Nestled in green rolling hills dotted with covered bridges, centuries’ old farmhouses, and towering oak trees is Springfield Township, in Upper Bucks County, PA,. This bucolic holdout, and the headwaters of Upper Tohickon Creek that emanate from there, are threatened by plans that would literally blast away the land: a massive 2-pit quarry proposed by H&K Group. Residents are committed to protecting the land, their health, and their way of life and have reached out to the Council for help. The Council is stepping up to the challenge and is honored to stand with this community.
The Council and residents share a number of serious concerns about the quarry proposal. Among them are the threat the quarry poses to drinking water supplies in this area where residents depend on private wells; air pollution; the destruction of wetlands, forest, and important wildlife habitat; pollution and disruption of Upper Tohickon Creek; and the danger the quarry construction and operations would pose to users of the neighboring rail trail. Some of the neighbors to the proposed quarry site are also small business owners whose livelihoods depend on maintaining the quality of their land and water.
The quarry proposal can only go forward if approved by the Springfield Township Board of Supervisors. Monthly conditional use zoning hearings for the proposal began in September 2020 with a powerful showing of the combined advocacy efforts of the Council and residents. The Springtown Firehouse, where the hearing was held, was filled to pandemic capacity, with 80-100 additional residents observing the proceeding on a projector screen in the parking lot while maintaining social distance. Despite H&K’s strenuous objections, the hearings have since moved completely online for all but the Township Supervisors themselves due to the worsening pandemic. Hearings are likely to continue well into 2021.
The Council was initially denied party status and thus the opportunity to fully participate in the hearings, but Council attorneys succeeded in getting the Board to reverse that decision despite H&K’s objections. The Council is now poised to cross examine each of H&K’s witnesses and to partner with residents to make the case that the quarry proposal fails to meet zoning requirements and would be devastating for the community. Anyone interested in following along can watch the hearings online through the Township’s website: https://www.springfieldbucks.org/ As of this writing, hearings are scheduled for the second Tuesday of each month, beginning at 7:00 PM. For more information on the Council’s work in Springfield Township, contact Jack Byerly at jbyerly@cleanair.org or 215.567.4004 x 109
