A hidden quarry near Rockwood has been a contentious issue for several years.
Now, concerned residents are sounding the alarm over the proposal and say there’s an issue that hasn’t been addressed yet.
A visual display of a possible danger has been set up by a group just off of Hwy. 7. A several-hundred pound piece of limestone is smashed through a car windshield.
It’s called flyrock, and residents say this could be the result from nearby blasting.
Mining requires blasting, and residents say anything within 300 metres is at risk of being hit by rock.
They list several instances over the decades where someone or something has been hit.
They're calling on the province to create a minimum setback of 500 metres from the proposed hidden quarry.
It is roughly 75 metres from the display and has been dormant for generations.
“It’s lunacy,” said nearby resident and former miner Bill Hill. “I’ve done it. You have to have the highway closed off and guards telling people get in their basements. It’s craziness.”
James Dick Construction bought the quarry in 1989 and wants to reopen it because mining technology has changed and because it contains dolomite - a valuable rock used in expensive construction projects.
The company says the site is a unique dig and claims flyrock are “about as realistic as throwing a baseball underwater”.
