On Aug. 28 Lemay and Bella Villa residents gathered to discuss the situation at the Ruprecht Quarry. The inactive quarry is surrounded by residential streets and the Mt. Olive Cemetery, but if the St. Louis County Council approves a new proposal, these neighborhoods would become a hotspot for construction for the next 10 to 15 years.
Fillworks LLC is seeking a conditional use permit from the county to fill the 30-acre quarry with “clean fill” — uncontaminated material like soil, sand, gravel and rock. The project is expected to take over a decade to complete, with construction crews working six days a week from morning to 6 p.m.
At a recent St. Louis County Council meeting, several residents of the surrounding neighborhoods rose to speak in opposition to the project. The complaints and concerns raised at that meeting were common refrains at the Aug. 28 community gathering, as neighbors commiserated and discussed ways to move forward.
Neighbors have stated worries about the noise and traffic caused by the construction — project coordinators have said that this endeavor could mean at least 100 dump trucks coming and going from the site each day. Heavy trucks have also raised concerns among residents, who questioned the safety of pedestrians and children waiting for their bus stops, as well as the quality of the roads deteriorating over the span of a decade.
Resident Chris Eckstein’s primary concern is about the clean fill site. As someone who worked with heavy equipment and demolition, he is worried about the potential lack of monitoring of what materials could be going into the quarry.
“A lot of the material is hard to separate during demolition,” Eckstein said. “Bricks should go to a clean fill, whereas wood, debris, drywall and electrical stuff should go to a landfill, or be recycled if you can. It is not easily done when you’re doing a demolition with a large piece of equipment.”
Eckstein is concerned that, without proper monitoring from the county, harmful materials could end up in the quarry and, from there, be funneled into the sewer system.
“There could be a huge dump truck full of material, and you can’t see into the bottom. You can’t see into the truck other than what’s on the surface,” Eckstein said. “It all comes down to honesty, and keeping people honest is difficult when there’s money involved.”
State Rep. Michael Burton of District 92 was present at the meeting, along with former State Rep. Bob Burns, who represented District 93 from 2013-2021. According to Burns, he was asked to attend the resident meeting on behalf of County Councilman Mike Archer, who represents the 6th District and the homes around the Ruprecht Quarry.
Burns and Burton expressed strong opposition to the Fillworks project. Burns even compared its potential health impact to that of Coldwater Creek, when radioactive waste was shipped to landfill sites, and radioactive material was later found in the creek.
“The air quality is also a very big concern,” Burton said. “We’re talking hundreds of thousands of trucks (over the years). … While they will have water trucks there — at least one — to tamp down the dust, many times they don’t have enough water trucks to actually keep it all down. Those dust particles get in the air, people breathe them, people who are walking their dogs. You’ll see a film on your playground equipment, on your cars. Those have very negative impacts on people’s health.”
Questions circulated at the meeting about Fillworks LLC, which was created on April 1 with Carmody MacDonald, a Clayton law firm, listed as its registered agent. According to Burton, when applying for its conditional use permit, Fillworks failed to submit its traffic study and environmental impact study.
“The fact that Fillworks LLC was started on April 1 is very concerning,” Burton said. “The fact that Fillworks LLC first wanted this to be a dumping site for construction and the (Department of Natural Resources) told them no, and now they say they want to fill it with clean fill, gives me great pause. There’s too many things, including the incomplete application. We have a lot of concerns. This seems like a company that is going to be pushing the boundaries, pushing the rules.”
Though there is no confirmed reason for filling the quarry, some residents worry that it will become new land for home developers — potentially raking in more property taxes for the county. Residents Doug and Marilou Tapp share that concern. Doug says that, as a lower income community, neighbors “can’t stand up against” the prospect of that much revenue being turned in to the county.
Marilou’s family has lived in their home near the quarry for five generations. She’s worried about the foundation of her home being able to resist the effects of construction, echoing Burton and Eckstein’s concerns about the weakness of the land around the quarry during heavy construction and how it could affect homes.
“If they come down this street, I’m going to lose my home,” Marilou said. “It’s horrible. I’ve never spent Christmas anywhere else. The whole quality of life will go down.”
Eckstein is less sure of the rumors that this may become a housing development site due to the nature of the clean fill. He said, “Typically these sites don’t become residential housing, because there’s too much potential for the ground to settle.” Currently, no one knows what will truly become of the land if the quarry is filled in.
The Fillworks project at Ruprecht Quarry is on the St. Louis County Planning Commission’s Sept. 14 agenda under “Old Business – Not Ready For Action.” The project will need to be approved by the Planning Commission before being sent to the County Council, which will either approve or deny the proposal.
At the gathering, Burns insisted that Archer plans to vote no on this proposal, though Archer has yet to take that stance publicly. Neighbors told The Call that they have their hopes, and they have their doubts.
“(Archer)’s waiting to hear more, which I totally respect,” Briana Coleman, one of the event organizers, said, “but it would be nice to know what he’s thinking.”