For the second time, Shaw Brothers Construction Inc. has received permission from Gorham to operate the company’s Brickyard Quarry on Mosher Road.
“We’ve got full approval for the quarry again and can proceed according to the approved plan,” the project’s engineer, Walt Stinson, of Sebago Technics, said following Monday’s Planning Board meeting in Gorham.
The Planning Board’s decision to grant approval was unanimous, 7-0.
The Gorham Planning Board last year approved plans for the quarry and an asphalt plant on 125 acres. Bricks had previously been manufactured for decades at the site.
But a group called Concerned Citizens of Gorham appealed the decision. In Cumberland County Superior Court in April, the approval was nullified in a judgment that said the board hadn’t required sufficient hydro-geological information according to the town’s ordinances.
Natalie Burns, lawyer for Gorham’s Planning Board, said in Monday’s meeting that the court said a site plan that specified depth to groundwater had to be provided.
Shaw Brothers submitted its updated report, accompanied by charts, last month. The company received permission after 11 p.m. Monday following a public hearing and a lengthy deliberation by the Planning Board. Conditions of approval included testing of groundwater according to Maine Department of Environmental Protection specifications.
The construction company introduced the project to the town in 2006. Last year’s approvals followed months of review by the Planning Board. The high-profile proposal drew considerable opposition from neighbors and other residents in Gorham.
Meetings about the quarry and asphalt plant once packed the Town Council chambers at the Gorham Municipal Center. In Monday’s public hearing, two citizens spoke.
Jennifer Everett of Libby Avenue raised worries about chemicals from blasting polluting water.
“I’m very concerned about contamination,” Everett said.
Theresa Dolan of Mosher Road was worried that monitoring of water would be insufficient.
“I fear along the way there’s going to be a problem,” she said.
Rob Gillespie of R.W. Gillespie & Associates, a consultant for the Planning Board, said that the overall contamination potential would be low.
The company began work on the quarry and asphalt plant site last year after the initial approval.
Cutline (Danny Shaw)
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