Joliet quarry blasting plan goes to community meeting

A proposal to start blasting rock at an old Joliet quarry will be outlined to neighbors at a community meeting on June 27.

A vote on the controversial blasting plan for the quarry in the vicinity of Richards Street and Sandall Place on the East Side was tabled by the City Council earlier this month.

Council member Jan Quillman said at the end of the meeting that the quarry owner wanted another chance to talk with residents before bringing the matter to a vote.

“After that meeting, it’s going to come to the council,” Quillman said. “That’s my understanding.”

The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at the Nowell Park Recreation Center.

The last community meeting on the plan was held in November. But residents showed up at the December meeting of the City Council to oppose blasting at the quarry. The council tabled a vote for the first of several times, and some residents say the plan has been pending for too long.

“This should never have been brought forward until it was ready,” Megan Cooper said at the June 6 council meeting.”

Quarry owner VN Land wants blasting to produce more rock aggregate for the quarry’s primary customer, PT Ferro Construction, according to a city staff report on the project prepared for the December meeting. Blasting contractor Quick Supply Co would conduct a blast that would last a couple of seconds at a frequency of no more than every few days and as seldom as once a month, according to the report.

However, city officials called for an independent report on the blasting impact after residents raised objections.