UNIACKE QUARRY NEWS

Don't be shy and please don't believe that this particular topic does not effect you if you don't live close to the quarry. Doesn't matter how close or how far away you live from the quarry, the intrusion into our community will be on your front doorstep before you know it! Doesn't matter where, in the community of Mount Uniacke you live or are choosing to live, the blasting noise will find its way to you. The vibrations from the blasting will find their way to you whether you live in the village, on Rockwell Drive on the main highway (#1), in East Uniacke or on a lake elsewhere in our community - the dust will find its way to you whether directly from the blasting or from the dust as the quarry trucks SPEED along the dirt roads they are using and along the paved roads because they are on a timeline to go in and out as quickly as possible (the more loads they can carry, the more the individual driver - or their owners - get paid). The speed limits were / are being broken EVERY TIME a quarry truck goes out with a load and returns for another load - as they get paid by the load and they are all on a schedule. People who live on the road where the quarry is are bombarded by noise and dust every time a "quarry" truck rushes into and out of the road. The drivers have deadlines to meet in order to be paid accurately for their "load". WHEN they don't have a protective cover over the load, the dust from their load will blow everywhere - doesn't matter what speed they are travelling, the load is not compacted in the back of the truck and the dust will be disturbed and dispersed by the "wind" and the movement that the truck is making. When the trucks are on the gravel road, they stir up the dust from the road re: their haste to get the load to its destination so the drivers can return for another load. There are children living in the immediate area and on the Uniacke Mines Road the potholes made by the constant heavy truck passages are making it difficult for cars to drive safely and the school bus that picks up / drops off the children must be having a hard time avoiding the "hasty, impatient" quarry trucks as they rush their load to its destination and return as quickly as possible so they can pick up their next load and "move it out".

Once they hit the paved road - Highway 1 which goes right through the Village of Mount Uniacke - they then "make haste" to drive their way as quickly as possible through the Village until they can access the highway ramp onto Highway 101 and head into their chosen destination to empty their load and rush back to pick up another load. Last year 2 residents took it upon themselves to follow one of these quarry trucks out the gravel road and onto the Highway 1 and followed it all the way through to the Exit 3 to see what speed it would travel since it was going to be driving through a residential area, through a crosswalk near the seniors' residence, between a busy gas station / services centre and the Uniacke & District Fire Department, the Post Office and Pharmacy / Doctor's Office, several private homes, a children's skateboard park (which had several children presently using the park and others walking to the park), past the end of the road leading into the Legion, past the cenotaph, past the community Library, past the Uniacke School (please note that the speed limit drops in this area to a lower speed limit than the previous sections of the Highway 1 until the school and the back entrance to the school parking area are passed), through a twisting and winding section of the Highway 1, passing Bell Park and many homes, past the first entrance to Etter Road and through a residential area with residential sideroads accessing Highway 1, past Eddy's Variety and the Pizza place across the road then onto more homes, sideroads and eventually Withrow's and the Uniacke Business Park and many more homes, passing Uniacke Pizza and the local Pub and the other end of the Etter Road and onward to pass more homes to eventually arrive at Exit 3 (by the Irving) to exit onto Highway 101 to wherever. NOT ONCE DID THE SPEED OF THIS "QUARRY TRUCK" TRAVEL BELOW OR AT THE POSTED SPEEDS! In each area the truck travelled at least 15kms, or more, above the posted speed limit! It definitely not only broke the posted speed limit throughout the entire drive, but it was spewing dust from its load all the way along the Highway 1 because there was no cover on the load to contain it in the back of the truck.

THE ACTUAL CUTOFF DATE TO SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS TO NSDOE FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IS THURSDAY SEPT. 18TH. https://novascotia.ca/nsc/ea/c...