It started in early 2012, with a gathering at the Beaufort County Courthouse — a meeting in which plans to build a 649-acre limestone pit mine in southern Beaufort County were revealed.

How Martin Marietta Materials’ project has progressed, and the opposition it faces from county residents, is the No. 4 entry in the Washington Daily News’ Top 10 Stories of the Year.

Two public hearings, the issuance of two state permits, the hand delivery of letters to the governor stating concern and opposition to the mine’s potential harm, a visit by the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and a local environmental organization taking the battle to the courts made up the mine’s ongoing storyline in 2013.

Mid-March, hundreds of people attended the first public hearing held by the Division of Water Quality at Beaufort County Community College. There, 22 people put their concerns on record: the proposed mining practice of dumping up 12 million gallons of fresh water per day into the headwaters of a brackish creek has the potential to devastate Blounts Creek, designated by the state as a primary nursery area for many saltwater species. Others questioned the science that said a change in pH would not harm the waters and most species they harbored — science that was provided by consultants hired by Martin Marietta. Many speakers requested the company explore alternatives to the discharge of wastewater, including holding ponds and injecting the water back into the Castle Hayne aquifer, where it would originate.

In July, the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, allowing for the discharge, was granted by the state.

The same week, local residents gathered again at Beaufort County Community College, this time for a public hearing about the potential impact of pumping up to 12 million gallons of water per day out of the Castle Hayne aquifer. Concerns ranged from the allowance of such an amount of water daily if there is a drought, to how much well-owners can expect their water levels to drop, to how and within what timeline Martin Marietta would address wells gone dry for residents and farmers, and by what criteria the company would decide which well owners would be eligible for repairs or new wells. Others brought up that monitoring of aquifer water levels by the company was not an appropriate safeguard for residents.

“I know I feel really good at the end of the month when the fox gives me the report that there are plenty of chickens in the henhouse,” said Ed Rhine, a Blounts Creek resident.

At one point in the hearing, an emotional crowd led Division of Water Resources head Tom Reader to remind the audience that the hearing was for comments and not a question-and-answer session.

Afterward, a phone-and-letter-writing campaign to Gov. Pat McCrory and a boat rally that drew nearly a hundred vessels to Blounts Creek in opposition of the proposed mine practices resulted in a personal visit to the creek by the secretary of DENR, John Skvarla, and other state representatives.

The Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, a local grassroots environmental organization formed to protect the waterways through education and action, announced in September that it had joined forces with the North Carolina Coastal Federation and the Southern Environmental Law Center to challenge the state’s issuance of the NPDES permit.

Mid-November, the state issued the Central Coastal Plain Capacity Use Area permit, allowing Martin Marietta to withdraw up to 12 million gallons per day from the Castle Hayne aquifer.

Many residents say Beaufort County needs the additional jobs the mine would provide, which have been numbered at 12 to 25. Others question the benefit to Beaufort County at all, offering that the company’s mining operations are based in Craven County and the only contribution to the county tax base would be on mine equipment, as Weyerhaeuser is leasing land to Martin Marietta.

At hearings throughout the year, those opposing the mine have stayed on point: it is not the mine, but the mining practices, the lack of oversight and potential damage that raise objections.

“There’s a better way to do this,” said Al Gerard, a Blounts Creek resident and former environmental health supervisor for Beaufort County, at the Blounts Creek boat rally.

Heather Jacobs Deck, PTRF’s riverkeeper, expects the challenge to the NPDES permit to be heard in an appeals court in the spring. The existence of a court challenge does not permit Martin Marietta from moving forward with the mine.