Rockwood, Man. residents speak out about proposed limestone quarry expansion

Numerous residents in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood and the Town of Stonewall are voicing their opposition to the proposed expansion of a nearby limestone quarry.

Numerous residents in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood and the Town of Stonewall, Man., are voicing their opposition to the proposed expansion of a limestone quarry on the outskirts of town.

Rockwood resident Pam Palcat lives just outside of Stonewall, and says the expansion would bring the quarry to within a stone’s throw away.

“Currently we have about a mile between us and the closest quarry, and once they move it will be closer to a quarter of a mile,” Palcat told Global News.

“So we’ve already had lots of issues, in our opinion, caused by the quarries. If we’re feeling the impact at a mile away, then once they move closer, then the impact we’re currently feeling is what the Town of Stonewall residents will feel.”

Palcat says she believes the blasting from the quarries has already done damage to their home’s foundation and windows.

“That’s a major blast, when they happen. It’s got major, major impact,” she said.

She says she and her husband put an addition on their home last October; but had they known about the possibility of the quarry expanding, they wouldn’t have.

“It’s a four-season sunroom and three of the walls are glass. Well, had we known (about the expansion) we never would have invested that kind of money into a room,” Palcat said. “When the blasting happens, as it is, everything shakes in our house. So what’s going to happen to these walls then?”