HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. — When Al Peteraf moved into his Havre de Grace home in 2008, he had somewhat of an idea of what he was signing up for. But as Vulcan Materials Company has expanded its quarry, so has the impact on homeowners who live nearby.
"Your house shakes," Peteraf said. "I mean, you feel that a couple times a week, and you wonder, 'What's that doing to my gas line, my foundation, my geothermal loop?' These things are problematic. And I haven't even gotten into the dust."
"It can wake the dead and scare the heck out of the living. I had an occasion where I fell out of bed during a blast," John Blomquist told WMAR-2 News.
Vulcan is one of the largest producers of construction materials in the country. The company says the industry is a heavily regulated one, and it's in compliance with all of those regulations.
In Harford County specifically, the company is bound by stricter rules surrounding blasting activity. It has to happen at least 2,000 feet away from homes.
Blomquist has lived in this home for 60 years and says it's been that way for as long as he can remember.
But a county council member, James Reilly, has put forth a bill that would do away with that rule, in favor of Maryland Department of the Environment Regulations.
"If they pass this bill, it will hurt us drastically in the future," Blomquist said.
Blasting could move 500 to 1,000 feet closer.
"It's getting too close for comfort. There's no need to undo the rules that are in place," Peteraf said. "Nobody's answered any of these questions. Are we gonna have more silica dust? Is there danger of breaking a gas line? Is my geothermal loop that's 150 feet down in the ground in danger of cracking? Is my foundation gonna crack?"
By the time homeowners found out about the bill, county council had already held a public hearing.
"They put a little notice on the website that none of us knew about, and now we're all scrambling to stop this," Peteraf said. "You guys don’t have the courtesy to call some of the neighbors that could be directly affected, and get their input on this?"
The council was scheduled to vote on the bill tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 21, but due to the concerns, Peteraf said council president Patrick Vincenti postponed it.
At the Jan. 14 hearing, two local Vulcan employees spoke in favor of the change.
Environmental manager Johnny Johnson told the council, “Blasting has been studied continuously since around 1957. With the advancement of blasting emulsion products, technology and computer-designed blasting, such activities are designed and monitored to have no potential to damage nearby homes and structures in and around quarries. After reviewing this proposal, we are confident that this legislation will not negatively impact our ability to operate our facility safely while continuing to comply with all regulations intended to protect the environment and neighborhoods around the facility.”
Community and government relations manager Justin Stein spoke to the company's "exemplary record of safety, health, and environmental compliance."
He also spoke about how this bill supports a business that the community relies on. "Any major construction or maintenance project you hear of in and around Harford County has probably used Havre de Grace stone. Without facilities like these, there would be a major supply chain problem to get quality grade stone to the projects being built in the area schools, hospitals, highways."
We reached out to Harford County Council. Our questions were directed to the bill's sponsor, Council Member James Reilly. We have not heard back from him.
Vulcan sent us the following statement:
"We support Harford County's proposed legislation to adopt the Maryland standards for drilling, blasting, and setbacks. While this proposed legislation will not change our existing Havre de Grace site operations, it does provide a set standard at the local and state level that is developed by industry experts. At Vulcan, we take pride in going above and beyond local, state, and federal standards for our site operations and environmental compliance. We look forward to continuing to engage with the Havre de Grace community and provide necessary material that goes into building and maintaining our vital infrastructure."
