Rock Quarry landowners sue two Belle Mina churches, pastor

BELLE MINA, Ala. (WAFF) - The residents of Belle Mina have been throwing punch after punch at the owners of a rock quarry in their backyards.

Now, after over a year of back-and-forth litigation, the landowners of the quarry are throwing a counterpunch of their own; one they hope will get them more than a million and a half dollars.

“This lawsuit is frivolous, it’s a form of harassment and retaliation against my client,” Sarah Stokes, senior attorney at the SELC, said. “It’s called a SLAPP suit, and it’s supposed to intimidate, it’s meant to intimidate.”

Stokes represents two Belle Mina churches and a pastor being sued. Reverend Cody Gilliam and community members have been filing lawsuits against the quarry’s owners for over a year. All in an attempt to stop them from moving in.

“Look, this quarry is keeping these people up at night, there’s dust all over their property,” Stokes said.

Now, this counter lawsuit claims an operating permit was filed in June 2023, and took over a year to be awarded in November of last year.

The landowners say that Gilliam and community members filing lawsuits and speaking to the media delayed that permit, tied them up in court, and ended up costing them 1.6 million dollars they would have earned if the quarry had opened without delay.

“This is a case where they’re trying to restrict my clients’ First Amendment rights,” Stokes said. My clients have 1st amendment rights to talk to the media, to talk to their legislators, to talk to ADEM.”

WAFF has reached out to the attorney representing the landowners and will let you know when we hear back.

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