After upgrades, quarry permit renewed

FALLS VILLAGE — A Sand Road stone quarry that was the scene of a fly-rock accident in 2006 has been granted a permit by the Planning and Zoning Commission to operate in the coming year.

After a 30-minute public hearing Dec. 19, the commission voted unanimously to renew a special permit for Century Aggregates to continue to operate its quarry. About a dozen nearby residents of Belden Street and Sand Road turned out to hear Greg Marlowe, the quarry’s general manager, update the commission on its plan of operations for 2008.

The quarry will continue to be allowed to operate Monday through Saturday, with the bulk of work in the same area as last year but with increased development in the northern section.

Century plans to remove some 250,000 tons of stone with an average of about one blast per month. Its mined land-use plan is on file at Town Hall.

Marlow said truck traffic volume will remain the same, but the access to the quarry’s driveway was paved, which will reduce dust. In addition, agricultural misting devices help to keep the dust down in the quarry itself, except in extreme cold when they cannot be used because the lines will freeze.

About half the stone goes into making ready-mix concrete at Century’s North Canaan plant, while the other 50 percent is used for decorative purposes or for use in asphalt paving, Marlowe said. A new berm and additional trees are supposed to reduce the noise and visual impacts.

The quarry has been the source of controversy for several years, most recently on Sept. 18, 2006, when an unusually loud blast went awry, frightening residents and sending large stones, some as large as a brick, more than 1,000 feet toward several neighboring homes. No one was injured, but the industrial accident prompted Zoning Enforcement Officer Michael O’Neil to issue a cease-and-desist order prohibiting blasting until further notice.

That order was lifted by the Planning and Zoning Commission Nov. 8, 2006, after Century agreed to use high-technology laser profiling designed to detect the kind of geological weakness that caused the fly-rock incident.

The quarry was acquired by Red Wing Properties in the 1980s, which sold the property to Century in 2005. By most accounts, with the exception of the 2006 incident, Century has done a superior job of running the quarry.

Concerned Citizens of Falls Village, a group of nearby residents that formed in 1987, initiated a court-negotiated settlement signed in 1992 (amended in 1994) that governs the operations of the quarry until 2014. The group formed shortly after one nearby resident had his septic tank ruptured by explosions.

Marlow said that since the accident, Century has hired a new blasting contractor. All stone mining operations in the town are required to notify nearby property owners about upcoming blasting operations. Century typically does so via letter and phone call.

There was little discussion among commission members and few questions from the audience before the special permit was approved without dissent.