Neighbors worried about the impact of a multi-million dollar quarry packed a Gorham Planning Board meeting Monday night as the company, its consultants and other residents tried to ease their fears.

Shaw Brothers Construction Inc., based in Gorham, is asking the planning board to approve the project, which includes a 60-acre quarry and a $3 million portable asphalt plant, ultimately to be replaced by a $10 million permanent plant. The site is zoned industrial.

Susan Robie, chairwoman of the planning board, told about 75 residents at the meeting that the board’s job is to review the application to see whether it meets ordinances. “If it does, there’s no choice but to approve it,” Robie said.

The project would be built on 125 acres the construction company bought from LaChance Brick Co., on Mosher Road. The brick company, which retained buildings and a portion of the site to market bricks, once manufactured bricks at the site.

An asphalt plant produces pavement by mixing gravel and crushed stone with a thick petroleum product, and then heating the ingredients to 300 degrees. Opponents say the process produces harmful emissions.

Danny Shaw, who co-owns the construction company, said the project would be clean and wouldn’t produce a lot of emissions.

“We want to be good neighbors,” Shaw said.

Shaw said the plant would be fired with either heating oil or natural gas. While Shaw prefers the natural gas, he wants an option available. “Our goal is to go with gas,” Shaw said.

“It wouldn’t be a hazard for neighbors,” said Dave Dixon, an air emissions consultant hired by Shaw Brothers Construction. “An outdoor wood boiler (furnace) would be worse.”

Dixon, who worked 18 years with the Maine Bureau of Air Quality, said the project would require a license by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. “I think this project is protective of air quality,” said Dixon, who developed the state’s first air toxics program and permitting.

Residents raised a variety of concerns about the effects of the project on the neighborhood. Robert Skinner, 9 Gateway Commons, said he is concerned about the ill effects the plant could have on his health and the value of his property.

Deb Cassidy, 6 Timber Ridge Road, said the area is pastoral now, and she was concerned about the noise that would be generated by an asphalt plant. She also has concerns about the effect the plant could have on her health.

“The question is, what is safe?” Cassidy said.

Organized opponents of the project produced a flyer last fall that said the plant would emit sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides and dioxides, hydrocarbons, arsenic, benzene, formaldehyde and cadmium.

“So does your home furnace, your automobile,” Dixon said in an interview last week.

Dixon told the audience Monday that emissions from the plant would be less than those at the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine. He said the asphalt plant would perform “far better” – 10 times lower – than the limits in the Gorham site-location ordinance.

Bill Neily, a North Street resident, said that an asphalt plant could be run safely. “The Shaws have been a huge asset to the community,” Neily said.

Rick Perkins, Maine Department of Environmental Protection air emissions compliance inspector, said last week asphalt plant requirements are strict and are subject to inspection at anytime. Unlike older asphalt plants grandfathered under earlier, less stringent federal standards, “it would be controlled tighter because it’s new,” Perkins said. “Citizens should feel comfortable.”

Perkins said complaints about existing asphalt plants are usually because of dust. The plants are required to control dust or face fines. “They must meet requirements of air emissions,” Perkins said.

He said he doesn’t believe dust from the plant would be a problem because it would have a building he called a “bag house,” which works like a vacuum cleaner to filter the air of dust created in the manufacturing process. If trucks on the highway caused dust, it would be a town problem, and Perkins would call Gorham’s code enforcement officer.

But some neighbors fear the project is too close to existing homes, and that the area is poised for more houses. Melinda Shain, 12 Timber Ridge Road, reminded the planning board about the sewer line to be built along Mosher Road. Shain said the nature of the area will be changed, and the asphalt plant wouldn’t mix well with coming development.

John Stuart, 134 Mosher Road, lives one mile from the proposed site. Stuart said Shaw Brothers Construction has been “exemplary,” but he’s worried about this proposal.

Stuart said Mosher Road (Route 237) is already a heavily used road, and he is concerned about how many trucks per hour would be added to the mix. “I would hate to lose value of my house,” Stuart said.

Abbott Mosher, Mosher Road, said he recently could hear a backup alarm of a bulldozer operating at the site from 1,600 feet away. “The noise will affect the quality of life of neighbors,” Mosher said.

The project’s engineer, Walt Stinson of Sebago Technics, said a noise study has been submitted with the application. Planning board member Doug Boyce asked for a noise consultant to appear at a future meeting.

“Noise will be an important issue here,” said Mark Stelmack, a planning board member.

Mark Curtis, of Wood Road, lives near a quarry operated by another construction company, and said that project doesn’t affect his day-to-day life. Curtis said he felt confident there wouldn’t be problems with a Shaw Brothers Construction operation. “I know the reputation of Shaw Brothers,” he said.

Another resident speaking in favor of the project saw the asphalt plant bringing economic advantages to Gorham. Gene Fadrigone of Flaggy Meadow Road favored the project because of tax benefits and job opportunities.

Fadrigone said Shaw Brothers Construction has been a successful business in Gorham. “The tax revenue would enhance the town’s budget and won’t impact the school budget,” Fadrigone said. “This is a good opportunity for the town of Gorham to have some real tax relief.”

But Joe Staples, a Barstow Road resident, said the asphalt plant wouldn’t be the only business that could generate income for the town at the site. “This isn’t the holy grail for tax revenue,” Staples said.

In addition to health matters, Sarah Allison, who lives on Queen Street, said she is worried about further truck impact on her street, which she said is deteriorated. “It’s already dangerous for walkers,” Allison said.

Stelmack asked for a timeline on the permit process. Stinson indicated that a Department of Environmental Protection permit for a plant and the quarry could be acquired in 60 days. The department would also hold a public hearing on the project.

Shaw said after the meeting he felt confident he could answer all the concerns raised. The proposal is now under review by the planning board. Shaw Brothers Construction will return to the board at a date yet to be determined.