Missouri's Land Reclamation Commission has the authority to approve a mining permit for a proposed Lake of the Ozarks quarry - and the authority to impose conditions on that permit - the state appeals court in Kansas City ruled Tuesday.
The 14-page opinion from a three-judge panel upheld Miller County Special Judge Frank Conley's June 29, 2015, ruling approving the commission's actions.
Magruder Limestone - which already operated several quarries under a Land Reclamation permit - first applied in 2007 to expand that permit so it could quarry the Bowlin Hollow site in Miller County, using 205 of the 212 acres it owned there.
The site is just south of the Lake Ozark/Osage Beach Joint Sewer Board's wastewater (sewer) treatment plant - and officials in both cities, and on the joint board, expressed concern the quarry's blasting operations could damage the sewer plant.
Adding to the concerns were the two force main sewer lines running through the center of the proposed quarry - they carry Osage Beach's wastewater to the treatment plant.
After holding public hearings over seven days in March, April, May and June 2009, a hearing officer recommended the commission approve Magruder's application, because - in the words of a 2010 appeals court ruling - the opponents "failed to prove that their health, safety or livelihood would be unduly impaired by the impact of Magruder's proposed quarrying operations in the Bowlin Hollow Quarry."
The commission approved the permit for Magruder to operate a quarry on 52 acres of the site.
The opponents sued, and eventually, Conley - a retired Boone County circuit judge assigned to the case as a senior judge - ruled in April 2009 the commission applied the wrong legal standards in issuing its permit.
In August 2010, the appeals court agreed and sent the case back to the Land Reclamation Commission for a new hearing.
After a second round of public hearings, the commission again approved Magruder's permit, accepting five of the eight conditions the hearing commissioner had recommended.
The opponents sued again, and Conley once again held a trial - ruling almost a year ago in favor of the commission's permit.
The opponents again appealed.
Judge James Welsh, who wrote the court's original opinion in 2010, also wrote the appeals court's opinion issued Tuesday.
The three-judge panel determined state law says the commission "shall make the final decision" on any permit application, and "all Commission members participating in the decision must 'review the record before making the decision.'"
"The Commission 'retains the ultimate authority' to make the decision following the public hearing," the appeals court wrote, after commissioners determine whether the opponents or the applicant have made the best case.
Unlike the first permit process, the appeals court said, the commission didn't make any mistakes that would require its permit to be overturned.