North Smithfield council continues Pound Hill quarry rezoning hearing after water and blasting presentations

The North Smithfield Town Council on Feb. 18 continued a public hearing on a zoning text-and-map amendment for the Pound Hill quarry after presentations from the applicant and two technical experts about water and blasting.

Attorney Landry, counsel for Pound Hill Realty, told the council the owner seeks a text amendment to create an Industrial Special Management District overlay for an 89.44-acre parcel off Old Oxford, Pound Hill and Pine Hill roads. Landry said the amendment is intended to bring the preexisting mining operation under a planned zoning framework and added that a court had ordered the parties back to the town to pursue local administrative remedies. "This property is a very unusual property," Landry said, describing long-standing mining activity and a complex regulatory history.

The applicant proposed several controls in the draft ordinance: site-plan (development-plan) review by the planning board; a 50-foot vegetated buffer including a 10-foot berm where the buffer abuts residences; perimeter fencing; benching and stepping in new quarry areas; continued compliance with the town's heavy-truck permit; and annual reporting of federal and state permits, inspections and any enforcement actions, with an update required each Dec. 31. Landry told the council the amendment "doesn't propose new operations" but would allow current operations to continue subject to those conditions and to the planning-board site-plan process.

Robert F. Ferrari, a professional engineer with Northeast Water Solutions who said he has worked on the site for about five years, addressed water and groundwater issues. He described a network of infiltration ponds and a perimeter berm that, he said, help maintain the historic hydraulic gradient and the direction of groundwater flow away from the landfill and Superfund sites. "It is physically impossible for water from the site to overflow onto the landfill site," Ferrari said, adding that pond upgrades recently approved by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) are intended to reduce erosion and overflow risk. Ferrari also said tests of water from the quarry and ponds showed "drinking water quality" for the parameters his firm measured and that the site has no large-scale chemical storage.

Council members and residents asked detailed questions about past pond breaches, pumping and blasting. Several residents said they observed frequent pumping and at least one reported seeing a pump that he estimated at "200 gallons a minute" running regularly; another speaker said his home well had turned brown after blasts and required a treatment system. Resident Jason Richer told the council he had documented multiple pond breaches and dead trees near one pond.

The applicant said experts on blasting (industrial seismologist Richard Grohl) and dust control (Michael Hammond, former Bureau of Mine Safety official) were available to address residents' concerns; Grohl was scheduled to speak at the continuation. Landry and the applicant's team also proposed to supply the town with a consolidated list of federal and state permits and reports and to update it annually so the town could respond more quickly to complaints.

Council President (Madam President) opened the meeting for public comment; multiple residents requested baseline well testing for abutters and urged tighter limits on hours and notice for blasting. Planning-board members who reviewed the draft at a March work session asked the applicant to clarify buffer locations and construction, provide more detail on blasting notifications and fugitive-dust protocols, and produce a reclamation plan describing end-of-operation conditions. The planning board's next regular meeting on the subject was scheduled for March 13, the applicant said.

Councilman Cristoforo announced a conflict and recused himself from discussion, deliberation and decision because he is an abutter to the Pound Hill Road quarry. After discussion the council voted to continue the public hearing to March 3 (location to be determined; council indicated they would attempt to use the middle school to accommodate the crowd). The continuation preserves opportunities for further testimony from the applicant's experts and for more resident questions.

The council took no final zoning action on Feb. 18; the hearing remains open for additional evidence and expert testimony, and the planning board will provide advisory recommendations.

Votes and motions relating directly to the hearing appear below. The planning-board review and the council's next public hearing session on March 3 are the immediate next steps for the proposal.