502 Days and Counting: Where the Levy/BMC Mining Proposal Stands

It’s official, we have crossed 502 days since Burroughs Materials Corporation/Edw. C. Levy Co. formally submitted its Special Land Use Permit and mining application to Springfield Township on April 29, 2025. A lot has happened since then.
The proposed project would involve a large sand and gravel mining operation on the Ormond Road property, with the current site plan showing approximately 213 acres of mining across five phases.

Levy/BMC presented the proposal to the Springfield Township Planning Commission on May 27, 2025, beginning the public review of what would become one of the Township’s most closely watched land-use proposals.

Since then:

• May–June 2025:
  • Township consultants began reviewing the application and identifying missing information and technical issues requiring further evaluation. Levy/BMC also continued supplementing its original application, including submitting a revised final site plan on June 17, 2025. The proposed plan includes approximately 213 acres of mining divided into five phases.
• July–August 2025:
  • As questions grew about groundwater, wetlands, natural resources, traffic, property values and other potential impacts, Township officials began pursuing independent technical review. The Township formally announced a pause of the Levy/BMC application at the August 14, 2025 Township Board meeting.
• August–November 2025:
  • Springfield Township began a Fact-Finding process involving residents, Township officials, consultants and independent experts. Meetings addressed groundwater, geology, wetlands, prairie fen habitat, traffic and haul routes, property values, noise, dust, reclamation and other issues. Independent reviewers identified additional data and technical information needed to fully evaluate the application.
• October 1, 2025:
  • Levy funded a $150,000 escrow account to pay for the Township’s independent review of the application.
• Late 2025–early 2026:
  • The Township’s consultant structure continued to change. Independent mining expert Mike Wilczynski of Pangea Environmental resigned from the review process on February 12, 2026. On March 12, the Township terminated Giffels Webster’s planning contract and approved Carlisle/Wortman Associates as its planning consultant.
• February–April 2026:
  • Levy’s contractors pursued testing of Ormond Road as part of evaluating whether the road could meet Class A/all-season road standards. The Road Commission for Oakland County issued a permit authorizing seven pavement cores and soil borings between Davisburg Road and Big Lake Road. On April 8, 2026, TYME Engineering and DLZ Engineering performed the road borings. The testing was intended to evaluate the existing pavement and subsurface conditions and determine whether Ormond Road meets all-season standards.
• April 2026:
  • Construction began in April on an exploratory/high-capacity well associated with the proposed drawdown testing. On April 23, Township officials visited the site and observed soil cores from the exploratory drilling. The testing is intended to provide additional information about the aquifer system beneath the proposed mining property and how groundwater responds to pumping.
• April 9, 2026:
  • The Township Board approved an approximately $81,000 review by Ramboll, which became the lead independent consultant for the next phase of the technical review. Carlisle/Wortman project manager Megan Masson-Minock was introduced to the Planning Commission later that month to coordinate the application review and provide monthly public updates.
• Spring–summer 2026:
  • Site investigation continued, including additional groundwater-related work, while the Township waited for revised application materials from Levy/BMC. Monthly Planning Commission updates repeatedly reported little substantive movement on the application itself.
• July 21, 2026:
  • Carlisle/Wortman’s monthly update stated that Levy/BMC “does not have [a] resubmission timeline to share at this time.” Additional exploratory well work was still being anticipated.
• August 2026:
  • At the same time the Levy/BMC application remained pending, Springfield Township began formal consideration of significant amendments to its Mining Control Ordinance. A draft prepared with Carlisle/Wortman was dated August 6 and placed on the August 13 Township Board agenda for a first reading. The proposed changes addressed how mining operations would be reviewed, monitored, renewed and enforced.
• August 13, 2026:
  • Instead of holding the scheduled first reading, the Township Board postponed it and voted to accept comments from Board members and the public through August 25.
• August 21–25, 2026:
  • The Township’s online public-comment form became available August 21 and closed August 25, providing residents a five-day window to review the proposed amendments and submit recommendations. Oko Environmental submitted a 75-page set of comments and recommendations on August 24.
• August 18, 2026:
  • Meanwhile, Carlisle/Wortman’s Levy/BMC project update reported that no meetings with the applicant had occurred and that Levy had advised that “Site Investigation continues” into September.
• September 2026:
  • The mining ordinance’s first reading was expected to return this month, which would have moved the ordinance toward a second reading and created another anticipated opportunity for public review and comment. Instead, Supervisor Davis postponed the first reading again.

So, more than 500 days after the original application was submitted, the SLUP application remains unresolved and the Township is still awaiting the next major step from Levy/BMC. Meanwhile, Springfield Township began reviewing significant amendments to its Mining Control Ordinance. This is a potential opportunity to take lessons learned during the past 502 days and strengthen how future mining applications and operations are reviewed, monitored and enforced.

The first reading of those ordinance amendments was originally scheduled for the August 13 Township Board meeting. Instead, the Board postponed the first reading and opened a short period for public comments. The Township’s online comment form became available August 21 and closed August 25. Oko Environmental submitted 75 pages of recommendations focused largely on resident protections, application completeness, groundwater, natural resources, traffic, monitoring and long-term enforcement.

The first reading was expected to return for the September 10 Board meeting. It didn’t. Supervisor Ric Davis postponed the first reading, again.

Why that matters for public participation

Residents can still speak during the Township’s regular public-comment periods. However, the dedicated public-comment period for the proposed mining ordinance is currently closed. Reopening that formal comment period requires a vote of the Township Board.

The Township had previously indicated that public comments would likely be reopened between the first and second readings of the ordinance. But there cannot be a period between first and second reading until there is a first reading.

So postponing the reading also postpones the next anticipated opportunity for residents to review updated ordinance language, respond to any changes and formally submit additional comments before the ordinance moves toward adoption.

After 502 days, the Levy/BMC application remains unresolved. The mining ordinance remains unfinished. And many of the questions raised throughout this process (groundwater, natural resources, traffic, enforcement, application completeness and public participation, etc) remain important.

Whatever happens next, residents deserve enough time and opportunity to understand the rules being proposed and meaningfully participate before those rules are finalized.

502 days and counting.
But who’s counting? …Oko is…

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