The Blast Heard Round The Town

The following letter was submitted to local newspapers and is reprinted here with permission of the author Ruth Platner. Ruth is the current Chair of the Charlestown Planning Commission.

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On Friday, May 21, at approximately 10:30 a.m. an explosion was heard across Charlestown from the border with Richmond, to South Kingstown, to Westerly. Because of the way sound travels and where people were, whether in their homes or outdoors, not everyone heard the noise or felt the shock wave. What is remarkable is how far people who did feel and/or hear the explosion were from the source.

At a post on Nextdoor, a local social media platform, reports of a very loud explosion came from people in many locations in Charlestown: Narragansett Trail, Maize Drive, Biscuit City Road, North Pine Tree Lane, Shannock Road, Old Coach Road, Indian Trail, Auburn Drive, Narrow Lane, Lakeside Drive and Cedar Road. A report came from a resident in Wood River Junction in Richmond and from people in South Kingstown who live on Wordens Pond Road, Shannock Road, Ministerial Road, and Post Road. There was also a report from a person living on the Westerly town line on Post Road. These are just reports from people who have Nextdoor accounts, who happened to see the first post from a startled homeowner, and then reported that they had heard the same thing. The actual number of people who heard the explosion is much larger.

Later it was learned that the “Blasting” sign was up that morning at the beginning of the road going into the gravel quarry on Route 91. This is the quarry that is next to the Pawcatuck River and just north of the Francis Carter Preserve. Neighbors of the quarry confirmed that there had been a large blast at the quarry at 10:30 a.m. The address of the quarry on Rt. 91 is 565 Alton Carolina Road and the name of the owner is Charlestown Farms LLC.

At my house the blast sounded like a bomb or artillery had exploded. I live nearly 4 miles east of the quarry, and the explosion seemed no more than a half-mile away. Five miles to the south of the quarry the blast was reported as “very loud,” and people over 7 miles away reported hearing the blast. The sound and vibration for those close to the quarry must have been extreme.

The State Fire Marshal regulates blasting. Quarries receive a blasting permit from the State Fire Marshal on an annual basis. The regulations for blasting are at http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE23/23-28.28/INDEX.HTM.

If you ever want to make a complaint about any blast or blasting, the State Fire Marshal provides an online form at https://fire-marshal.ri.gov/testingforms/blasting_complaint_form.php.

Quarrying and all other extractive industries are a prohibited use in Charlestown, but most existing quarries predate that zoning. State law “grandfathers” these quarries and protects them from regulation. Charlestown has submitted legislation to the state legislature to allow us to regulate quarries, but so far we have not been successful in gaining support from legislators outside of South County. The one exception was legislation to reduce fugitive dust from quarrying operations that was passed in 2015 and sponsored by Charlestown’s State Representative Blake Filippi among others.

 

 

You can learn more about the author, Ruth Platner, at her profile page.