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Residents at ADEM hearing urge stricter oversight over blasting, berm specifications and radon studies
Summary
Nearby residents delivered oral comments opposing the proposed quarry, presenting a petition of more than 40 signatures and asking ADEM to require geological and blasting-impact studies; concerns included sinkholes, wells running dry, inconsistent berm specifications and potential radon effects.
Kenneth Gordon, a resident whose property borders the proposed permit area, told the hearing he had circulated a petition of more than 40 signers opposing the quarry and asked the department to investigate how close blasting could occur to houses. "If there are no restrictions on that, then they could literally be blasting within 50 feet of a structure that I own," Gordon said, and he asked whether a 30-foot berm he had heard about is actually required by the permit when the engineering drawings appear to show a maximum 3-foot berm.
Gordon also described longstanding radon issues at his home and requested that ADEM require the company to hire a geological engineer to evaluate whether blasting could increase radon migration or cause ground instability. Sue Westlander, another nearby homeowner, described repeated sinkholes and rattling from blasting at a neighboring quarry and said wells had gone dry after earlier quarrying activity; she warned that adding a second quarry nearby could intensify those impacts on groundwater and structures.
