Need Help to STOP Huge Quarry/Asphalt Plant in our Paradise!!

[kittykitty]

I live in the heart of apple country in rural PA. We have verdant fields, dairy farms, beautiful mountains, and lovely views. Last week the community was shocked to learn that a huge company secretly bought 400 acres of orchard, and plan to construct a limestone quarry, cement plant and asphalt plant on this acreage. Needless to say this will be a disaster! Blasting, foul odors, visual pollution, clouds of quarry dust, wells will dry up, and 300-500 trucks a day will clog the main arteries and spew exhaust, and noise through the area. Property values will plummet. There is NO zoning. The town supervisors are against it as are the local people. There is no other industry anywhere near this. It just doesn't belong here.

Last night we had a citizen's meeting to begin to organize an opposition strategy. We are aware that the state will be of no help as it is in their interest to enable big business. The company that bought the land is huge, owns several other quarry/asphalt plant/cement plant operations, and have all their ducks in a row. The only hope is that environmental or health issues can stop this.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Does anyone know of towns that have successfully fought off such operations? Are there any environmental groups who can lend support to our problem? What strategies can we take? What resources are available to us? HELP!

[starroute]

1. Some links to check out

The links page of the Bucks County, PA Green party is at
http://pa.greens.org/bucks/links.html

And there's a local issues page at
http://pa.greens.org/bucks/local%20issues.html
which mentions stopping an asphalt plant in Upper Bucks.

Work through those, and you may be able to find advice and allies for your own area.

Good luck.

[kittykitty]

3. Thanks!

I wrote to the Bucks County group and got a nice answer with an offer of help, advice and networking. We're on our way!

[stopbush]

2. We Successfully Stopped

a crematorium from being put in our backyard when we lived in NJ. The perpetrators of THAT odious enterprise thought they had their ducks in a row, thought they were grandfathered in vis-a-vis zoning, thought they could do whatever they wanted...and thought wrong.

First off, you need to organize as citizens. Don't for a minute think your effort is futile. You'll hear the "they have money, we don't," arguement early and often. Don't let it intimidate or stop you.

Here's some things you need to do IMMEDIATELY:

1. Check the legal paper trail. Examine all of the legal documents involved in the original sale of the land to the present owners. There can be alot of sloppy paperwork involved in these things, often enough to send it all back to square one. This should ALL be onfile at the county or city hall.

IMPORTANT: look for conflict of interest issues in the paper trail. In our battle, we found that the original site plan for the crematorium was drawn up by a guy who sat on our town planning board! He didn't disclose it, we had to dig it out. This guy had actually VOTED on a motion pertaining to the crematorium before we got involved. We not only forced him to recuse himself from all further deliberations, but we forced the would-be crematorium builders to go back to square one and draw up a new site plan. When THAT plan was presented, a knowledgable citizen in the audience stood up and pointed out that the guy who drew up the new site plan had not only apprenticed with the board member who had done the first one but also had ongoing business with him! Back to square one AGAIN for the offenders!

If repigs are involved somewhere, then there's the good possibility that money has exchanged hands and a few legal "pleasantries" have been ignored. Catch them on those, and they've got a battle on their hands.

2. Get a lawyer. If the town or municipality wants to fight it, they may pay for the legal help.

3. Get a hold of the EPA and DEA people in your area. They can be a storehouse of knowledge as to what can and CAN'T be done in your area. What's the impact on the environment, for example? In our battle, the offending party had done NONE of the REQUIRED enviro studies or applications. In their arrogance, they assumed they didn't need them or could simply amend their oversights AFTER the fact. WRONG.

4. Contact ALL of the surrounding communities. Enlist their help against a common enemy. You'll be surprised at how many people will get off their asses once a NIMBY issue arises. Also, you'll find many old-timers whose knowledge of the area, land history and variances can prove invaluable in fighting.

5. Don't let them break ground. They're operating under the assumption that it's easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. Throw up every roadblock you can. Make their life hell. Make their lawyers earn the fees and more.

6. Get your story into the local papers. There's nothing like the local op-ed page. And DON'T overlook those weekly papers that come out in county-wide editions.

7. Get every aerial photo and land study document available from your county. Contrary to the area under question having "no zoning," you may find that it is, indeed, very heavily zoned. DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU HEAR FROM THEIR ATTORNEYS or biz-apologetic repig "neighbors" in the area. They are most likely talking through their hats.

Most important, keep the fight alive. Hold weekly meetings among yourselves to discuss strategy, events, etc.

Good luck, You CAN stop it. My old town in NJ proved it...and just last year!