I have not written in a while as my spirits have been crushed. I thought that the judicial system would support facts and full truth over feelings and half-truths. That belief has been shattered. How can the judicial system support facts and truth if one side continuously omits critical information or if critical information is simply ignored by the very people sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
The Umstead Coalition had a huge win in early December 2025 with regard to Wake Stone’s “back-door” modification of their Triangle Quarry mining permit. Judge Cole overturned the ruling by the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in the Sunset Clause and Buffer case. Judge Cole’s ruling reinstated the 50-Year Sunset Clause, meaning that Wake Stone’s Triangle Quarry (adjacent to Umstead State Park) must end operations by the year 2031 as per the conditions of the original 1981 mining permit!! Judge Cole’s ruling also reinstated the buffers established in 1981 to protect both Umstead State Park and the Odd Fellows tract along Crabtree Creek, meaning that Wake Stone has violated their mining permit by clearcutting trees in the permanent buffer zone. Of note, the 1981 Triangle Quarry Mining Permit conditions were established not only to protect Umstead State Park, they were established to prevent a quarry on the Odd Fellows tract.
Wake judge reverses clause that allows quarrying next to Umstead park indefinitely
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article313361756.html
With the truth and facts exposed, the NC Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), the department that issues mining permits, decided not to appeal Judge Sean Cole’s ruling.
NCDEQ will not appeal Wake Stone permit ruling; RDU quarry now in doubt
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article313902608.html
Yeah! Celebration! Nope.
Although the issue at hand involved Wake Stone’s Triangle Quarry mining permit, the lawsuit was only between NCDEQ and Umstead Coalition. Wake Stone could have joined in the lawsuit from the beginning, but they chose not to. Essentially, for the past several years, Wake Stone Corporation, a wealthy global mining company with deep financial resources, has sat on the sideline using our public money and State resources (via relying on NCDEQ) to defend their “[borderline] fraudulent conduct” against Umstead Coalition, a small non-profit with limited financial resources that is tasked with protecting Umstead State Park and the neighboring land (including the Odd Fellows tract).
Some will ask why the Division of State Parks did not sue. Per my non-lawyer understanding of this situation, under North Carolina law, state agencies like NC State Parks cannot sue other governmental agencies like NCDEQ. So, Umstead Coalition, in concert with their charter, had to sue NCDEQ otherwise, State Parks (and the public) would have been walked over by Wake Stone without any fight.
After NCDEQ announced that they would not appeal Judge Cole’s ruling, Wake Stone Corporation, after sitting on the sideline for many years, filed to “intervene.” In my non-lawyer understanding of the judicial system, that just means that Wake Stone asked to join the game just after the end of game buzzer went off. Sadly, the judge that heard this case permitted Wake Stone to intervene.
Next, Wake Stone filed to put a stay on Judge Cole’s ruling (e.g., put a pause on the ruling) and to appeal Judge Cole’s ruling. Unfortunately, Wake Stone’s “purpose and strategy of evasion and disinformation” was continuing to beat the system. The judge, after hearing Wake Stone Corporation’s continued misrepresentation of the facts, allowed both the stay on Judge Cole’s ruling and an appeal of Judge Cole’s ruling, meaning Wake Stone could continue with their unethical destruction of the Odd Fellows tract. (Again, this is my non-lawyer interpretation of the ruling.)
How is Wake Stone Corporation misrepresenting the facts? Since inception of this issue, Wake Stone Corporation has claimed that the 3Apr1981 Mining Commission Final Decision is the only language that could be used in the Triangle Quarry Mining Permit when it was issued over a month later, on 13May1981. In my non-lawyer understanding, Wake Stone is essentially claiming that the power of Mining Commission, an appointed body, supersedes all other State departments, including the NC Department of Justice (DOJ), and that the Mining Commission is the be all end all when it comes to what language is written in the mining permit and the reclamation plan. That is not true.
While it is true that the 3Apr1981 Mining Commission Final Decision has the word “later,” there is a plethora of additional information that demonstrates that the State intended on “limiting … years of operation.” Years of operation could be limited by using the word “sooner” instead of the word “later.”
Wake Stone is ignoring and omitting this additional information. What do you call it when truth and facts are omitted causing others to not be able to fully understand the situation? Here’s what an internet search said: Concealment, Half-truth, Deception, Misrepresentation, Dissembling, Prevarication, Dissimulation, Suppressio Veri, Withholding the truth, Failure to disclose
Let’s take a look at what happened….
Wake Stone’s current Triangle Quarry is on land next to Umstead State Park and the Odd Fellows tract, but separated from both by Crabtree Creek. The current Triangle Quary site and the Odd Fellows tract have been on the Umstead State Park acquisition list for decades, long before Wake Stone Corporation existed or considered mining either tract. Wake Stone, with their deep financial resources, took control of the current Triangle Quarry site in the late 1970’s under the guise of “Perfect Land Corporation” by claiming to be a land development company (versus a mining company). They placed options on the land while getting it rezoned from Residential to Industrial. Essentially, Wake Stone blocked the State from acquiring the land for the Park as planned. In this same time frame, RDU used their financial powers to take control of the Odd Fellows tract even though both RDU and the FAA said they did not need the land. Martin Marietta sought to quarry the Odd Fellows area; thankfully, Martin Marietta was not allowed to do so. To this day, the Odd Fellows tract remained on the State Park critical acquisition list.
In Mar/1980, Wake Stone applied for a mining permit on the Triangle Quarry site. The State denied the permit in Aug/1980. Wake Stone appealed. At this time, appeals were heard by the Mining Commission. On 27Jan1981, the Mining Commission overturned the State’s denial and told the State and Wake Stone to negotiate 5 conditions for the mining permit with the deadline for submission of the language to satisfy these 5 conditions being 13Mar1981. The Mining Commission held a public hearing/meeting on 20Mar1981 and issued a “Final Decision” on 3Apr1981. The 3Apr1981 document upheld and revised the 27Jan1981 “Findings of Facts, Conclusions, and Decision,” suggested language for the permit conditions, and allowed for the State to appeal. Negotiations between Wake Stone and the State continued after the 3Apr1981 document was issued and on 13May1981, the State issued the Wake Stone Triangle Quarry Mining Permit with “conditions … to provide maximum possible protection to William B. Umstead State Park.” There are many wording changes between the language suggested by the Mining Commission and the actual mining permit issued by the State.
The conditions to protect Umstead State Park (and the Odd Fellows tract) included a “sunset clause.” A “sunset clause” is a generic term for a provision in a law, contract, permit, etc. that means the law, contract, permit, etc. will automatically expire after a specified date or event. In other words, there is a clear-cut end date to the law, contract, permit, etc.
In the Wake Stone Triangle Quarry Mining Permit, the “sunset clause” language meant that all activity at the Triangle Quarry would cease by the year 2031 no matter what, even if additional material was available.
During the permit application process, it was clear that Wake Stone wanted their Triangle Quarry Mining Permit to go on infinitely – to have no time limit. In this same timeframe, it is also very clear that the State did NOT want the mining operation to go on indefinitely AND that the State did not want a quarry on the Odd Fellows tract.
During public hearings, Mr. Bratton, owner of Wake Stone, testified that the estimated time frame of the mining operation was 50 years. Not 40 years. Not 60 years. But 50 years. So, when issuing the Triangle Quarry Permit on 13May1981, the State intentionally wrote the Permit with a 50-year Sunset Clause. The State in no way attempted to limit Wake Stone’s estimated duration; the State simply limited the mining operation to the time stated by Mr. Bratton on multiple occasions, including at the public hearing, in order to protect BOTH Umstead State Park AND the neighboring Odd Fellows tract.
The Sunset Clause in the Wake Stone Triangle Quarry Mining Permit hinged on one word - “sooner.” The initial 13May1981 Triangle Quarry Mining Permit states “If all quarryable stone is not removed, the right of the State to acquire the quarry site shall accrue at the end of 50 years from the date quarrying commences or 10 years after quarrying operations have ceased without being resumed , whichever is SOONER.” The word “sooner” results in the max time for the mining operation being 50 years, the time estimated by Wake Stone’s owner. Replacing the word “sooner” with the word “later” results in there being no time limit. Having no time limit does nothing to protect either Umstead State Park or the neighboring Odd Fellows tract. The Sunset Clause is part of the Reclamation Plan of the Mining Permit and is part of the basis for issuance of a mining permit. Per NC Law, the basis for issuance of a mining permit cannot be changed.
In 2011, Wake Stone asked for the word “sooner” to be changed to the word “later.” But NCDEQ refused. Why? Several of the NCDEQ staff members who were involved with the initial 1981 permit negotiations were still at NCDEQ in 2011; they knew first-hand that the State intended on “limiting … years of operation” and, hence, the use of the word “sooner” was intentional. Of note, 2011 is the same year that RDU had a new CEO (Mike Landguth) and discussion regarding RDU’s Vision 2040 land use plan, including using land for a rock quarry, could have started.
The “sooner” language in Wake Stone’s Triangle Quarry permit stood for 37 years, until mid-March 2018. During this 37 year time frame, mining permit renewals and changes had to be reviewed by other departments and agencies within the State. So, all reviews were done under the concept that the mining operation would cease by the year 2031. Would the permit changes and renewals have been approved if there was not an end of operation date of 2031? Based on my read of the comments, the answer is no.
In mid-March of 2018, on a Friday afternoon, one person from Wake Stone sent an email to one person at NCDEQ (the department that issues mining permits), telling this one person that there was a typographical error in the Permit that needed to be fixed; one simple word, “sooner,” needed to be changed to “later.” To support the claim, this one person from Wake Stone attached to the Friday afternoon email one biased and incomplete document.
Wake Stone suggested this was a simple one-word change with no consequences, an administrative change. However, this one-word change resulted in the permit going from a limited time of 50 years to an unlimited time. Per an internet search, changing the time frame of a contract from limited to unlimited is not an administrative/simple change – it is a significant and major change. On the following Monday morning, without any research (unless staff worked over the St. Patrick’s Holiday weekend), NCDEQ staff (who were not involved with the initial permit issuance) changed the word “sooner” to the word “later.” So, just like that, without submitting an application and without discussing this major permit change with anyone from any other department or any other division within the State, Wake Stone’s mining permit underwent a major change – it went from a limit of 50-years (with the operation ceasing by the year 2031) to an unlimited time frame on a so-called administrative change.
Wake Stone has said for many years that they were running out of material at the Triangle Quarry site. So why would it matter if they had to end by the year 2031? The answer is the Raleigh-Durham Airport (RDU). RDU staff and developers that were now on the Airport Authority Board devised one and only one land use plan for the Vision 2040 Master Plan. RDU’s one and only land use plan was forced onto the public in 2016, shortly after the 2011 arrival of RDU CEO Mike Landguth and the 2014 arrival of RDU Chief Development Officer, Bill Sandifer. No alternative to this one land use plan was ever presented to the public. Against RDU’s federal grant obligations which require their land use plans to be consistent with established surrounding land use plans, RDU designated all of the remote land they managed (land that had been zoned Residential-40 under the leadership of former RDU CEO, John Brantley, in order to protect it from commercial development) to be developed. This includes turning the Odd Fellows tract, land on the Umstead State Park critical acquisition list and an area adjacent to two State Park entities and a private home, into a rock quarry. RDU sought to lease this planned Park land to Wake Stone. But, in order for Wake Stone to be able to create a new mine pit on the very tract that the State had intentionally set out to protect in 1981, Wake Stone had to keep their current site open because the Odd Fellows tract is too small to house both a mine pit and all of the equipment needed to process and sell stone. In order to keep their current site open, Wake Stone had to undo the conditions set in the 1981 permit to protect both Umstead State Park and the Odd Fellows tract, including the Sunset Clause.
There are several documents that clearly demonstrate that “sooner” was not a typographical error! But, in that March 2018 Friday afternoon email, Wake Stone did not include any mention of these documents or the related information. They only sent one partial document, the portion of which was biased to what they wanted NCDEQ to do. One example of facts omitted is that the draft permit that was circulated for review in 1981 had the word “sooner.” As Judge Cole stated in his early December 2025 ruling, “To suggest that Wake Stone simply had not paid attention to the sunset clause language when the 1981 permit was issued is utterly unsupported by any credible evidence [in] the record.”
In that March 2018 email, Wake Stone’s omission of information to NCDEQ hid the truth –that the State intentionally used the word “sooner” because the State wanted to limit the overall time of the Triangle Quarry operation to 50 years, the time that Mr. Bratton testified was the approximate life of the mine, to protect not just Umstead State Park, but also the Odd Fellows tract.
Wake Stone continues to omit critical information as they did at the hearing regarding putting a stay on Judge Cole’s ruling. Wake Stone continues to claim that the 3Apr1981 Mining Commission document is the be all end all explanation as to why the mining permit should say “later,” allowing the operation to continue indefinitely next to Umstead State Park, destroying the very tract that the permit conditions intended to protect, the Odd Fellows tract. Wake Stone continues to omit that the State had the right to appeal the Mining Commission’s 3Apr1981 Final Decision, that negotiations continued to occur after the 3Apr1981 Final Decision, and that a compromise was reached such that the State did not appeal. Wake Stone essentially wants to have their cake and eat it too!
This issue is not a left versus right issue. It is an issue of those with power and money versus those without.
The public is not against mines. The public is not against property rights. What the public is against is partial truths being used to manipulate the judicial system and to alter the use of land deeded to the public that is smack dab in the midst of a highly used, planned forested recreation corridor. The public is for the whole truth and the whole truth clearly shows that the State compromised with Wake Stone in 1981; the State allowed Wake Stone to create the Triangle Quarry with the stipulation that mining operations end by the year 2031 in order to, among other things, specifically prevent the Odd Fellows tract from being mined.
The fight continues. The full truth will eventually be known and the full truth will overcome partial truth.
Proverbs 19:5
Proverbs 21:15
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Disclaimer: I am an independent researcher. The information presented above is what I have found through publicly available records and my opinions formed from these records. My goal is to be 100% truthful. If you see something you think is not correct, please let me know.
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