Hi there; You shouldn't feel troubled about supplying your name! But it's OK if you wish to be called "Troubled"... Meanwhile, I find it curious that your town's zoning would even consider such a new use of land in, as you describe, the midst of a residential neighborhood... then again, the world needs to use rock material so I can understand why you are troubled. Have you attended a zoning board meeting to inquire as to whether or not current zoning, or a variance process, would even allow a quarry company to pursue such use in your town? You might want to contact your regional State Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) headquarters to inquire as to a listing of various "conservation land"-creating entities in your area and contacts to pursue, re: the recently appropriated EOEA Bond Bill package. Land trusts, the DCR's "Legacy Program", your local Conservation Commission, many others local to you should be able to provide local contacts to aid you and your neighbors on your mission.
Good luck, Michele C. Wilson ps Coincidentally, the neighborhood where I grew up (East Longmeadow, MA) is situated ON TOP OF a spent quarry... some cellars have water issues, luckily the house where my father still resides does not! And the entire neighborhood has endured varying degrees of settling issues since being created as a baby boomer neighborhood back during the early 1950's... > > Intro: > > Hello. I live in a small rural town, Berkley, MA. I moved there 7 > years ago to enjoy nature and the woods around my home. The forest is > where I recreate, refresh myself, meditate and dream. Trees have > always interested me. > > And now the bad part . . . > > The woods in our neighborhood are being threatened by a rock quarry. > A company called Cape Cod Aggregates wants to use the wooded property > in the middle of our neighborhood, surrounded by residential homes, to > create a rock quarry that would be over 60 acres large and 250 feet > deep - that's as deep as a 25 story skyscrapper is tall - with sheer > vertical drop clifts just 200 feet from the back doors of family > homes. They plan to mine the property with blasting for the next 30 > years. I feel the property is important to the local ecology, as the > Assonet River borders it, Quaker Brook runs through it, it contains > wetlands and vernal pools. The woods contain pine, oak and chesnut > and would completely disappear in order to create a giant hole so > large there would be no way to reclaim the landscape. The quarry > operation could dry out the wetlands (because they would be mining > below the aquifer and pumping the quarry dry) contaminate the brook > and river with silt and have a negative impact on the plant, wildlife > and aquatic life. > > Has anyone on this list ever created conservation land? Know of any > funding sources for that? Have suggestions for ways of blocking the > quarry? All sugestions would be appreciated. > > Thank you. > > Troubled > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org You are subscribed to the Google Groups "ENTSTrees" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
