Trappe Council Hears Opposition to Proposed Concrete Batch Plant

The Trappe Town Council heard public opposition to a proposed concrete batch plant during its Wednesday, Aug. 5, meeting, although town officials emphasized that no formal application has yet been submitted.

Council President Jeremy Newnam said the Town of Trappe has “not officially received any sort of formal proposal for any plans in the future” regarding a nearly 38-acre concrete batch plant along Old Trappe Road.

The possibility of a plant has raised concerns among some Trappe residents about truck traffic, noise, dust, water use, and the site’s proximity to White Marsh Elementary School.

A letter from the Talbot County Board of Education was introduced during the meeting. The council is not taking action on the letter at this time because the town has not received a formal proposal from Atlantic Concrete Company.

The letter is also attached to the council’s meeting minutes on the Town of Trappe website.

“Simply put, they [the board] did not take a position on the proposal unofficially put forth in front of the Town of Trappe,” Newnam said. “They are not a proponent for it or a proponent against it, but they did provide insight and some guidelines that they would recommend the town reviewing and putting in place going forward.”

Newnam said that once official plans are submitted, the town council will review them closely. He also said the council would be open to meeting with the Talbot County Board of Education about its concerns once a formal proposal is received.

“I’ll just keep using the same words over and over again. The town has not been submitted anything officially yet,” Newnam said.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, several attendees voiced opposition to the proposed plant, including local businessman Tom Mitchell, local businesswoman Sally Heckman, John D. Farwell, co-publisher of the Tidewater Times and a former employee of a company similar to Atlantic Concrete, and resident Cassandra Foster, who previously worked on a project involving pollution from a cement production facility.

“I could not identify any benefit,” Mitchell said. “There are many reasons why I’m opposed to it and why it should be denied. Air, water, noise pollution … something called the fugitive dust covers the feeder roads to the plant.”

Mitchell also raised concerns about water use.

“Our water is precious,” he said.

Heckman pointed to the town’s Comprehensive Plan and questioned whether an industrial use such as a concrete batch plant would be consistent with it.

“It states that development should preserve Trappe’s visual village character to prevent environmental pollution, conserve natural resources, protect human health, and some other things,” Heckman said.

“In my view and observation of the Comprehensive Plan, it just doesn’t comply. And not only a concrete plant, but any other general industrial permits would, in my mind, not be in line with the future of Trappe.”

Farwell, who has more than 20 years of experience working for a company similar to Atlantic Concrete, discussed the dust and noise associated with concrete batch plants.

“There is dust, there is noise,” Farwell said. “The dust is going to travel further so yeah, they [nearby residents] could be affected. Especially with the elementary school right there.”

Farwell also questioned whether Trappe’s existing infrastructure could support such a facility.

“We got to look at our infrastructure. Is the infrastructure able to support that? They [concrete batch plants] use so much water,” Farwell said. “I think we’re going to have to be very, very careful on where we allow this. I think it’s a horrible idea.”

Foster, who previously worked on the Maryland Department of the Environment’s ad hoc committee on pollution control and oil control, also raised environmental and health concerns.

“I would be vehemently against it in such a small area. You don’t have the room you need,” Foster, who recently moved to Trappe, said.

She also discussed water use associated with concrete batch plants, which she estimated at 6,000 to 10,000 gallons per day, and raised concerns about grey water systems used in plant operations.

“What they normally do is create an open grey water tank, so you’ve got open, used water sitting in a pond that is going to be reused,” Foster said. “Very often those ponds leak … all it takes is one bad storm.”

Town officials reiterated that any review of the proposal will begin only after formal plans are submitted.