Canyons are usually known for their scenic beauty and local wildlife, but in an area of Upper Rock Creek Canyon, immediately surrounded by more than 40 residents, it's a stifling, dust-ridden, noise-producing, ugly gravel pit.

Needless to say, it's no longer such a tranquil place to live - at least that's the residential side of the story.

Here's the other side: Northwest Sand and Gravel, who owns the quarry, is one of the largest aggregate suppliers in southern Idaho and has won several awards from government agencies for its adherence to safety and environmental standards. The company is operating within its legal rights and its officials say they expect to continue doing so.

So it's a tale of they said/they said.

A petition signed by the Concerned Citizens of Upper Rock Creek Canyon advances several complaints about the quarry, located off Rock Creek Road about 11 miles south of Hansen toward the South Hills. Citizen complaints include zoning violations, traffic safety, air quality, noise, depreciation of property value, as well as the visual nuisance produced by piles of gravel in their neighborhood.

"It affects my quality of life and makes me really irritable. Plus, it's just an eyesore," said Debi Temprendola, a resident in the area since 1996 and one of the 35 petitioners.

"I think they're busting they're butts to get as much gravel out as possible before it's shut down," said Marlin Brookbank, another Rock Creek resident.

So why would it be shut down?

"We've gone to great lengths to make sure we're in accordance with the law," said Brian Hansen, co-owner of Northwest Sand and Gravel. "We've never been fined, and we're monitored regularly."

Steve Van Zandt, the air-quality science officer of the Department of Environmental Quality, has responded to some of the citizens' complaints. "I went out there and determined that they didn't have an air-quality permit," he said. "But they applied for one and were issued a Permit by Rule in July of last year."

According to Temprendola, when Northwest is crushing and gathering rocks, her house becomes surrounded and filled with debris. "It's very toxic, minute particles of white rock," she said.

"There have been dust issues," Van Zandt said, "but it's certainly improved since I started going out there."

When asked if the company is operating under full compliance, however, Van Zandt acknowledged that Northwest may need to continue their improvements. "We have noted the issues and have communicated with Northwest Sand and Gravel that they need to control their dust. They're making improvements, but compliance is pending."

Per DEQ regulations, Northwest waters down their equipment to eliminate dust particles in the canyon. They apply both water and magnesium chloride - a dust suppressant - to the road. The noise isn't regulated by DEQ because it isn't an environmental pollutant, nor has the county established a definitive standard for noise.

The salient question revolves around when the quarry began, which would determine if Northwest Sand and Gravel is conducting business in a residential zone without a special-use permit. Planning and Zoning grants non-conforming use status to the "use of premises which does not conform to the regulations of this ordinance, but which was in existence at the effective date of the ordinance."

But Northwest has owned the quarry for only three years. Before that, it was owned by Northwest Crane and Rigging - separate from Northwest Sand and Gravel.

"We opened the pit and then expanded it to a gravel operation, said Jeannie Sligar, who previously owned Northwest Crane and Rigging.

If it has been there for 30 years, Northwest Sand and Gravel wouldn't need the special-use permit, because, Hansen said, "It was zoned residential after the fact ... Unless I wanted to expand, there's no need for me to get a new permit."

Rock Creek residents Temprendola and Rob Harding have obtained certified USDA aerial photos that suggest there was no operation there until 1986. But according to Sligar, "It's been going since 1978. There were only trailer homes at the time, and some of them complained. But we put the bridge in over Rock Creek in the late 1970s. It improved the situation, and the complaints stopped."

"It's been an open and viable quarry since 1978," said Sligar, who still owns the surrounding property. "Some parts of it are zoned residential, some commercial."

"We have records from the state saying they filed for a Bureau of Land Reclamation permit in 1986," Temprendola said, "which tells you they haven't been there since 1978. We have proof. We have a copy of the property deed."

The Twin Falls County Commission, the Sheriff's Office, and the DEQ were first contacted with grievances from Rock Creek residents last summer. "It hadn't been operating for a long time or I would have heard about it," Van Zandt said. "Last year is the first time I've heard a complaint. I think they've made a good-faith effort. If I didn't think I was getting cooperation, it would be different."

"I don't go out into my yard like I used to," said resident Jim Silva. "I get angry and frustrated, and I retreat to the house. I moved out here for the beauty and quiet."

"You used to be able to go out and look at the stars, listen to the silence," his wife Kathleen added. "I feel like the people who have been voted in to protect us aren't."

Despite the complaints, the rock-crushing operation occurs a few months out of the year, not every day. "We crush on demand," Hansen said. At other times, it functions as a standing gravel source from which rocks are hauled out contingent upon what the jobs require.

"As far as we know right now, we may not even be conducting any operations out there until the middle or end of the summer," said Northwest Manager Tony Traveller. "We may pull some gravel out, but we're not doing anything there right now."

Regardless of what happens, if anything, the bureaucracies involved aren't likely to intervene soon.

"They've come to us with complaints about when the laws were different, and I've been assured that the gravel company isn't breaking any rules," said Twin Falls County Commissioner George Urie. "There's no zoning dispute or anything that we've found on our legal side ... It appears to be a civil matter between the homeowners and the gravel people."

"We'll continue to keep an eye on them, and I may need to do a formal inspection," Van Zandt said. "Rock crushing is a dusty business."

Damon Hunzeker may be reached at 420-4697 or Hunzeker@aol.com.