Blast from Taunton quarry sends rocks into neighborhood. What happened?

TAUNTON – Scott Schofield was gardening in his back yard at 175 Fremont St. when a “louder-than-normal” blast came from the rock quarry about 700 feet away from his home. He recalls seeing debris hitting some of the maple trees on his property.

A roughly 2 pound rock landed about 40 feet away from him.

“We’re not talking little pebbles; these were big rocks,” said Jennifer Elsinger, resident at 179 Fremont St., who was “terrified” when the blast from the Taunton rock quarry, located at 203 Fremont St. sent rocks flying off the property and into the surrounding neighborhood.

When the blast happened the morning of April 29, Elsinger's kids, who are homeschooled, were inside but heard the debris “ricochet” off some trains parked on the railroad tracks they live next to.

Schofield also heard the rocks hit the train cars, which, he said, have CO2 tanks attached to them, which “could have been a disaster” if the rocks had hit them.

Schofield and Elsinger don't believe anyone was hit by the debris.

Initial response

Schofield initially walked over to the quarry and told management. He said while employees of the site did come to his property to inspect, he felt like “they dismissed the whole thing.”

The Gazette reached out to the Taunton rock quarry, as well as the Northeast U.S. office for Holcim Industries, which owns the quarry, but didn’t receive a response.

Schofield contacted the Taunton Fire Department about the incident and Elsinger called the Mayor’s Office.

Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell did confirm through e-mail that “an incident occurred at the Holcim quarry in Taunton on Monday, April 29, 2024 in which debris from a quarry blast resulted in rocks leaving the quarry property.”

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Has this ever happened before?

Both Schofield and Elsinger agreed nothing like this has ever happened as long as they have lived in the neighborhood, 6 and 8 years, respectively.

Both said it does gets noisy at the quarry during the day, not just with the weekly blasting, but also with trucks going in and out of the property. “We hear the chiseling and beeping trucks sometimes as early as 6:30 a.m.," said Elsinger. "It sounds like living near a constant construction zone.”

But both recognize the noise is to be expected as they live near a rock quarry.

Schofield said the neighborhood is informed of the blasting schedule through email, though he is not on the list. A siren also goes off from the quarry warning the neighborhood right before a blast occurs.

Fire department investigated incident

The Mayor said the Taunton Fire Department has broad discretion over permitted blasting within city limits. Each blasting permit has a 30-day duration. Following the April 29 incident, the fire department halted re-issuing a new blasting permit to the quarry, pending an investigation.

Captain Robert Bastis of Taunton's Fire Prevention Office told The Gazette there was no suspension of operations at the quarry during this time; all other operations were allowed to continue.

Jason Guilmette, of Maine Blasting and Drilling, who conducted the blasting at the quarry that day, said in a letter to fire prevention, that it is believed the incident with “fly rock” occurred due to the timing sequence of the blast, which resulted in debris flying vertically and off the property, instead of horizontally and staying within the quarry, as intended. He added, “I will be working with our technical services department on a timing sequence to avoid this on future blasting.”

According to O’Connell, the fire department recently completed its investigation and, based on the information provided by Maine Blasting and Drilling, were satisfied new procedures were being “put in place to ensure such an incident does not occur again.”

A news release published on May 8 from Taunton Fire stated the company performing the blasting, as well as the owner of the quarry, had the appropriate permits at the time of the incident on April 29. "It is an on-site blasting operation in a quarry that has been operating at that site for many decades. Taunton fire will continue to monitor any blasting operations in the city and ensure all state and local codes are followed to ensure the safety of the neighbors and citizens of Taunton," the news release stated.

The Taunton Quarry's blasting permit was reissued on May 6.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton quarry blast sends debris near homes. Investigation launched.