Estey’s Bridge residents protest nearby quarry over health concerns

Residents in Estey’s Bridge, N.B. say they want the provincial government to force the shut down of a quarry in their community.

More than two dozen people gathered along the road outside the Mira Quarry on Royal Road Thursday morning to show their frustration and raise awareness about what they say are health risks in their community due to large amounts of dust created by the quarry.

Judith Seymour was one of the protesters.

“We’re pretty upset about what this quarry’s doing to our community and the people’s lives who live here. Industry doesn’t belong in a rural, agricultural community,” Seymour said.

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Cordell Bishop was on-hand with a sign that read “quarry dust kills plants, trees, turtles, air quality and people”.

“This was a nice, quiet, peaceful valley where people were living, raising their families, and now it’s not only the trucks, it’s the dust [and] the pollution,” Bishop said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This was a nice, quiet, peaceful valley where people were living, raising their families, and now it's not only the trucks, it's the dust [and] the pollution," Bishop said.

Helen Anderson doesn’t live in the area, but said she passes through it and stops in fairly frequently.  She said she has breathing problems and the dust makes her cough.

“I’m hoping to shut down Mira,” Anderson said.

She said there is also concern over large trucks spreading more dust and tossing rocks onto the road.

“They can’t go out.  They can’t have a barbecue, can’t have a picnic [outside], nothing,” Anderson said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They can't go out.  They can't have a barbecue, can't have a picnic [outside], nothing," Anderson said.

Anderson also said there are wood turtles in the stream that the trucks drive over. She’s afraid they’ll be harmed by the rocks and dust.

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Robin Anderson, Estey’s Bridge Local Service District Chairperson, was at the rally and said the the dust, noise, health concerns and property devaluation has gotten unbearable.

He said residents aren’t trying to cause problems, but want their way of life back.

“It’s been going for three years but late last year and this year’s been terrible because of the dry conditions and they’ll be dry summers ahead of us, and they just want it out of here,” Anderson said.

Mira is one of two quarries in the area, but residents told Global News the second quarry is a gravel pit that doesn’t cause too many concerns.

Multiple residents told Global News they are concerned over a rezoning request for a third quarry by Springhill Construction.  The rezoning was denied, but the final decision lies in the hands of Environment Minister Serge Rousselle.

The minister has until November 18 to make the final decision on if the project can go ahead.

READ MORE: New Brunswick residents upset over potential new quarry

Global News reached out to the Mira Construction, but did not receive a response prior to deadline.

Government response

In an email statement from the New Brunswick’s Department of Environment and Local Government, spokesperson Marc André Chiasson said the department understands that residents living nearby have concerns with dust and health issues that could result from the quarry.

Chiasson said the quarry was rezoned in 2014 and the company is operating under an approval to operate according to the Air Quality Regulation.

 “As for the decision on the rezoning for the proposed new quarry, residents had the opportunity, through the rezoning process, to communicate concerns that may need to be addressed. The Minister has until November 18, 2017 to make a decision,” Chiasson said.

READ MORE: Estey’s Bridge residents fuming over rock quarry, worried about proposal for another

He said the new quarry would require an access road to be built over the Nashwaaksis Stream and said the habitat  is known to contain Wood Turtles.

Chiasson said the species is listed as ‘threatened’ under the New Brunswick Species at Risk Act as well as a similar federal act.

“That’s why in early February 2017, the Department of Environment and Local Government was asked to review the proponent’s application for the rezoning of lands and determine if there were any environmental assessment requirements,” Chiasson said.

He said if the proposed Spinghill Quarry is to go forward it would require registration under the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation.