Quarry still drawing neighbors’ ire

By DAVID HULSE

LACKAWAXEN, PA — Following new neighbors’ complaints, township supervisors’ Chair Brian Stuart suggested the enforcement effort for operations at the Leeward Quarry be “kicked up a notch.”

Complaints included the operator’s continuing Saturday operations and the trucking of stumps and other wood debris into the site. Both activities are in apparent violation of the conditional zoning use permit that allows the operation.

Leeward, a Wayne County construction company, purchased the former McKean quarry, and with plans for expansion sought a conditional zoning permit. The granted permit prohibited mining operations on the weekend.

Leeward, in the past, has interpreted this as blasting, and has stated that its Saturday operations are limited to excavating already mined stone.

Neighbors, who regularly complain about the truck traffic at the Bohemia quarry, and township officials have interpreted the weekend ban as including all work at the quarry. The company and the township took up negotiations for a settlement of the issue last year and Leeward was supposed to have filed for an amended permit.

But on September 17 Township Solicitor Jay Rose said that no new permit application has ever been received. “A reasonable time for their application has elapsed,” he told the supervisors.

Zoning Enforcement Officer James Dolan confirmed that the quarry was still working on Saturdays.

Neighbors also reported that trucks carrying stumps and logs also continue to enter the quarry. Quarry operators have said the wood material is used as reclamation material, but township officials are concerned that the site not become a landfill for construction and demolition materials.

Saying the supervisors could not direct his enforcement actions, Stuart “recommended” that Dolan also inquire about the fill materials.

“What does this mean?” a neighbor asked for clarification.

“It means we may well be issuing an enforcement order with a time limit on compliance,” Rose replied.