Plans for limestone quarry tabled near Trail of Tears

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) – Plans for a proposed limestone quarry in northwest Arkansas have been tabled indefinitely because of concerns over the project’s proximity to the Trail of Tears.

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Benton County’s Planning Board voted 6-1 to table the project indefinitely at a meeting last month. The quarry is proposed for an area that is 900 feet from a section of the trail, which commemorates the forced relocation of the Cherokee Nation from the southeastern United States in the 19th century.

More than 4,000 Cherokee died during the more than 1,000-mile walk to what is now Oklahoma.

The newspaper reports that the Trail of Tears Association and the Cherokee Nation recommended that a cultural resources study be done on the quarry site.