• Pit & Quarry contributor dies: Rodney E. Garrett, 71, Bernville, Pa. – a long-time industry freelance writer and a frequent contributor to Pit & Quarry – died in April after a two-year battle with lymphoma. A gifted photographer and a well-connected industry insider, many of Garrett’s photographs appeared on the cover of Pit & Quarry over the past 10 years. Garrett worked with many industry manufacturers and traveled the world to photograph construction equipment and interview business owners. For the past several years, he had been developing his video skills, and he had just returned from Nevada, where he had been shooting film for a client. Garrett is survived by his wife, Christa, and four children (Kathy, Rod Jr., Kurt and Heidi). He also has three brothers and one sister.
• MDU Resources acquires Yarbrough: MDU Resources Group Inc. announced that it has acquired Yarbrough’s Dirt Pit Inc., doing business as Yarbrough’s Material & Construction, an aggregate supplier and ready-mix concrete producer near Sour Lake, Texas. Yarbrough will become part of Knife River Corp., the construction materials and contracting subsidiary of MDU Resources. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. MDU Resources anticipates the acquisition will be accretive to 2008 earnings per share. Yarbrough serves the southeast Texas market, primarily the Beaumont and Port Arthur area, with an aggregate distribution yard and ready-mix plant. Yarbrough distributes in excess of 300,000 tons of aggregate annually.
• Martin Marietta acquires six quarries from Vulcan: Martin Marietta Materials Inc. announced last month the acquisition of six quarries in Georgia and Tennessee from Vulcan Materials Co. The Department of Justice had required Vulcan to divest certain facilities following its acquisition of Florida Rock Industries Inc. Of the six locations acquired by Martin Marietta, the five Georgia sites comprise three active and one greenfield granite operation near Atlanta in Paulding, Fayette, Fulton and Butts counties, respectively, as well as a limestone operation in Floyd County. The sixth location is a limestone operation in Chattanooga, Tenn. Martin Marietta also acquired land previously leased from Vulcan at Martin Marietta’s Three Rivers Quarry near Paducah, Ky. In addition to a $192 million cash payment, Martin Marietta divested to Vulcan its only California quarry, located in Oroville; an idle facility north of San Antonio; and land in Henderson, N.C., formerly leased to Vulcan.
• Commissioners allow mining on former Everglades land: Palm Beach County (Fla.) commissioners approved plans on April 24 for decades of mining on 11,000 acres of mostly sugar cane that used to be the Everglades, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. Despite environmental concerns, commissioners in a 4-2 vote allowed plans for South Bay Quarry, 10 miles south of Belle Glade, and Lake Harbor Quarry, four miles south of Lake Okeechobee. Another mining proposal, the 533-acre Bergeron expansion, was postponed until May 22. The mining proposals followed county zoning rules, and the environmental concerns can be addressed through the state’s permitting process, Commissioner Mary McCarty told the newspaper.
• Minerals education award winners named: The Interstate Mining Compact Commission (IMCC) has announced the recipients of its ninth annual minerals education awards, which are presented in the categories of mining awareness educator and public outreach. Rick Crosslin of the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis has been named winner of the educator award, while the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers and its Public Information and Education Committee has been honored for public outreach. Tim Theobold of Vulcan Materials Co. in Manteno, Ill., has been named honorable mention for public outreach. The awards will be presented at a banquet held in conjunction with the IMCC annual meeting May 18-22 in Teton Village, Wyo.
