The board asked for more detail in an application to mine gravel off Route 132 in Sabattus.

SABATTUS — The Planning Board has voted unanimously that an application to start mining gravel at a new potential sand pit was incomplete.

The board said it wanted to see greater detail in the Poiriers’ reclamation plan.

Owners Raymond and Scott Poirier will seek to meet that request and other requirements and make their application complete by the Planning Board’s May meeting.

On April 27, board members did an almost two-hour on-site walk of the 4-acre site located on a 30-acre plot on an access road near Route 132.

“We did quite an extensive walk of the property,” said Denis Castonguay, chairman of the Planning Board.

A contingent of about 15 Sabattus Hill Huggers attended the walk. “We were really there on a mission of getting information,” said David Dalphonse, head of the Hill Huggers.

At Monday night’s Planning Board meeting, Castonguay reminded the Poiriers of a Department of Environmental Protection rule that states that a digging area must remain 5 feet above the water table. He directed them to find out where the water table is under the pit.

The Poiriers said they would dig 10 feet down and then bail gravel for as much as another 25 feet to find the water table. Though they had not yet determined what the depth would be for the Poirier project, Castonguay said the Planning Board has the authority to impose a greater barrier between the water table and the digging area than the DEP rule of 5 feet.

But, he said, the board can order nothing less than 5 feet. The project would probably last 10 to 15 years, Castonguay said. Assuming it gets approved, Castonguay said, he would recommend to planners that they reinspect the project after one year to see if conditions on the site are being met.

The board set a date to walk the site again at 9 a.m. on Sunday, May 18.



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