Protect Massachusetts Residents from Dangerous Sand Mining

Please deny the Rickets Pond Business Park request to waive an environmental study for this 43-acre sand mine. Under MEPA, please require a full, mandatory Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

The damage to the environment from this development has never been fully studied under MEPA. The project emits sand dust into neighborhoods and has covered Rickets Pond for eight years due to uncovered piles and open pits. There are no protections for residents or studies of sand dust emissions or noise pollution. According to experts, this type of commercial mining of sand generates Respirable Crystalline Silica, an invisible dust that is carcinogenic and causes irreversible lung diseases.

In 2018, the developer represented in its MEPA submission that 33 acres would be left as “open space” primarily in Plympton. The development was limited to storage buildings in Carver. Eight years later, 28 of those acres have been turned into a commercial sand mining operation.  Now, the developer wants to use those acres for a dense housing project in Plympton.

Please require a full study.

Thank you.