value found in natural deposits on or in the earth.
<br />(7) "Mining" means
<br /> a. The breaking of the surface soil in order to facilitate or
<br /> accomplish the extraction or removal of minerals, ores, or
<br /> other solid matter.
<br /> b. Any activity or process constituting all or part of a process
<br /> for the extraction or removal of minerals, ores, soils, and
<br /> other solid matter from its original location.
<br /> c. The preparation, washing, cleaning, or other treatment of
<br /> minerals, ores, or other solid matter so as to make them
<br /> suitable for commercial, industrial, or construction use.
<br /> It shall not include those aspects of deep mining not having
<br /> significant effect on the surface, where the affected land does
<br /> not exceed one acre in area. It shall not include mining operations
<br /> where the affected land does not exceed one acre in area. It
<br /> shall not include plants engaged in processing minerals pro-
<br /> duced elsewhere and whose refuse does not affect more than one
<br /> acre of land. It shall not include excavation or grading when
<br /> conducted solely in aid of on-site farming or of on-site con-
<br /> struction for purposes other than mining. Removal of overburden
<br /> and mining of limited amounts of any ores or mineral solids shall
<br /> not be considered mining when done only for the purpose and to
<br /> the extent necessary to determine the location, quantity, or
<br /> quality of any natural deposit, provided that no ores or mineral
<br /> solids removed during such exploratory excavation or mining are
<br /> sold, processed for sale, or consumed in the regular operation
<br /> of a business, and provided further that the affected land result-
<br /> ing from any such exploratory excavation does not exceed one acre
<br /> in area.
<br />(8) "Neighboring" means in close proximity, in the immediate vicinity,
<br /> or in actual contact.
<br />(9) "Operator" means any person or persons, any partnership, limited
<br /> partnership, or corporation, or any association of persons,
<br /> engaged in mining operations, whether individually, jointly, or
<br /> through subsidiaries, agents, employees, or contractors.
<br />(10) "Overburden" means the earth, rock, and other materials that lie
<br /> above the natural deposit of minerals.
<br />
<br />This was approved 5 to 0 by the Planning Board.
<br />
<br /> The Board reviewed a letter from Mr. Fletcher L. Hartsell, Jr., County
<br />Attorney, suggesting that the Text Amendment read as follows: "Extraction
<br />of Earth Products - shall mean the mining of all minerals as defined by
<br />N.C.G.S. 74-49, Subsections 6 and 7." According to Mr. Hartsell, the
<br />other definitions appearing in the Mining Act in G.S. 74-49 are extraneous
<br />to the issue involved.
<br /> Mr. Wesley Grant, attorney representing Martin Marietta Aggregates,
<br />and Mr. William G. Alexander, attorney, spoke in support of the adoption of
<br />the amendment as recommended by the Planning Board.
<br /> Mr. Edwin Ferguson, attorney representing residents of the Midland
<br />Community, supported the recommendation from Mr. Fletcher L. Hartsell, Jr.,
<br />to limit the text amendment to Subsections 6 and 7 of NoC.G.S. 74-49.
<br /> Mr. Dennis Shultz, resident of the Midland area, asked that Subsection
<br />7(c) be deleted from the proposed text amendment, stating it was vague and
<br />could pertain to a wide range of heavy industrial activities.
<br /> UPON MOTION of Commissioner Barnhardt, seconded by Commissioner Payne
<br />and unanimously carried, the Board adopted the 1971 Mining Act (N.C.G.S.
<br />74-49) as recommended by the Planning Board as the definition of "extraction
<br />of earth products".
<br />
<br />(2) Petition 85-02. Withdrawn.
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