Pike Industries is asking a judge to allow blasting at its Spring Street quarry – work that was forbidden while the court considers the company’s rights to operate.

Pike is seeking a change to the court order handed down last month, which gives the company the right only to crush, excavate and remove rock. Pike filed a motion last week in Maine Business Court to amend the stay, which Justice Thomas Humphrey granted on Nov. 17, in order to allow up to nine blasts during a two-month period.

Westbrook’s Zoning Board of Appeals ruled in July that Pike does not have the proper permits to operate on Spring Street at all. Pike is contesting that decision in court, and the stay allows the company to continue to operate to a certain degree until there’s a final ruling in the case.

Pike’s argument for the amendment to the stay is that the company cannot fulfill its business contracts without being able to blast rock, because its current stockpiles would be depleted within months.

Altogether, Pike’s argument concludes that not allowing blasting would effectively shut down the quarry. And if Humphrey intended to maintain the status quo and allow Pike to continue to conduct business out of its Spring Street quarry, he should allow the proposed limited blasting schedule.

“If (Humphrey’s) intentions were to not keep us from being able to do business, the part about blasting didn’t make a lot of sense to us,” said Jonathan Olson, regional manager for Pike.

Olson said Pike was “very happy with 95 percent” of the stay Humphrey granted last month. Pike’s opponents, however, say this latest court action indicates that Pike didn’t get what it wanted out of the stay, despite depicting the decision as a win for the quarrying company.

“They were claiming victory,” said Warren Knight of Smiling Hill Farm, one of the members of opposition group Westbrook Works. “Why are they now complaining about it?”

Knight said if the blasting were done in the winter, it wouldn’t greatly affect his herd of cows, because they’ll soon be kept inside. However, he said, if Pike continues to file court motions fighting every decision, it would continue to hurt his wallet.

“They have deeper pockets than the rest of us,” said Knight. “They’re trying to wear down our sources. I’m hurting right now. Can I continue to pay an attorney to answer all these things?”

Television stations WPXT and WPME on Ledgeview Drive don’t have attorneys involved in the court case, but their general manager, Doug Finck, said blasting would have a negative impact on how the company operates.

“Broadcasting and blasting are just not compatible,” he said. “Anytime you have to alter the way you do your business, I’d say it’s more than an inconvenience.”

Spring Street resident Tim Bachelder feels the same way about the disruption resumed blasting would bring to his home life.

“That’s pretty much the same level of blasting that’s upset people in the past,” he said.

To characterize this motion as an amendment to the stay – or to propose blasting up to 20 times per year as a compromise, which Pike did in October – makes Bachelder wonder what the company actually had in mind for its Spring Street quarry.

“I can’t imagine what they would’ve done if no one had stood up and said no to them,” he said.

In its latest motion, Pike primarily points to a multi-year contract the company has with Auburn Concrete to make its case for being able to blast.

An affidavit from James Hanley, an external salesman and governmental affairs manager for Pike, says the Spring Street quarry has about 10,300 tons of stone in its stockpiles. In its contract, Pike is obligated to provide Auburn Concrete a minimum of 50,000 tons of stone per year.

Though demand has dropped during the economic downturn, Hanley says Auburn Concrete expects business to pick up some in 2010 and, depending on actual demand, the current stockpiles would likely be depleted in two to six months. Furthermore, Hanley says, if all of that stone is reserved for Auburn Concrete, Pike cannot bid on any other projects in Greater Portland.

The other options Pike has for excavating rock without blasting are to use a jackhammer or a bulldozer – methods that Hanley argues would be more of a nuisance than blasting, because the equipment is loud and would operate continuously, and would not be financially practical for Pike.

Pike also filed a motion to expedite the hearing of its amendment. Defendants in the case, which include the city of Westbrook and nearby businesses, have until Thursday to answer the motion and Pike will have four days from then to respond.