The state Department of Health’s Office of Environmental Quality Control has found no significant environmental impacts will arise from the development of a proposed rock quarry near the Hilo landfill.
Yamada and Sons, a Hilo-based construction company, is seeking a license to develop a quarry on 37.8 acres of state land, in order to extract the necessary components for asphalt and concrete. The company’s current quarry on Railroad Avenue In Hilo has nearly exhausted its supply of usable material, according to its final environmental assessment, published Saturday in the Office of Environmental Quality Control’s Environmental Notice.
The proposed site is located near existing quarries and is mostly covered with large invasive trees that would be removed as part of the site’s development.
Based on Yamada and Sons’ proposal, 25,000 tons of material would be extracted — via drilling and blasting — from the site per month, with the quarry eventually reaching a maximum depth of about 80 feet. The projected lifetime of the quarry is 20 to 30 years.
Raw material extracted from the quarry will be stockpiled on site or trucked off site to Yamada and Sons’ quarry on Railroad Avenue for crushing, processing and sale.
Although no significant biological or cultural resources have been identified on the site, the environmental assessment promises to halt all development in the area should any archaeological resources or burials be discovered.