Ledyard quarry goes up in smoke

Ledyard — After more than 100 hours of testimony, tens of thousands of dollars in legal and consultant fees and a deep groundswell of anxiety that prompted 200 people a night to show up for meetings, it took only 15 minutes Thursday for the Planning and Zoning Commission to reject a controversial quarry application proposed for Gales Ferry. The commission unanimously rejected the proposed 40-acre quarry off Route 12 that united Gales Ferry neighbors who opposed the 10-year project saying it would disrupt their way of life and perhaps damage their health due to blasting, traffic and the release of silica dust into the air. About 50 people jammed into the Town Hall Annex gave an extended ovation after the vote to commission members who had endured meetings as long as five hours over the past two years. Gales Ferry Intermodal LLC, which bought the former Dow Chemical site several years ago, had proposed developing the quarry by leveling large sections of Mount Decatur, a former War of 1812 military outpost. The idea was to blast into the mountain and remove chunks of granite that would then be processed into aggregate to be used for local road projects, resiliency efforts and the nascent wind industry. Down the road, the leveled property that would result, about 26 acres, could be developed for warehouses or industrial uses. "A lot of people put a lot of work into bringing important information to light," said Eric Treaster, a member of the town's Zoning Board of Appeals, who was one of the main opponents of the project. "It was a team effort. Everyone did a tremendous amount of work as a team." "It was an uphill battle," added John Kelly, another opponent who attended Thursday's final quarry decision. But Kelly wasn't sure the battle was over, referring to GFI and saying, "They have so much invested in it." Harry Heller, the attorney representing GFI, left the meeting quickly after the decision and couldn't be reached about the possibility the 5-0 verdict would be challenged in a court appeal. Commission members James Harwood, Beth Ribe, Matt Miello and Howard Craig joined Chairman Marty Wood in opposing the quarry. The commission decided that the quarry failed to meet 13 of the town's zoning regulations. Among the concerns were tie-ups on local roads caused by stopping traffic along Route 12 during blasting, trucks carrying heavy loads of aggregate spilling silica dust without proper safeguards, the transmission of loud noises from blasting beyond the property line, the inability to guarantee that silica dust and vibration would stay within the property boundary and the likely negative effect on property values during the 10-year life of the quarry operation The commission also cited the effect on the immediate neighborhood, the scope and intensity of the project and the lack of a plan to stockpile topsoil and subsoil for future restoration. In addition, the commission cited a regulation that limits so-called "excavation major" projects to no more than three years, rather than the 10 years proposed, and said the project would violate a rule that ensures no more than 10 acres at a time could be excavated. The commission had been meeting for months on the special permit application submitted by a division of Cashman Dredging & Marine Contracting Co. of Quincy, Mass. Dozens of residents spoke against the quarry, with the vast majority of residents expressing disapproval. This was the third submission of the quarry application; a previous version of the plan had largely gone through the hearing process when it was withdrawn about a year ago. Another version was withdrawn before going to hearing. In the meanwhile, Mayor Fred Allyn III last year fired the town's former Planner Juliet Hodge, who had expressed skepticism about whether the quarry fit zoning regulations, and replaced her with Liz Burdick, who has said the quarry application fit within town zoning rules. Both the town's attorney for land use matters and a Zoning Commission member had to recuse themselves due to conflicts of interest. Gales Ferry residents first got wind of the quarry application in 2023 and started filling up the Town Hall annex in protest, forcing the commission to move many of its subsequent meetings to Ledyard Middle School. After a series of hearings in late 2023 into early 2024, GFI withdrew its initial application as residents raised a number of concerns that had not been addressed in the initial filing, including the issue of silica dust. In winter of 2024, GFI submitted and then withdrew a second application, finally filing for a third time in April with a plan to use a misting system to try to mitigate the release of cancer-causing dust into the atmosphere. It also said it would be limiting truck traffic and would be offering 3.5 acres of the Mount Decatur site to a historic-preservation group. Still, opposition to the plan was strong, and dozens of residents over the past few months testified in person against the quarry. In addition, the vast majority of the more than 300 comments submitted about the quarry in written testimony questioned the wisdom of approving the project near a residential area with several schools, a church and day care center within a mile of the site. The commissioners took the past five weeks to come to a final decision, taking each of the arguments against the quarry into consideration as they ticked off reasons to approve or deny the application. Commissioner Harwood in earlier comments wondered about the traffic effects he foresaw as people avoiding slowdowns on Route 12 might seek out Route 117 to escape tie-ups. The hearings have been contentious, as quarry advocates were at times heckled during their testimony. In addition, late last year GFI attorney Heller accused former town land use personnel of violating his client's civil rights by conspiring against the quarry plan, allegedly meeting with opponents outside of the record. He also questioned whether current members of the commission might have a conflict of interest. Also, former Chairman Tony Capon decided not to seek reappointment to the commission just a few months before the final decision, and soon before Heller accused him during a public hearing of being part of the conspiracy against the quarry. Capon cited the "stress of serving in a volunteer position" as one reason why he resigned, despite initially having his name up for reappointment by the Town Council just a few days before. Commissioner Paul Whitescarver had to recuse himself because of his dual role as executive director of seCTer, the region's economic development agency, as well as chairman of the board of the New London Port Authority, and another member who had heard much of the testimony left the board when she moved out of town. "It's been a very challenging process," Chairman Wood said in concluding remarks after the vote tally was finalized. "The magnitude and scope and intensity ... we have wrestled with that, and I feel we put our best foot forward." l.howard@theday.com