Noise can be expected from all aspects of a quarry operation: drilling, blasting, extraction, rock crushing, earth moving, loading and transfer operations and increased truck traffic. Below is a list of the decibels of noise produced by each piece of equipment.
Air Drill - 120 dBA
Bulldozer - 85 dBA
Truck - 88 dBA
Loader - 85 dBA
Scrapper - 89 dBA
Rock Crusher - between 110 and 120 dBA
Imagine the combined noise created by many trucks, bulldozers and machinery operating at once. Equipment at 120 dBA is significantly loud and can cause permanent hearing loss. Operators of equipment at those dBA's are required to wear professional ear protection and are only allowed to operate the equipment for no more then 2 hours a day in order to avoid hearing loss. Residents living near quarries have to listen to the noise all day long, every day with no ear protection.
It is more then just a nuisance. Constant noise has been shown to negatively impact the health of adults by being linked to high blood pressure and other stress-related health issues. Noise from blasting creates a startle effect. Noise negatively impacts children's cognitive development. Children in a study who were exposed to higher noise levels (in the study the noise was caused by an airport)tested 6 months behind their peers.
Noise can travel distances through the air, so even people who do not live right next door to the quarry can still be bothered by the noise. In other locations near quarries residents living 1/2 mile, 1 mile, 1.3 miles and 2 miles from the site have complained about noise and the effects of blasting. The hollow amphitheater shape of a quarry actually amplifies noise.
Noise contributes to lowering property values. Who would spend the same amount of money to live in a location with constant, startling, bothersome noise when they could just as easily live in a house without that drawback?
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