I’m upset and frustrated — and I know many of you are too. It’s so obvious that putting a rock quarry in the middle of our community is wrong. We all deserve the peaceful enjoyment of our homes and land — not a life surrounded by explosives, dump trucks, dust, and worries about our wells and water. Luck Stone keeps saying that 60% of the 1,300 acres will be “greenspace.” But their own official plan — submitted to Hanover County — tells a very different story.
The Map Tells the Truth. Below is the actual quarry plan on file with Hanover County.
Official Luck Stone Site Plan: The “green” area is not natural forest or parkland. It represents approximately 585 acres designated as “Vegetated Berm/Overburden Area” — where stripped soil, rock, and debris will be dumped and reshaped during quarry operations. NOTE HOW CLOSE THE HOUSES ARE TO THE INDUSTRIAL QUARRY.
What “Greenspace” Really Means
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Planning Association (APA):
“Green space refers to land that is partly or completely covered with grass, trees, shrubs, or other vegetation, and set aside for recreation, aesthetic, or environmental protection.”
True greenspace includes parks, forests, conservation areas, and undisturbed natural lands that protect water quality, support wildlife, and provide scenic or recreational value. The area Luck Stone labels as “green” is designated for industrial overburden storage — where all the soil and rock scraped off the quarry site will be piled, compacted, and reshaped.
What Overburden Really Is — and How It’s Made
Overburden is the layer of topsoil, sand, and loose rock that sits above the quarry’s stone. Before mining can begin, Luck Stone must strip away this entire layer — destroying all trees, vegetation, and wetlands — and then haul that material by dump truck to massive disposal mounds.
The process involves: clearing all trees and vegetation, scraping off soil down to bedrock, hauling the material to dump zones (the “berms”), and compacting and reshaping it into engineered hills meant to screen the pit. These berms are bare, compacted soil — not functioning forests or meadows.
They generate dust, runoff, and erosion, and they prevent natural regrowth for decades. Luck Stone may plant a grass seed on the overburden.
What Overburden Really Looks Like
Overburden Slopes and Stripped Soil: Active overburden dumping — stripped, compacted soil and rock replacing what was once forested land. Overburden is compacted, unvegetated, and barren. This is not greenspace. It is permanently disturbed ground.
Why This Matters - “Overburden” means:
Constant dump-truck traffic
Runoff toward the Little River
Loss of wildlife and forest buffer and wetlands
Noise, dust, and blasting
Luck Stone’s plan uses nearly the entire 1,300 acres for quarrying, overburden, or industrial operations. There is no real greenspace — only disturbed and reshaped ground.
What You Can Do
Please keep sharing this update. Every new signature and every new voice helps protect our wells, our peace, and our community’s future. Email or call the County Supervisors and Planning Commission and let them know you OPPOSE the quarry. Below are the email addresses and phone numbers for the supervisors and planning commission:
Faye Prichard (Ashland District): 804-798-5985
Jeff Stoneman (Beaverdam District): 804-779-1125
Michael Herzberg (Cold Harbor District, Chair) 804-746-4723
Sean Davis (Chickahominy District, Vice Chair): 804-439-2289
Ryan Hudson (Mechanicsville District): 804-307-2882
Susan Dibble (South Anna District): 804-357-6438
Danielle Floyd (Chickahominy District) 804-651-3064
William E. Martin (Henry District) 804-746-7832
Cliff Parker (Chickahominy District) 804-310-0398
Fredric I. McGhee, Jr. (Cold Harbor District) 804-641-3908
Edmonia Iverson (Beaverdam District) 804-449-6335
Brett Heizer (Mechanicsville District) 804-519-8191
Larry Leadbetter (South Anna District) 804-338-5999
Alan Abbott (Ashland District) 804-798-3836
fmherzberg@hanovercounty.gov,
jsstoneman@hanovercounty.gov,
smdavis@hanovercounty.gov,
dgfloyd@hanovercounty.gov,
foprichard@hanovercounty.gov,
rmhudson@hanovercounty.gov,
spdibble@hanovercounty.gov,
wemartin@hanovercounty.gov,
clparker@hanovercounty.gov,
fimcghee@hanovercounty.gov,
epiverson@hanovercounty.gov,
laleadbetter@hanovercounty.gov,
bheizer@hanovercounty.gov,
acabbott@hanovercounty.gov,
Beaverdam / Verdon / Western Hanover residents — we deserve better.