Theresa Dolan told Gorham planners Tuesday she moved from a home underneath the Sappi smokestack in Westbrook to a farmhouse at 309 Mosher Road in Gorham for an improved quality of life.

Now, she fears a proposed Shaw Brothers Construction Inc. asphalt plant and quarry near her home will change all that.

“This proposal is a slap in the face to the town of Gorham,” Dolan said at a planning board meeting discussing the project.

Dolan was among the 25 residents at the meeting, one of a series the board is holding on the controversial project. Residents and planning board members are questioning health issues, noise, groundwater, traffic and visual screening for the project.

The construction company is proposing a stone quarry and an asphalt plant on a 125-acre site on Mosher Road. Much of the site is wooded and zoned industrial. The asphalt plant would be on 2.9 acres. The construction company bought the property from Lachance Brick, which kept a building and a portion of the property to retail bricks. The brick company previously manufactured bricks at the site.

Both projects would be licensed and would have to meet federal and state environmental standards in addition to Gorham ordinances. Walt Stinson of Sebago Technics in Westbrook, the civil engineer for Shaw, said Shaw Brothers had applied for permits from Maine Department of Environmental Protection on Feb. 13, and expects to receive them within six weeks.

With planning board lawyer Natalie Burns attending, planners discussed the project with Danny Shaw, company owner; Stinson and other consultants on Monday and Tuesday. Public comment was allowed Tuesday, and many spoke out against the plan.

Dave Homa, a neighbor of Danny Shaw on Fort Hill Road, said he isn’t opposed to business, but opposed the project. Homa urged planners to take a “hard look” at impacts of the proposal. “You do have to preserve some quality of life in this town,” Homa said.

Deborah Cassidy, who lives on Timber Ridge Road, said she moved to Maine for its quality of life, but said now she’d be looking at pollutants, noise and dust. She worried about neighborhood children. “I have 20 children on my block,” Cassidy said.

Dolan said a school is less than one mile away. “That school will be at risk,” she said.

Another resident, Mary Fagerson, said she had seen dust at a similar plant in California. She wanted assurances that dust from a Gorham asphalt plant would be controlled.

Jennifer Everett, of Libby Avenue, feared that silica dust would be a health risk. She asked for monitors at the property boundaries.

Silica is the main component in sand and in rocks like sandstone and granite. The accumulation of silica dust in the lungs can cause disease.

Susan Robie, chairwoman, is one of the board’s members with similar concerns about silica dust, and asked Shaw to supply data about dust at site boundaries.

A Shaw consultant, David Dixon of Dirigo Environmental Consultants, said during a meeting recess Monday that silica dust wouldn’t escape at significant levels. Dixon said his opinion is that the plant and quarry would not constitute a health risk for people living in the neighborhood.

Allison Rimkunas, Mosher Road, said she was worried that the project would increase traffic on the road that is busy now. “I believe traffic will be more,” she said.

Stinson addressed that issue Monday, saying there would be additional truck traffic for the mile of Mosher Road between the site and the intersection with Route 25.

A Sebago Technics traffic engineer, John Adams, said a study didn’t indicate a need for turning lanes into the site or widening shoulders of the road. “We feel traffic operations will be safe,” Adams said.

Jerry Boulanger, of Johnson Road, said during a meeting recess that he favored the project because Shaw Brothers has a good reputation and it would ease the tax burden on Gorham homeowners.

“We need more tax breaks,” Boulanger said. “We can’t shoot down everything that comes in.”

Donna Waterman said she would consider moving out of Gorham if the project were approved. “I don’t think I’m alone,” Waterman said.

Shaw said things have been blown out of proportion. “To say you’ve got to move out of town is ludicrous,” he said.

The construction company submitted a formal plan to Gorham for the project on Dec. 6 and hoped for approval two months ago.

During a recess Tuesday, Shaw said he hoped to have the asphalt plant operational by next spring. Shaw Brothers Construction plans to bid on the Gorham bypass, a state project that is slated to begin later this year.

Shaw said there’s now just one likely bidder in the area to supply asphalt for a state highway project. “It’s a serious time now with no competition,” Shaw said.

Town planner Deborah Fossum said before Tuesday’s meeting a date for an official public hearing has not been set.

Despite the opposition Tuesday, Shaw maintains the project is a good one. “This will be a neat and clean operation,” he said.

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