By Chris Ullery
Posted Mar 3, 2020 at 1:38 PM
Updated Mar 3, 2020 at 5:40 PM
Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Robert J. Mellon issued an injunction Tuesday preventing an asphalt plant at Rockhill Quarry in East Rockhill, handing a victory to residents who opposed it. The ruling does not, however, deal with ongoing quarry operations that have been halted due to asbestos concerns.
A proposed asphalt plant will likely have to go elsewhere after a Bucks County Court of Common Pleas ruling Tuesday upheld East Rockhill’s zoning laws at the Rockhill Quarry.
Among several points made from the bench Tuesday afternoon, Judge Robert J. Mellon said the asphalt plant proposed by quarry operator Richard E. Pierson Inc., of Pilesgrove, New Jersey, in 2018 was a “wholly separate” use at the quarry on North Rockhill Road.
Mellon issued a permanent injunction, preventing asphalt from being manufactured on-site for the foreseeable future.
Quarry owner Hanson Aggregates argued the township should have allowed the plant because a previous asphalt facility had run for decades until 1983 without any complaints from officials.
The quarry owner contends it had every intention of someday restarting the asphalt plant, and even left several foundational parts of the plant in place.
Mellon, however, said he found the asphalt plant to be a “wholly separate” business than the quarry itself.
Neighbors opposing the quarry said after Tuesday’s ruling the injunction was a step toward their ultimate goal of shutting the quarry down for good.
Residents and lawmakers have recently renewed pressuring state agencies to permanently close the quarry after naturally occurring asbestos was found just over a year ago.
The Department of Environmental Protection ordered a complete halt of quarrying activities at the site as the investigation continues on.
The contention between residents and the quarry dates a bit further back, when machinery and blasting started seemingly out of nowhere near the end of 2017.
Shortly before, Pierson was awarded a $224 million Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission contract providing asphalt for work on the Northeast Extension north of the Lansdale exit. Before 2017, the quarry saw little activity for about 30 years.
Noise, traffic and other issues had neighbors of the 110-acre property demanding the township take action immediately. A lengthy series of zoning hearing board meetings followed, but the dispute between the township and the quarry was moved to the courts this past June.
Pierson claimed it had been operating at bare minimum legal requirements to maintain state permits and that past township zoning laws that allowed the quarry to operate in the 1980s should still apply.
Robert Gundlach, attorney for Hanson, said in his closing arguments during the two-day hearing that ended Tuesday that not allowing the asphalt plant at the site might actually compound noise and traffic problems.
The plant would have transferred crush stone to the asphalt plant via conveyor belt, but an off-site location would mean trucking crushed stone out of the quarry.
While the injunction might solve one problem neighbors of the quarry have, nothing about Tuesday’s order has any impact on mining operations at the quarry itself.
Katie Zackon, head of the grassroots Rockhill Environmental Preservation Alliance, said the group will continue urging residents to continue opposing the quarry as the asbestos investigation is ongoing.
Gundlach added soon after Tuesday’s decision he did not know if Hanson would appeal Mellon’s ruling to a higher court.