Neighbors are organizing to protect their families and homes. Explore ways you can get involved.

You can share your opinion about the quarry proposal with our local Alderman. You can also join the conversation by following the public Facebook group STOP the Atherton Quarry

Sugar Creek has a long standing history of being a tight-knit community that looks well after its own. Citizens are proud to represent an independent township that has held a part of the Missouri River for over 100 years. Now its residents are asking for help encouraging local elected representative to be good neighbors to surrounding communities.

Why did this Neighborhood Coalition form?

• Neighbors living in an established rural residential area were recently notified in December of 2020 that the area had been annexed by the city of Sugar Creek. Most citizens who’s properties were annexed were given little to no notice that they would no longer be considered residents of Unincorporated Jackson County. Sugar Creek officials are on record during this time frame claiming they had no preconceived notions about the reasons for the land’s annexation.
• In August of 2021, a handful of neighbors were notified by mail that the recently annexed area had a submission for a rezoning application provided to the city to turn a large parcel of land, estimated at around 800 acres, from M2 (which would permit light industrial operations) to M2P which would allow stakeholders for a private interest to pursue a Special Use Permit (SUP) to operate an open blast quarry less than 200 feet from existing residential properties along Courtney Atherton Road and less than 2 miles from the dense Independence neighborhood of Salem East. The investors of this proposed quarry are on record having said that this “done deal” has been in progress for over a year.
• By mid August of 2021 a group of residents had come together to stand up for their neighbors. A small collective of 30 concerned citizens has multiplied into a strong allegiance of over 450 Sugar Creek residents who have currently signed their name to the petition to stop the now locally infamous “Atherton Quarry” among over 1,000 other petition supporters, vastly from Independence, Missouri.

Establishing good faith through full transparency:

• Citizens want to account for past economic and environmental disasters that not only harmed locals within living memory, but also caused widespread damage to surrounding communities. Elders from Sugar Creek have been open and forthright with their desire to not repeat the mistakes of the past, specifically referring to the financial and medical hardships caused by the incident concerning the BP Oil Refinery.

Amoco and its predecessor, Standard Oil Co., operated the 430-acre refinery from 1904 to 1982, when it was closed. (Source: BP to Settle Sugar Creek Refinery Lawsuits). The refinery was closed after environmental pollution violations were brought forward. Aging citizens of Sugar Creek have reported some residents are still receiving critically needed medical treatments for health ailments caused 40 years ago by the pollutants spread by the refinery before it closed in 1982. Citizens can learn more about the report provided by the EPA concerning the surface water contamination and sediment data, which was conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, and the Exposure Investigations and Consultation Branch.

• Citizens are urged to call the elected representatives of Sugar Creek to disclose specifics about the projected tax revenue the town would collect from this proposed operation which have still not been made public.
• Residents are encouraged to email and call the Sugar Creek Board of Alderman to secure Community Benefits should they approve this deal.
• Locals have not been ensured that the invested interests will be held to better business practices by the city and should not hesitate to express their questions and concerns in regard to establishing a list of concession demands should this highly contested quarry operation move forward within city limits.

The easiest way to show your support is signing the petition online. Taking the next step would be to share the petition with friends and family far and wide. Our goal is to capture as many local signatures as possible but it greatly helps our exposure when the wider world sees our mission.

Be a good neighbor by standing with neighbors. Ask Sugar Creek officials to rise to the occasion to break the cycle of self interest and preference for private interests and uphold their oaths to represent the will of the people.