NEWS

Committee listens to residents, denies request to extend hours to meet repaving needs

By EMMA BARTLETT
Posted 10/4/22

After listening to complaints of vibrations and dust, the Council Safety Services and Licenses Committee denied Monday the request of P.J. Keating Company’s to temporarily extend its hours of …

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NEWS

Committee listens to residents, denies request to extend hours to meet repaving needs

Posted

After listening to complaints of vibrations and dust, the Council Safety Services and Licenses Committee denied Monday the request of P.J. Keating Company’s to temporarily extend its hours of operation so as to meet the demand for material to resurface Route 95/295. The company sought an extension of hours until Nov. 30th.

The P.J. Keating Company, located on Phenix Avenue across from the Cranston Veterans Memorial Rink, has been contracted to supply 60,000 tons of aggregate material to help D’Ambra Construction’s Route 95/Route 295 resurfacing project which has been fast tracked under the direction of Governor Dan McKee and Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s (RIDOT). A Sept. 7 press release from the governor’s office reads that I-295 is “one of the poster children for potholes and rough surfaces.” This project is part of a five-year program to repave Rhode Island’s worst roads.

To ensure the timely delivery of materials, the business, which currently operates from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., sought to increase hours from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The extension would be for the processing of aggregates through the plant and blasting (which has been of concern to residents) would most likely not change; the company has a call list of 50 residents who are notified of upcoming blasting.

“The temporary request was only opening up the operating hours so we could run the crusher so we could create the sized aggregates that are used in ready-mix concrete and asphalt pavement for the projects,” said P.J. Keating Company President Derrick Hill.

Hill explained that the products are temperature dependent and, if put down in an inadequate temperature, can be cost prohibitive or quality prohibitive. Since the paving is occurring at night, as the temperature drops there will be restrictions on laying asphalt which is a deadline D’Ambra Construction will face.

Asked if the denial for extended hours might impact the road projects, Charles St. Marin, spokesman for the Department of Transportation said, “The contractor is obligated to meet the terms of the contract so we don’t expect this will have an effect on our paving projects.”

 


Residents Voice Concern

Two Pine Hill Drive residents spoke against the extension Monday night, followed by Committee Chair Nicole Renzulli reading two emails from constituents into the record; all were concerned about the company’s blasting, dust accumulation and said the company was already working before its operating hours.

26-year-resident Donna Corcoran of Pine Hill Drive told committee members that over the years the vibrations from the company’s blasting has caused her to replace floors and has led to cracks in the house’s foundation. Written testimony submitted by Oakridge Drive residents Tammy and Michael Lonardo shared that the vibrations have caused objects to fall off their shelves inside their house; they have significant cracks in their garage, ceilings and foundation.

P.J. Keating Company’s Rob Robinson, VP of Aggregates, has been involved with blasting in America and the United Kingdom for 40 years. He said the vibrations do not cause damage to houses and has come across this before; he added that blasting practices have greatly improved over the years. The company looks to blast between noon and 2 p.m. and is on a scheduled cadence of every eight days. The company is covered by the State Fire Marshal and notifies the fire department of any blasting. He said the company monitors the blasts with three seismographs.

“All the blasts we have done have been within the state limits,” said Robinson.

The company’s practices have raised environmental concerns as well with residents.

“On one occasion the dust was so thick it literally looked like it snowed in our yard, the back of our house and over our cars. The bed even had a coating because the windows were open” wrote the Lonardos.

Depending on the wind direction, the quarry’s dust will settle over homes in the area and residents spoke of having to keep windows closed. In the Lonardo’s case, the couple contacted the company who offered to come and clean it for them.

“Are they going to come and clean every time, or just when someone calls because they reach their limit?” wrote the couple.

Lauren Ruggieri lives on Natick Avenue and over the past six months has noticed an increase in dust and dirt emitted from the site, which she says is affecting air quality. As someone who’s a runner, Ruggieri’s letter to the committee talks about finding herself coughing and having her eyes start to burn from dirt in the air when running on Phenix Avenue. She added that concrete trucks spilling wet concrete on the roadway and sidewalks is a major issue.

“Not only does this damage our roads at the taxpayers’ expense, but also will do serious damage to any cars that drive through it,” wrote Ruggieri. “I’ve witnessed this happen on numerous occasions.”

Hill addressed residents’ concerns and said he would be happy to sit down with them; the company does have a contracted sweeper and water truck to take care of the dust as well as spilled concrete. He said the ready-mix trucks are owned by a sublet company and will talk to them about the spillage coming out of the ready-mix trucks. The company said they try their best to control the blasting and dust.

 


Committee weighs in

 

Council President Chris Paplauskas, who made the motion to deny the request, believed the residents’ testimony. He lives one mile from the quarry and said floor tiles have cracked from the blasts. Additionally, cameras in his attic show debris coming off rafters during the blasts.

Ward 4 Councilman Richard Campopiano, whose ward the quarry falls into, said the situation comes down to respect and the P.J. Keating Company has not been respectful to neighbors; he voted to deny the company’s request.

“I have spoken to residents who have lived here for 25 years and they have door jams that are no longer lined up and it’s from the blasting according to them and I believe them,” said Councilwoman Jessica Marino.

She added that her husband has photos of the company’s trucks going into the facility at 6:14 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. which is before the company’s 7 a.m. operation hours. Hill did not deny that the early start times could be happening. Hill clarified that there is a difference between the customers who could be coming in to pick up aggregates – adding that the company is not loading and putting out trucks before their start time. Carl Turgeon, quarry manager, said the hours of operation at P.J. Keating are attached to the operating the plant – not the quarry. He said the truck traffic has no hours that he is aware of and that some of the trucks used for Johnston’s Amazon project are there at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m.

Councilwoman Aniece Germain voted to approve the company’s request – understanding the residents’ concerns as well as the need for this roadwork to be completed.

 

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