In the dispute over the planned expansion of the Heuberg quarry above Nußdorf am Inn, the Bavarian environmental authorities have given the “Rettet den Heuberg” initiative and the municipality of Nußdorf further arguments. Together with several environmental organizations, both are opposed to the expansion of the quarry being pushed ahead by the cement works in nearby Rohrdorf, in which eight million tons of limestone have been mined since 1961 and a further 9.6 million tons are to be excavated by 2070.
Contrary to old assurances, the quarry, which has long been visible from afar, has eaten up to a height of 840 meters, but the Bavarian Administrative Court stopped mining over 758 meters in 2018. The ongoing new approval process at the district office in Rosenheim is about, among other things, the necessary ecological compensation measures for further intervention in the mountain flank. Based on a current assessment by the State Office for the Environment, the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment has come to the conclusion that “considerable doubts exist as to the compensability of the legally protected biotopes”. In doing so, the LfU and the ministry agree with the attitude of the nature conservation departments in the district office of Rosenheim and the government of Upper Bavaria. In addition, most of the quarry is located in the particularly strict protection zone C of the Bavarian Alpine plan. The district office, which has scheduled a formal discussion date for the many hundreds of objections to the expansion for the end of October, must decide on further dismantling at Heuberg.