“Public Nuisance” is a term that can be used to describe the impact of quarry mining and other industrial activities on the general public. It is considered a legal tort when it interferes with your rights as a citizen, a homeowner, and a taxpayer. Alllaw.com describes public nuisance as an “unreasonable, unwarranted, or unlawful interference with a right common to the general public” or one that gives threat to “a community’s health, safety, or overall welfare.”
How might Vulcan Materials or its contractors create a public nuisance? If you have never lived near or worked in a quarry mine, you might not expect the stark reality or outcome of blasting, penetrating or crushing rock into pieces small enough to be carried down the side of a mountain or otherwise.
What you can expect?
- Shaking houses and rattling windows
- Moving furniture or other items
- Damaged or destroyed mailboxes caused by industrial mining trucks
- Possibility for shifting foundations, cracked tiles, and other property damage
- Blasting and drilling noises
- Dust and smoke, which only increase in windy conditions
- Fly rock (a term used to describe dangerously misguided rocks dislodged in the quarry process)
- Industrial traffic which interferes with commuter traffic, creates more dust, and has the potential to cause fatalities on dangerous roads
For a live demonstration, see the Video on the Video Tab.