A quary changes the quality of life in a wide area. It is a dangerous industry for the workers in the quarry, the drivers, and the residents that live within several miles of the quarry. If a quarry is built on the 628.483 acre site on West Mill Rd:

• 1 out every 20 acres in Lower Milford Township will be a quarry.
• The quarry will be more than 5.5 times greater in size than ALL the current commercial, industrial, wholesale & warehouse space put together. Lower Milford Township will become a one company town.
• Almost 7% of our agricultural land will be lost - land that we are fighting for with tax incentives and preservation incentives.
• Gerryville Materials Inc. declared that 500,000 tons/year of stone would be mined, 250,000 tons/year of asphalt would be manufactured, and about 250 tons of concrete would be mixed per day. 
  • Trucks (21 ton capacity) will be used to remove the stone over a 10 hour day on average, about 44,000 trucks would leave the site per year -- that is 1 truck leaving or entering the site every 90 seconds. 
  • If only 20 ppm dust escaped during crushing blasting, trucking loading and moving stone, Lower Milford Township and surroundings would have over 10 tons of dirt dumped on its houses, streams, and land yearly. This does not account for the toxic particulate from diesel trucks.
• Much if not all of the particulate will be less than 10 micron in size with a significant fraction less than 1 micron (Can't be seen without major magnification). Particles less than 1 micron tend to lodge deep in the lungs causing various health problems.
• As the quarry depth gets deeper than the water table, water from the surrounding areas will fill the hole. This needs to be pumped out. Normally, mathematical models are used to predict a "zone of influence" which is the area the water entering the quarry will be sufficient to reduce water supply to nearby wells. Normally, the license on how much water can be removed and ultimately how big the quarry can be is set by this type of model.
  • However, the model depends on the porosity of the soil, how dry the weather has been, how high the water table is, and other factors. Also, how reputable the quarry operator is in observing his obligation under his perimit is also a factor.
    (Lower Milford Township residents should remember how devastating it was for Limeport Pike home owners when the fish hatchery pumped water and dried out a vast number of wells. One should also remember that it took a very long time to litigate a shutdown of the hatchery.)
• The number of road providing egress for the trucks is limited. Limeport Pike has an elementary school and a historical district in Limeport where homes are very close to the road. The vibration and noise as well as diesel fumes and particulate would be very deliterious. Kings Highway has obstructed views on many hills and curves which will make travel hazardous.
• Mining normally is done during daytime hours. However, a 10 hour day will require nighttime operation. Also, PenDot has permitted nighttime shipment of stone because of highway congestion problems in their construction area which would be eased by nighttime delivery. 
• The nature of the area will dramatically change from rural to industrial. Some differences are shown below

Pros

• The benefits of having a quarry is mainly money that the community can get from the quarry operator. In Lower Milford Township's case, it is how good a negotiator Mr. Richard Harris the Chairman of the Township Supervisors is.
  • The quarry will have to pay taxes. Normally, this will be more than the loss in tax revenues that a re-assessment of local property values will lose.
  • Some quarries pay an impact fee. This could be a single large payment or some payment based on capacity that is paid yearly.
  • Improvements and perks. This can be free stone from the quarry for township roads, repair or fortification of traveled roads, payment for additional Township resources needed to monitor operations, e.g., police to enforce traffic laws.

The whole community will beaffcted. However, assessment reductions will occur only for those most severely affected. The rest of the community should see loss in value of property but will not be able to quantify it sufficiently to seek legal recourse.

When all is said, permitting a quarry is a balance between the loss of community values and potential health problems against increased revenues and avoidance of litigation fees.

Let your Supervisors know your feelings!