Spills rock over road surface at junction of Routes 216 and
91
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| Junction of Routes 216 and 91 (spill photos by Steve Dubois) |
On Friday morning, one of the notorious Copar quarry’s numerous purple trucks
spilled a major portion of its load of gravel all over the road surface at the
intersection of Routes 216 and 91 near the Bradford Elementary School.
One of the leading Copar opponents, Steve Dubois, was on the
scene as he was heading for work and caught the aftermath of the spill on his
cell phone camera.
He also called police who, he said, took more than half an hour to respond. Meanwhile, according to Dubois, motorists, especially motorcyclists were exposed to danger. Dubois reported the sharp gravel flattened one of his tires.
He also called police who, he said, took more than half an hour to respond. Meanwhile, according to Dubois, motorists, especially motorcyclists were exposed to danger. Dubois reported the sharp gravel flattened one of his tires.
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According
to the Westerly Sun, the police say Copar driver Joseph Liskiewicz of
Preston, CT didn’t know that a rock had jammed into his tailgate, preventing it
from closing fully. Liskiewicz was cited for the spill and is to appear before
the Traffic Tribunal in Wakefield.
For reasons not explained, the Copar truck was taking the
load of gravel from its Bradford quarry to its Charlestown quarry on Route 91.
Under town ordinance,
Charlestown has the right to inspect the premises any time it wishes to
determine Copar’s compliance with the law.
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This is a power Charlestown has
never exercised, even though it has passed a sternly worded resolution
against Copar and is planning to pass another one at Monday night’s Town
Council meeting.
The Sun’s account said there was a pile of small pebbles measuring
150 feet long and 3 feet wide, mostly in the bicycle lane, but also in the
travel lane. That account is not entirely consistent with Dubois’ photos and
other eye-witness accounts.
One witness who was also passing through the area
heading for work told me it seemed to her like ill-timed road construction work.
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Dubois reported that a clean-up crew from Copar showed up
before the police and started sweeping rock off the main road surface.
In an e-mail, Dubois noted, “they speed down our narrow
roads and spew stuff out of their trucks all the time.”
When I spent a couple of hours outside the gates of Copar’s
Bradford facility, I saw trucks going at a high rate of speed on Route 216 and,
when exiting and entering the quarry site, the trucks sometimes seem on the
verge of tipping over.
I photographed one fully loaded truck (left) with no cover over
its load.
All of Copar’s trucks, and apparently most of its workforce,
come from Connecticut where Copar and its company executives live.
To learn more about the Copar quarries, click here.
To learn more about the community opposition to Copar, click here.