Opponents of Gravel Pit on
Whitehouse Road, Newfield Maine

Below is an open letter from the BLIMP Officers, who are looking for support. Please contact the Board of Selectmen to voice your support to prevent the North Country Gravel Pit.

TO: Town of West Newfield Planning Board & Board of Selectmen

FROM: Lee Willson, President Nick Stadtfeld, Vice President BLIMP

SUBJECT: Proposed North Country Gravel Pit

DATE: June 5, 2007

The Balch Lake Improvement Association represents twelve lake side associations,comprised of 778 cottages surrounding Balch Lake.

With this letter, we wish to record our strong opposition to the proposed "Gravel Pit" on the Whitehouse Road, Folsom Pond area.

We oppose this activity for the following reasons:

1. It will contaminate and negatively impact the Folsom Pond and great estuary which feed Balch Lake. This area is designated by the State of Maine as a "Wildlife Habitat Area". That wildlife will obviously be chased from the area by all of these activities.

2. Many of the homes surrounding the Lake will be within earshot of the proposed rock crusher. This same applicant has operated such a crusher without approval in nearby Sanford for over a year and is facing sanctions for doing so.

3. The dust and airborne silica (a known carcinogen) created will be hazardous and create a nuisance.

4. The gravel pit will depress property values and reduce Town revenues.

5. The operation will create a safety hazard to those who use our roads and the heavy truck traffic will destroy the roads.

6. Currently there is insufficient legal access to the site.

7. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is not favorably disposed to this proposed project because it could contaminate the surrounding water and wetlands.

The Selectman are suppose to make decisions that are best for the people in Newfield. Your webmaster, Peg Doyle, urges you to write today. Registered letters with signature required are best!

Board of Selectmen
P. O. Box 62
Newfield, ME 04095

Suggested text: From the above 7 points, pick those which worry you the most and tell them about it. Would it be getting cancer from the airborne silica? Or trusting a company that is already operating without approval? Losing our wildlife until the gravel pit is finished, years from now? Or waking up Monday through Saturday, listening to the crusher instead of the birds?