Copar Quarries is once again cited and fined for environmental violations

After months of community complaints, DEM cites Copar for air pollution

DEM uses science to nail Copar for air pollution

By Will Collette

The infamous Copar Quarry in Bradford on the Charlestown-Westerly line has been cited by an array of federal and state agencies, as well as by the Town of Westerly, for violating environmental, safety and land use laws. 

But it’s taken months for the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) to finally catch Copar in the act of releasing excessive silica dust from the site. Click here to read the DEM notice.

DEM has rebuffed community complaints for months, saying that it could only issue notices of violations if its own inspectors personally witnessed the violations, no matter how carefully the neighbors recorded and reported the violations.

Last March, I reported the inconsistency between DEM’s posture on Copar and their quick issuance of a notice of violation to the Town of Charlestown over the town’s annual New Year’s Eve bonfire. DEM cited Charlestown for the bon fire based on an anonymous complaint without having an inspector personally witness the violation.

Rep. Donna Walsh (D) got DEM to rescind the violation to the town over the bon fire and also took DEM to the woodshed for its inconsistent treatment of complaints from Copar’s neighbors.

That motivated DEM to send inspectors to down-wind locations from the Copar quarry. The inspectors used their cars as collection devices. I am NOT making this up. They made sure the cars were squeaky clean and then collected samples of the dust that accumulated after 45 minutes.

According to the DEM report, “Based on the wind direction and the location of the vehicle, the Facility [Copar] was the only source of the fugitive dust detected on the vehicle’s windshield during the forty-five minute timeframe.”

This was enough for DEM to issue the Notice of Violation which orders Copar to take steps to prevent dust from escaping in the future and fines Copar $1,500 which is a minimal amount. Imagine what DEM might have found had they tested for longer than 45 minutes and actually used real scientific measuring equipment.

Silica dust is a harmful substance. Prolonged exposure can lead to the lung disease silicosis and to other lung ailments, including lung cancer. On August 23, the federal Occupational and Health Administration (OSHA) issued proposed regulations to cut the allowable exposure to silica dust in half. Click here for additional health information.

"Resident Agent" Roberge actually lives here, 90 miles away
(from the Bristol, CT Tax Assessor's database)

According to an e-mail from Governor Lincoln Chafee’s office cited by the Westerly Sun, DEM has had trouble finding someone at Copar upon whom they can serve the NOV.

This may be due to the fact that Copar’s “Resident Agent,” a person who must reside in Rhode Island and be authorized to accept service of legal papers, is Randy Roberge. Contrary to Rhode Island law, Roberge does not live in Rhode Island. He lives at 30 Summerberry Court in Bristol, CT which is almost 90 miles away.

If you happen to see Randy Roberge,
please tell him RIDEM is looking
to give him something

Copar, of course, denies they committed any violation. That has been the company’s consistent pattern despite being cited by the federal EPA, for 54 worker safety violations by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, by the RI Department of Labor and Training for having unlicensed operators working dangerous equipment, by the Town of Westerly for violating town zoning law and being cited by RIDEM for trash violations and warned for dust violations.

One of my colleagues described Copar’s strategy as “Always deny, always appeal, always delay, always manage to have redundant claims filed against you so that even if one gets ruled against you, you can argue that the others need to be heard. Of course, always work to only have one court thing going on at a time and the others just have to wait. Ignore any ruling against you and just keep on hauling gravel. Never comply. Never admit. It’s always a misunderstanding.”

If Copar ever does accept official service of the DEM notice of violation, they will then have the right to contest the citation through a formal administrative hearing process and then in the courts. No doubt Copar will do just that, and in this case, DEM’s peculiar method of using an inspector’s car as the scientific measurement device will probably feature in Copar’s appeals.

Copar’s misconduct is not limited to its Bradford facility. At the former Morrone’s sand and gravel pit off Route 91 in Charlestown, acquired by Copar in March 2013, Copar is already starting to rack up the MSHA fines as the chart below shows.

MSHA cited Copar and its blasting contractor Maine Drilling and Blasting for four worker safety violations since assuming operations from Morrone. Copar is currently challenging those violations, too.

I traveled the US for twenty years battling polluting industries. It was my consistent experience that companies that were frequently cited for endangering their workers were generally even less conscientious about protecting the environment or the health of their neighbors.

So, Charlestown, even though I know Copar makes you so scared, you want to wet your collective pants, now that Copar is drawing MSHA violations at the Route 91 site, you can bet that there might be some environmental violations, too. 

By the way, one of those violations at the former Morrone site was for excessive noise experienced by two drill operators. One of those workers was exposed to noise more than 300% higher than the permissible level.

APPENDIX: complete list of worker safety violations by Copar at its Bradford quarry

US Mine Safety and Health Administration Citations, Orders, and Safeguards The current operator Copar Industries, LLC has been the operator since 12/1/2010 In Bradford, RI

Violator	Order No.	Case No.	Date Issued	Final Order Date	Section of Act	Date Terminated	Standard	Fine Paid
Maine Drilling & Blasting	8713341	000319913	3/5/2013	8/27/2013	104(a)	3/5/2013	56.4201(a)(2)	138.00
Maine Drilling & Blasting	8713342	000319913	3/5/2013	8/27/2013	104(a)	3/5/2013	56.14101(a)(2)	207.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8710295	000312052	12/11/2012	2/24/2013	104(a)	12/11/2012	50.30(a)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8710291	000312052	12/11/2012	2/24/2013	104(a)	12/11/2012	56.4101	127.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8710294	000312052	12/11/2012	2/24/2013	104(a)	12/11/2012	50.30(a)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8710292	000312052	12/11/2012	2/24/2013	104(a)	12/11/2012	56.12004	425.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8710293	000312052	12/11/2012	2/24/2013	104(a)	12/12/2012	56.14107(a)	946.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8710289	000312052	12/11/2012	2/24/2013	104(a)	12/11/2012	56.9300(a)	2,106.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8710290	000312052	12/11/2012	2/24/2013	104(a)	12/11/2012	56.11012	946.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8704822	000292607	5/2/2012	7/20/2012	104(a)	5/3/2012	56.14112(a)(1)	946.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8704824	000292607	5/2/2012	7/20/2012	104(a)	5/3/2012	56.14110	946.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8704823	000292607	5/2/2012	7/20/2012	104(a)	5/3/2012	56.14107(a)	190.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8704825	000292607	5/2/2012	7/20/2012	104(a)	5/2/2012	56.14132(b)(2)	2,106.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8704828	000292607	5/2/2012	7/20/2012	104(a)	5/2/2012	56.4601	190.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8704827	000292607	5/2/2012	7/20/2012	104(a)	5/2/2012	56.16006	190.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8704826	000292607	5/2/2012	7/20/2012	104(a)	5/3/2012	56.11002	425.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654287	000278536	12/14/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	56.15001	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654286	000278536	12/14/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	56.4101	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654284	000278536	12/14/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	56.15020	108.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654288	000278536	12/14/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	41.12	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654289	000278536	12/14/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	12/14/2011	56.14211(b)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654290	000278536	12/14/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	12/15/2011	50.30(a)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654285	000278536	12/14/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	56.4200(a)(1)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654283	000278536	12/13/2011	2/26/2012	104(g)(1)	12/14/2011	46.8(a)(1)	112.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654280	000281093	12/13/2011	3/24/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	56.14205	263.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654279	000278536	12/13/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	12/13/2011	56.15004	117.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654275	000278536	12/13/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	56.11001	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654274	000278536	12/13/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	46.9(c)(5)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654273	000278536	12/13/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	46.9(c)(1)(i)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654281	000278536	12/13/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	46.9(b)(2)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654277	000278536	12/13/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	12/14/2011	56.14100(b)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654276	000278536	12/13/2011	2/26/2012	104(a)	1/18/2012	56.14132(b)(2)	108.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8654278	000278536	12/13/2011	2/26/2012	104(g)(1)	12/14/2011	46.7(a)	112.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646361		5/11/2011		104(b)	6/2/2011
Copar Industries, LLC	8646360		5/11/2011		104(b)	6/2/2011
Copar Industries, LLC	8646351	000258515	4/27/2011	7/22/2011	104(g)(1)	6/2/2011	46.7(a)	897.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646344	000258515	4/27/2011	7/22/2011	104(a)	4/27/2011	56.14131(a)	807.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646345	000258515	4/27/2011	7/22/2011	104(a)	6/2/2011	56.14132(a)	112.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646349	000258515	4/27/2011	7/22/2011	104(a)	6/16/2011	62.120	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646348	000258515	4/27/2011	7/22/2011	104(a)	6/16/2011	62.130(a)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646350	000258515	4/27/2011	7/22/2011	104(a)	4/27/2011	56.14100(a)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646347	000258515	4/27/2011	7/22/2011	104(a)	4/27/2011	56.9300(a)	807.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646346	000258515	4/27/2011	7/22/2011	104(a)	6/2/2011	56.14100(b)	112.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646341	000255643	4/14/2011	6/24/2011	104(a)	4/14/2011	56.16005	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646342	000255643	4/14/2011	6/24/2011	104(a)	4/26/2011	56.3131	243.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646343	000255643	4/14/2011	6/24/2011	104(a)	5/11/2011	56.3200	243.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646339	000258515	4/13/2011	7/22/2011	104(a)	4/26/2011	56.14105	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8646340	000255643	4/13/2011	6/24/2011	104(a)	4/14/2011	56.12008	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644957	000247175	1/11/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/11/2011	56.15002	362.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644958	000247175	1/11/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/11/2011	56.4402	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644915	000247175	1/5/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/11/2011	46.10(a)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644916	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	2/3/2011	56.11001	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644912	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/11/2011	56.4201(b)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644907	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/18/2011	46.9(a)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644911	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/4/2011	56.14206(b)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644914	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/25/2011	56.11001	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644909	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/11/2011	56.15001	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644908	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	3/28/2011	56.18010	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644906	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/4/2011	56.15002	362.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644913	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/11/2011	56.18002(b)	100.00
Copar Industries, LLC	8644910	000247175	1/4/2011	4/1/2012	104(a)	1/11/2011	46.3(a)	100.00