Pit & Quarry: Iowa

RiverStone Group Inc. of Moline took to federal court the ongoing fight over its plans to mine near a levee on Big Island, suing the local entities that rejected the project last month. The sand and gravel mining company claims in its lawsuit that the project should go forward after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave final approval to mining and the construction of a subsurface dredge pipe under the levee. But the Village of Milan and the Big Island River Conservancy District, named as co-defendants, have said they have the authority to reject the project over flood safety concerns for about 200 homes on the island and their water supply. The two sides disagree over who has authority to approve the project, which came about when Casino Rock Island purchased a 118-acre site from RiverStone near the intersection of Interstate 280 and Illinois 92 to build a $92 million gaming center. The lawsuit claims the Corps has the legal authority to give final approval to engineering designs and modifications to the federal flood-control levee and that Milan and the conservancy district have unlawfully attempted to expand their role and impose additional restrictions on RiverStone. In March 2004, the City of Rock Island annexed the property in question and other adjacent property owned by Le Claire Investments Inc. and approved a special-use permit for the mining operations, the lawsuit states. At separate meetings in January, Milan and the conservancy district denied the company's request for levee modifications, reports the Quad-City Times.