SABATTUS – Seeking to protect groundwater by stopping gravel mining above an aquifer and in shoreland areas, activists presented a petition with about 200 signatures to the town Tuesday.

Twelve members of the Sabattus Hill Huggers, Cortney Piper of the Maine Toxic Action Council of Portland, and several representatives of Green Corps, a Boston-based environmental organization, held a press conference at the Sabattus Municipal Building.

The issue surrounds about a dozen gravel pit mines that the Hill Huggers say are unregulated and the town maintains are exempt from its regulations because the mines were in operation before local ordinances were passed.

The Hill Huggers say that at least two mines are operating above an aquifer that recharges the town’s drinking water supply and within 200 feet of Sabattus Pond.

Piper and the Green Corps activists said they went door-to-door and gathered the signatures in two days. The petition requests a public hearing with the Planning Board. The petition also asks the town to address four specific issues:

• To stop all gravel pit mining above any aquifer recognized by the state.

• To stop gravel mining within 250 feet of any lake or pond.

• To stop all mining having an adverse effect on scenic or natural beauty.

• To amend the town’s Site Plan Review Ordinance to apply to existing mining operations as well as new proposals.

David Dalphonse founded the Hill Huggers after he moved to Sabattus from New Hampshire about two and a half years ago. He said he has been in a dispute with the town and the operator of a 2.78-acre gravel mine that, Dalphonse said, is partly on his property.

Some of the mining activity is over aquifers, he said.

“We’re very concerned about it and concerned that the local government is not taking care of it,” Dalphonse added. “The town has shown no interest in protecting the drinking water.”

“The problem with gravel pits is that an unknown number of them operate without any sort of regulations. Most of the pits are too small to be regulated by the state Department of Environmental Protection, and many additional pits have been grandfathered, or exempted by our local mining ordinance,” said Gino Camardese, a 24-year Sabattus resident and a member of the Hill Huggers. Camardese said he has seen gravel mining along side ponds with clear cutting of trees up to nearly the water’s edge.

Dalphonse said digging has occurred within 13 feet of Round Pond.

Speaking at the press conference, Camardese called for stricter regulation by the DEP. He said businesses conducting gravel-mining operations have skirted state regulations by mining less than five acres at a time. “If you look around the town of Sabattus, all you see is sand pits.” The DEP regulates pits that are 5 acres or larger.

Camardese also claimed that dumping and burying has occurred constituting illegal landfills. “Ten to 20 years from now a guy is going to start digging to build a house and woops,” he said.

Camardese called for regulation of gravel pits on an equal basis, regardless of the length of time a mine has operated. He said some pits in Sabattus were grandfathered because they are on the same sites where mines existed in 1928 and 1940.

Selectmen have declined to comment about the gravel pits and are seeking a legal opinion about the matter.

Copy the Story Link