Freetown Aproves CCA Permit after Citizen Opposition

Tonight the Freetown Soil Board approved the CCA permit renewal application to operate a 24 acre quarry in Freetwon near the Berkley town line. The CCA application asked for fees to the Town to be waived.

An Assonet resident who suffers from MS said that her foundation began leaking after the blasting for the quarry project began. She has to mop up the water to prevent mold forming in her house. She claims she has lived in her home for 30 years and never experienced any water in her basement before the blasting began. She said that David Peterson from CCA was at her home to view the situation over a year ago. According th her account, Mr. Peterson said at that time that the quarry would address the matter within 2 weeks. Since that time, over a year ago, CCA has taken no action to correct the problem. As this woman suffers from MS, she says that having to deal with the water and possible mold problem in her house as well as the stress from the blasting has had a negative impact on her health.

Many other neighbors in both Berkley and Assonet stated that their homes shake violently during the quarry blasts and that items fall off the shelves in their homes during blasts. One Assonet resident described it as a "wave" of vibration that moves through one end of the house to the other. Assonet residents complained that their homes were not offered any pre-blast inspections before blasting began.

Another Assonet resident stated that the corner of his home is starting to separate because of the quarry blasts.

One Assonet resident brought her young son to the meeting and said she came to complain about the blasting and her home shaking because the experience was so unsetteling to her children that her children asked her to speak about it.

Bryant Street residents complained of increased truck traffic on Bryant St, of quarry trucks cutting off passenger cars on the road, of being forced off the road by quarry trucks, and of near misses with pedestrians and passenger cars.

Residents sited dust problems with the site and noise from the operation as continual problems that have not been addressed.

A Berkley resident stated that four homes on Bryant St. have gone up for sale by families trying to move away from the quarry site The homes, she says, have been sitting on the market without selling because people do not want to purchase homes that shake from blasting, are near a source of constant loud noise, truck traffic and dust when homes can be purchased that do not have these problems. This, she claimed, is leaving families trapped in a situation they are unable to escape and unable to tolerate living with.

A decline in property values for homes near the quarry was called to the Board's attention with the assertion by residents that this would result in a lowering of property taxes for those homes near the quarry site due to a drop in their property values and an increase in property taxes for homes located in other areas of town in order for those homes to carry the town's tax burden.

The Board was asked to have CCA create a vibration plan and to hire a company that could test the geology of the area in order to time blasts in such a a way as to minimize the ground vibration felt by the surrounding neighborhoods. Berkley resident, Paula Dugan, asked the Board to conduct a monitoring plan for the site with more rigid and frequent safety monitoring to be conducted on an ongoing basis. She also requested that CCA water their driveway to suppress dust, that the truck route be enforced and that the town hire a consultant funded by a fee paid by CCA to conduct an independent environmental study of the potential impact of the project. The Board approved the permit without imposing any restrictions or requiring any studies.

Representatives from the local ball field noted that CCA has contributed to their organization and the Board read a letter for the school principal in support of CCA for help with a driveway and speaking with children about rocks and minerals.

Opponents stated that the company makes such donations in order to divide the town and the voters so that those people who are not affected by the negative aspects of the quarry but who support a particular sport or organization will support the quarry project. Some residents claimed CCA was "buying their way into town."

Greg O'Brien, CCA's Public Relations Representative, stated that the company is a family business and that they make donations to the places where they operate.

Ms Dugan, an opponent to the quarry project stated, "I can not understand how the town can renew a permit for a potentially dangerous operation surrounded by family homes when Jean Fox admitted in a previous meeting that she has not researched the issue and the impact of the site has never been adequately or independently studied. If the Freetown Soil Board is going to renew this permit they should take care of the problems this site is causing neighbors and they have not done that."