Quarry hearing tabled to May 5; N.S. council votes to hire independent experts

NORTH SMITHFIELD – In testimony over the past month from a team of professionals hired by Material Sand & Stone, councilors and residents have heard reassurances that despite their concerns, operations at the Pine Hill Road quarry are consistently following well-monitored safety procedures governed by state and federal law.

Now, that paid for expert testimony will be evaluated by a second group of professionals – independent specialists chosen by the town.

The decision by the Town Council Monday night marks a new phase in the evaluation of Material Sand’s request for a zone change to accommodate an ongoing gravel extraction business through creation of a new “Industrial Special Management District 1 Overlay,” where mining is allowed in North Smithfield.

Councilors continued a public hearing on the application to Monday, May 5, with plans to hire experts to look over extensive information presented by a team representing the business – also known as Pound Hill Realty – over their past three meetings.

The unusual zone change request comes following a 2023 Superior Court order that the business follow the town’s process and pursue local administrative remedies after decades of unresolved litigation. A previous Town Council banned earth extraction in all town zoning districts in 1979, but exempted existing businesses as long as the subject property was acquired or leased prior to the effective date of the ordinance.

The mining company – long owned by the Pezza family – had been in operation since the 1950s. But the business acquired a second 32-acre lot in 1987 and merged the properties, an action then challenged by the town’s zoning official that would become the subject of years of legal wrangling. In the meantime, mining has continued and expanded without proper local permitting.

Creation of the new zoning district has been presented as a solution that would create more transparency and allow the town some say in operations that the business contends are allowed by right, with hours of testimony from experts regarding the safety of running a mine over the 89-acre site, which is situated above an aquifer adjacent to an EPA-monitored Superfund property.

At the council meeting on Monday, March 17, William Landry, an attorney representing Pound Hill Realty, presented Michael Hammond, who worked for a decade inspecting such operations for the federal Mine Safety Health Administration.

“Every mine gets an inspection every five years,” said Hammond, adding that the businesses were never warned in advance that he’d be coming. “These are all surprise inspections.”

Hammond noted that he inspected some 800 to 900 mines during his time with MSHA between 2010 and 2020, measuring how much silica the workers were exposed to. Inhaling silica dust can lead to a lung disease called silicosis, and Hammind said if anyone were to get it from the facilities, he would have.

“I was just breathing the air in the mine sites,” he said.

“Silica’s everywhere,” said Hammond, noting the dust comes from everything from concrete and granite countertops, to beach said. “I don’t remember ever having a sand and gravel pit that went over.”

Hammond was the third in a series of professionals to appear before the council, with testimony also provided before the Planning Board, where the business is hoping to obtain a positive recommendation for their zoning request. Last week, planners continued their evaluation to Thursday. April 10, a date Landry said may now be reconsidered in light of the council’s actions on Monday.

“I think we’re going to find out whether that’s feasible or not,” he said.

The board also continued to hear from residents this week, although far less were in attendance than when the hearings first began in February.

Resident Robert Belhumeur said that a seismologist hired by Material Sand, Richard Groll, has continuously told him that blasts from the operations fall well within the legal guidelines, even though the activity has left cracks in his walls and damaged the well of his home on Old Oxford Road.

“We listen to all these experts… they don’t live here,” said Belhumeur. “I just don’t understand you guys. How you can even contemplate on doing this? You’re going to make an industrial zone over my area? Over the aquifer? This doesn’t even make sense.”

Resident Richard Grubb warned councilors that the issue that should be their focus was getting lost in the details.

“To me, the crux of the problem is upstream,” said Grubb. “They go away if you agree that the lots cannot be combined. If we agree they can’t combine the lots, than we don’t have to spend money on an air and water study because we can just safely say ‘no.'”

“We’ve had a zoning ordinance since 1979 that this quarry has ignored,” said Grubb.

The decision to pursue an independent peer review was proposed on Monday by Councilor John Beauregard, who noted that by May, the council should also have their recommendation from planners.

“Who knows – they may turn around and say everything that they heard was exactly right, or they may oppose a couple of different comments that were made,” said Beauregard. “Either way, we should have our own experts. It’s been said many times.”

Councilor David Punchak questioned who would fund the evaluation.

“I think it’s money well spent to give everybody the peace of mind that what we’re hearing is correct,” Beauregard said.

Punchak noted that the step will be part of a review of the business’s request – and asked Landry if his client would be willing to fund it.

After a recess to speak with Material Sand President Robert Pezza, Landry said they would welcome the opportunity for their experts to be peer reviewed.

“If there’s something we missed or something we could be doing better, we’re interested in knowing that as much as you are,” Landry said. “We’re willing to be involved in the financing of that.”

The attorney asked that Town Planner Mark Carruolo choose the professionals.

“He’s used to retaining experts at the Planning Board level,” said Landry. “We have to be able to make sure that the experts are truly experts. My clients will reimburse that cost if it’s fair and routine.”

Town Solicitor David Igliozzi agreed.

“I think the cleaner thing to do is have the planner do it,” said Igliozzi. “He does it all the time for the Planning Board.”

Beauregard said he’d prefer if the company didn’t pay.

“That’s my opinion,” he said. “I think that his offer to pay is generous and I appreciate that. We should keep everything separate.”

Both Landry and Igliozzi noted that such reimbursement is frequently a routine part of applications before planning.

Punchak made a motion for Carruolo to obtain experts that included acceptance of reimbursement, which councilors voted unanimously to approve.

Editor’s note: An original version of this article misspelled Michael Hammond’s name. We apologize for the error.