WINDHAM – Windham Councilor Peter Busque violated town rules this week when he conducted the first blasts in the construction of his new quarry, angering neighbors who vigorously opposed the quarry during a nearly four-year approval process.

Busque was issued a notice of violation Tuesday, after he conducted a blast at the quarry Monday without having a required performance guarantee in place, Town Manager Tony Plante said at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting. The notice ordered Busque to either cease activities at the quarry or put in place the performance guarantee, a letter of credit that is required by the town’s site plan review in order to pay for the reclamation of the quarry once it is no longer in use, likely in 25-30 years. The violation does not include a fine, said code officer Tom Lister, but any future violation would be handed over to the courts, which would issue a fine.

The blasting was taking place as part of the construction of retention ponds at the site, not for the purpose of mineral extraction, said Town Planner Brooks More. Such blasting is not regulated as it will be when Busque begins mineral extraction, when the town will monitor the blasts to make sure they stay under the maximum vibration threshold set by the Town Council when the quarry was approved in October.

Neighbors of the quarry, which sits at the intersection of Nash Road and Route 302, complained about the blasts at the council meeting, saying Busque, who looked on from his council seat, flouted the law after being told he could not blast Monday because the bond was not in place. The neighbors also said that though the Monday blast was preceded by a warning horn – also a requirement – they heard no such horn before a second blast on Tuesday.

In a statement to the Lakes Region Weekly, Busque, who won a council seat in November while running on a business-friendly platform that emphasized what he felt were unfair impediments to his quarry project, called the circumstances surrounding the blasts “unfortunate” but that “all proper and appropriate safety precautions

were followed as required by state, local and federal requirements.”

He blamed the violation on an unexpected delay in the administrative paperwork necessary for the performance guarantee.

“Due to the extreme economic downturn we are experiencing, the financial process took much longer than expected,” he said in the statement.

Shawn McGoldrick, president of McGoldrick Brothers Blasting Services of Windham, which is conducting the blasts, said in a letter to the Lakes Region Weekly Wednesday his company followed the “letter of the law” with their blasting operation.

“The horns did go off on Tuesday,” McGoldrick said in an interview.

He declined further comment, saying the letter contained his statement. In the letter, McGoldrick said the site passed an inspection Wednesday from the federal Mine Safety Health Administration, which he said was spurred by a complaint from a neighbor.

Carl Russell, who operates Avant Garde Pet Care with Linda Rowe next to the quarry site and who frequently spoke out against the quarry proposal during the approval process, said Busque knew when he approved the blast Monday that he was in violation. Russell said Busque seems to consider the fines part of the cost of doing business. Russell said the matter is further complicated by the fact that many of Busque’s political allies sit on the Town Council and Planning Board.

“He just does what he wants and pays the fines,” Russell said in an interview. “What they need to do is shut them down.”

Russell said he and other neighbors received a letter from McGoldrick in late May saying blasting would occur “on or after June 1.” That was the last they heard about the blasting until Monday at around 3 p.m., when the warning horn was sounded. At the time he heard the horn, Russell said he was at his residence, which is about 3?4 of a mile from the quarry.

“The next thing you know, we were able to feel it, that far away,” he said. “It was a pretty substantial vibration.”

During the quarry approval process Busque said he would work with the neighbors to make sure that they were impacted as little as possible by the quarry operation, Russell said. “He has worked with no one,” he said.

In his statement, Busque said a repeat of this week’s violation would not occur.

“I plan to be a good neighbor, follow the hundreds of laws, regulations and conditions required of operating a quarry and I look forward to finally getting on with my business,” he said. “The last six years have taken a toll on me, my family, my business, the neighbors, the law court and the town as a whole. I want

to put the past behind us and work hard to make a better future. This was an unfortunate series of events. I do not expect a reoccurence and will work hard to ensure this type of event is not repeated.”

Also speaking at Tuesday’s council meeting were neighbors Leon Pride and Margaret Pinchbeck, who also were opposed to the quarry during the long application review.

Pride said he did not hear a warning horn on Tuesday, and asked who at the town he should contact regarding the quarry now that former longtime Code Enforcement Officer Roger Timmons has retired. Plante said residents can call the code enforcement office as well as his office with any concerns.

Pinchbeck said she was upset that, on top of the blasting, Busque is now seeking to move the entrance to the quarry from Route 302 to the Nash Road. Busque originally wanted the entrance on the Nash Road, but the council at the time deemed it unsafe. He has now applied to the Planning Board to make the change, she said.

Busque is also asking for a variance to allow for external drainage and excavation below groundwater at the quarry. A hearing on the variance is set for Wednesday, July 7, at 2 p.m., in the Community Room of the East Windham Fire Barn at 47 Falmouth Road.

The quarry was originally approved in September 2008, but a group led by Pinchbeck appealed in Cumberland County Superior Court. The court remanded the issue to the Town Council in September 2009, directing the council to focus on whether blasting vibrations emanating from the quarry, based on reams of testimony from previous public hearings and studies, would be discernible at abutters’ lot lines. The council then voted to approve the quarry with a vibration standard of 1 inch per wavelength at the nearest abutter’s property line.