SAUGUS — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday evening voted unanimously to extend a special permit for Aggregate Industries, a subsidiary of Holcim Inc., for another six months, a routine, biannual process that remains ongoing despite little blasting at the company’s site in town.
Attorney Richard Magnan appeared on behalf of the company and told board members that the last blast conducted at the quarry at 1831 Broadway came last October, and another is not expected until October 2024. They are minor blasts conducted to keep the permit active, Magnan said.
A 15-year project to fill the granite quarry to potentially use the space for development projects began in 2017, and the town has been working to reclaim the land for more than a decade and a half. The company’s granite quarry has not been operational since the mid-2000s, but two asphalt plants and a ready-mix concrete plant at the site have been.
The permit reissued by selectmen Tuesday has 31 conditions attached to it, some of which govern the passage of trucks between the Saugus quarry and the company’s other locations in the area, including in Peabody and Swampscott.
On Tuesday, the board heard from Mary Lue Howard, a resident who had previously confronted the company concerning trucks, some of which she believes are Aggregate’s, traveling at high speeds down residential roads. Howard presented the board and Magnan with a list of trucks she had seen passing through her neighborhood and onto Lincoln Avenue.
While Howard said the list was “unofficial” and she didn’t want to “see anyone getting in trouble,” she remained troubled by the possibility of kids or other residents being injured by trucks speeding down residential roads. In all, Howard said she had seen 66 trucks passing through her neighborhood between June and October.
Selectmen seemed unconvinced that the trucks could have belonged to Aggregate, though Magnan said the company would work to identify if the company was, in fact, responsible for any of the drivers. If so, those drivers would be held accountable, an effort the company has put additional emphasis on, according to Magnan.
“They have increased the protocol of truckers who are not following the rules, and they have done so again recently, being sensitive to that issue,” he said. “I’m informed that they’re still working on it and recently increased their oversight of these truckers.”
Selectman Michael Serino theorized the trucks Howard saw were getting diesel fuel at Angelo’s Oil on Lincoln Avenue. Aggregate has been “pretty good,” he said.
“The issue is with trucks going on Hazel Road to get diesel, not Aggregate,” Serino said.
Town Manager Scott Crabtree, a former selectman who had voted on the extension of Aggregate’s permit, said the company had been responsive to complaints in the past.
“We’ll definitely look into it again. It’s probably something we’ll have to keep on,” Crabtree said.
