SWAMPSCOTT — The new proposed blasting permit for the quarry operated by Aggregate Industries (AI) would limit blasting to 50 times per year and place restrictions on the amount of vibration caused by the blasts, among other changes.
In Wednesday’s Select Board meeting, board members discussed the new permit drafted by the Earth Removal Advisory Committee (ERAC), which, once approved, will go into effect on July 1.
“In the past year, there has been much more extensive conversations between ERAC, staff and Aggregate Industries about the permit,” said board Chair Peter Spellios. “It was felt that more attention and controls needed to be put in place to not only understand the impacts, but to better control and regulate the implications to the better of our community.”
The limit of 50 blasts per year — no more than two per week — is a new restriction included in the permit for the first time. The new, lengthy section on blasting in the draft permit also includes requirements for expanded seismographic monitoring and reporting, the hire of an independent blasting consultant paid for or supported by AI and a cap on vibration at 0.5 inches per second, well below the state-mandated limit of two inches per second.
In addition, the proposed new permit requires that AI perform dust testing three times per year and submit a dust improvement plan to the town. It would also reduce the quarry’s hours of operation by one hour every evening, outside of summer hours, which are already reduced, among other requirements.
According to Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald, ERAC’s draft is one of the most comprehensive blasting permits in the area.
“The sad reality is, a lot of municipalities don’t spend a lot of time looking at these permits,” he said. “The human annoyance standard that we’ve incorporated into this permit for a residential community … is critically important, but that’s been a standard that, frankly, we have missed because we just didn’t have the technical expertise that we’ve been able to bring to this permit.”
Attorney Chris Drucas, who represents AI, said the draft was not in line with the conversations he has had with ERAC over the past 15 months of cooperation, noting that a report by an independent consultant in February 2020 revealed that the company has followed all state and federal guidelines.
“The company must be allowed to conduct its business without regulation based upon inartful standards of displeasure or simple annoyance with the quarry — opinions that are unsupported by science,” Drucas said. “This is an essential industry, located in Swampscott and Salem for over 110 years, and cannot be burdened with the requirements that will jeopardize their existence.”
Several Select Board members requested that the town come up with a more comprehensive way of tracking resident complaints related to the quarry. Currently, residents can submit complaints through the website See Click Fix, but Spellios said that system was inadequate for the town to improve its data collection.
The board will reconvene on the topic at its June 14 meeting.
