Judge reigns in harmful quarry in Belle Mina, Alabama

BELLE MINA, Ala.—Late Friday a Limestone County Circuit Court Judge ordered a controversial Belle Mina quarry to stop operations  until it meets conditions imposed by the court to reduce the harm it’s causing nearby residents and churches. Quarry operations are halted until the quarry operators move its rock crusher and related equipment, stockpiles and loading area 1,200 feet from homes. The equipment is currently much closer. The quarry must also stop making disturbing noises and using disruptive lights at night, and stop quarry truck from blocking roadways until a lawsuit against the quarry is resolved. The case is set for trial in April. 

New Beginnings Covenant Ministries, Belle Mina Methodist Church, Jerusalem Primitive Baptist Church, New Heaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church, as well as community landowners are suing the quarry’s operators and landowners because of the “nightmare” conditions the quarry is creating for them and others in Belle Mina community. The Southern Environmental Law Center represents the plaintiffs. During a hearing in early January, residents, a local pastor, and experts testified to pervasive harm they are enduring, including:

• Experts testified in court that fugitive dust pollution is three to five times higher and sound pollution is up to eight times nosier in Belle Mina because of quarry operations.
• Sleepless nights because of the nearly round the clock noise and light from operations at the quarry.
• Constant air pollution that covers toys, cars, and outdoor furniture. Many residents no longer enjoy their yards or porches.
• Haul trucks passing homes on a two-lane road as many as 1,000 times a day creating sometimes dangerous conditions and standstill traffic.
• The threat of sink holes or other damage to homes, churches, and property from quarry operations.

You can find pictures and videos of the quarry and its harmful impact here.

“We are grateful for this immediate relief from the nightmare we’ve been living for months, said Brad Vice, a resident and plaintiff in the lawsuit. “I’m worried about my child’s health and my family’s well-being enduring constant noise, air pollution, and sleepless nights. I am hopeful the court will continue to take the harm this quarry is causing seriously as we continue this fight for our rights to live a normal life on our own property.”

“The judge heard what this quarry has done to our lives, and gave us some relief,” said Nina Perez, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Perez suffers from asthma which is forcing her to move out of her Belle Mina home. “No one deserves to have their lives upended because a rock quarry invaded their community.”

The limestone quarry threatens the historic Belle Mina community’s way of life. The boundary of the 199-acre limestone quarry and rock crushing facility extends less than 100 feet away from residential properties, and three churches are located within 2000 feet of the quarry. Construction and operation of the quarry interfere with many residents’ daily lives, subjecting them to air pollution, heavy dump truck traffic, noise pollution, and impacts to groundwater and Limestone Creek.

“We’re very pleased the judge heard the evidence and applied the law to limit the unnecessary mayhem community members are enduring because of this nuisance,” said Sarah Stokes, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Belle Mina residents – just like any community— are entitled to the safe, peaceful use of their homes and property. They did nothing to deserve this chaos. That’s why they intend to fight this to the end.”

The owners of the quarry property previously sued two of the churches involved in this case in an attempt to silence and punish them for exercising their right to oppose the harmful impacts of the quarry. That case was rejected and dismissed by an Indiana court in November 2025.