Members of Gorham’s planning board lack the foresight to investigate and read up on the issues concerning the proposed asphalt plant before coming to a conclusion. Many of the issues about this plant and the adjusted application suggest they have not done their homework on the issues. These people are placed in these positions to make intelligent recommendations and not just a process to go through for the town council to figure out.
This board should by all means throw these requests for ordinance changes out. It is very obvious that the planning group is a special-interest group themselves looking out for another special interest, the Shaw Brothers Construction Co. This approval process, if it continues, should be held as all others have been and not tweaked and adjusted for the asphalt plant.
The other aspect here that I hope comes to the forefront of the Gorham Town Council is the fact that not only is this project an eyesore, with noise issues and depreciation of surrounding property values, but also it is an environmental hazard that causes major health issues.
I researched all of the cancer-causing agents that this plant will emit into the air, and there is overwhelming evidence that the toxins from such plants do, in fact, cause cancer. Having the plant so close to the residents of Gorham seems short sighted. The town is too caught up in the tax revenue and the political nature of the Shaw Brothers. You cannot put a price tag on health and the future of a town or state, you cannot compare Blue Rock to this plant in Gorham and you cannot allow people with special interests to drive the process.
It is foolish that we are spending time fighting over this plant. Find a place where there are no residents and zone that property in a way that is up front. I walk/run throughout many of the surrounding neighborhoods of the areas that will be impacted and there are children running around and playing. When this plant goes in, those families will move away, as I will, also, and Gorham will lose what we have worked so hard to change in regard to its reputation – a rural community that still has the pleasure of farms, but with a nice downtown, a college town and a place where raising your family is the first priority. This board and the members of all of the councils have lost that perspective and/or they really don’t care about the town or those hundreds of children that will be impacted years down the road.
The assumption people are making is the planning board and the council have done their home work. Bad assumption. These people have jobs, families, other responsibilities and they are not taking the time to look at statistics, toxins, ratios, environmental impacts, noise. They are listening to half-baked ideas and emotions. That is a formula for disaster.
As to the 50 jobs that this plant will provide, so what. Those 50 people will wish they never accepted the positions if they did their homework to find out what they will be subject to. Look at the reports on this industry – uninsurable from a health and disability perspective. So, working around fumes that kill people is an insurance risk no company will insure. Who would of thought that? Not Shaw Brothers.
David Babino
Gorham
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