In a Black Hills community of roughly 1,000 people, tucked between Interstate 90 and the foothills of one of America’s most iconic landscapes, something extraordinary is about to happen: a 300-acre open-pit limestone quarry is slated to begin operations this August — and many of those 1,000 residents feel their own local government has done little to stop it.

The mine is the project of Simon Contractors of South Dakota, a Wyoming-based subsidiary of French multinational Colas U.S. The company quietly secured a state mining license in fall 2025, published a brief notice in a Meade County newspaper, and began advancing plans to extract limestone aggregate through at least 2043. No public hearing was required. No notification to neighbors was mandated. South Dakota law, which treats limestone and gravel mines under a far more permissive framework than hard-rock mining operations, demanded nothing of the sort.

Piedmont residents found out the way rural America sometimes learns its most consequential news — by chance, through a classified notice most people never saw.

The Water Beneath Their Feet

Perhaps the most urgent concern raised by residents goes far deeper than noise and dust — it reaches into the bedrock beneath the city itself. The Black Hills region draws its drinking water substantially from the Madison Aquifer. The Madison Limestone formation — the very rock type proposed for extraction — is tied to both the storage and recharge of that aquifer system. An open-pit limestone quarry removes the very rock that filters, stores, and conveys groundwater.

“I want to recommend everyone close to the site to test your wells now so you have a baseline.”

— Rep. Terri Jorgenson, R-District 29, addressing Piedmont residents

What the Mine Means for This Community

Piedmont is not an industrial town. It is a community of homes and small ranches, a church that borders the proposed mine on two sides, an elementary school on a designated bus route, and families who chose the Black Hills foothills for exactly what they are — quiet, forested, and far from heavy industry.

Dust & Air Quality

Limestone dust from blasting and hauling can travel significant distances in Piedmont Valley’s high winds. Residents with asthma and special needs children have raised concerns at multiple public meetings.

Blast Vibration

The mine plan includes explosive blasting. Legislation to require stricter state oversight was defeated in the SD House 29–37 in February 2026, despite being inspired directly by this situation.

Traffic & Road Safety

Heavy haul trucks will use Sturgis Road — a school bus route. Residents have flagged safety risks for children and damage to road infrastructure over a 17-year operating window.

Agricultural Impact

Piedmont remains a working agricultural community. Residents who raise horses, cattle, and livestock have expressed concern about prolonged dust exposure on their animals and operations.

Flood Risk

Stripping vegetation from hillsides above Piedmont amplifies runoff. Survivors of the 1972 Black Hills Flood have raised this warning directly at city meetings.

Property Values

A 20-year active quarry footprint will suppress property values and deter residential and commercial growth that has defined Piedmont’s recent trajectory.

A Petition, a Promise — and Four Months of Waiting

Nine landowners — representing 85% of the assessed property value in the affected area, well above the 75% threshold required by South Dakota law — submitted a formal petition for voluntary annexation. If brought inside city limits, the mine would face local zoning authority — something Meade County, which has no zoning ordinance, cannot provide. The Board cleared the first hurdle months ago. It’s the final approval — the one that actually matters — that never seems to come.

The Broader Context: A Law With No Teeth

Under current South Dakota statute, a mining company can obtain a limestone mining license by submitting maps and paying a bond — without notifying a single neighbor, attending a public hearing, or seeking local government input. A gold or silver mine in the same location would have required a full environmental impact study and mandatory public input. A limestone quarry required none of that. South Dakota law must change.