Mod 4 - Operating Hours + Southern OEA

I wish to object to the extension as I have had a number of personal interactions with Boral over both sites at Marulan South. Currently, at early hours of the morning the Peppertree quarry noise level reaches out to my rural location and I am a few kilometres from the site. I have had ongoing issues with the organisation and in conjunction with the EPA and no party have tried to alleviate the situation. The question I simply want to ask is why is it that the EPA follows due process by default, but, ultimately always grants the submission request from large such organisation. It appears that the individual has no backing and possibly with no financial ability to take on such a large global organisations. I purchased my farm in 2013 in the local area. At no time through the searches and legal process I went through was I informed of these emerging entities. Boral has already eliminated a town in the mane of South Marulan because it could not prevent its pollution outfall to the local community. Why is it that now I have to endure longer hours of the noise and the quarries pollution simply because the organisation seems fit to do so. Sydney ever-expanding concerns are not my concern. Nor should it rest on the future of one small community, Marulan. It should be shared throughout Australia. The simple truth of the matter is Marulan is close and cheap and therefore constitutes some god given right to whatever Boral seems fit to request. I severely object to this expansion and with my limited resources I will try and stop it. I also as stated in the email question the EPA feel that there should be some political intervention into the very action of the EPA in continuing granting these proposals.

Our lives have already been impacted upon by the lights and noise of the current operations and we wholeheartedly object to the extension of operation hours. Extension of operating hours will further disrupt our peace and quiet and will also lead to further devaluation of our land.

In the mornings and late evenings, the noise from the quarry can at times be very obvious and will often wake me up in the mornings at the weekend . The noisiest parts of the operation are those that Boral are proposing to extend the operating hours of, in particular the in-pit crusher. The crusher makes very loud banging noises which will, without doubt ,impact on our ability to sleep. In the early morning and late evening, the crusher can sometimes sound like it is just across the road. The proposed extension would mean that the quarry was in operation before my morning alarm and after I go to bed in the evening, and the quarry already wakes me during current operational times if I am on holiday, or at the weekend. Noise monitoring which was undertaken on our property clearly shows that the quarry is already exceeding it's allowable limits as advised by the EPA. Expecting us to put up with this noise from 5am until 11pm is unrealistic, if we are unable to sleep due to the noise this only gives us a 6 hour window in which to rest. The noise monitoring equipment was only positioned once and left for a week. It was lower than the level of the windows in the house and was not placed in the noisiest areas.

We are also concerned about the particulate matter that is often suspended in the air. At times there is so much dust in the air that at night it looks like fog. The particles are very small and cannot be felt but I am concerned as we are obviously inhaling them. If these fine particles are silicates they could cause silicosis. I recently walked down to the lookout at dusk and could see both the Peppertree and Marulan South Quarry. The Peppertree quarry was enveloped in a cloud of dust, whereas the limestone quarry was not dusty at all.Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me but I will endeavour to get some pictures in the near future. I would like some independent monitoring to be done on both the noise and dust levels.

Due to these two issues of noise and dust I strongly object to any extension of the in pit operations of the quarry. In fact I query the 24hour operations as they stand considering that none of the other quarries in the district seem to operate 24 hours a day. The Peppertree quarry was not approved to operate the in-pit crushers throughout the night when it was given the go-ahead, nothing has changed since that time that should allow it to do so now.

Opposition statement as per attachment PDF.

At present the noise of the quarry is at times intrusive, particularly early in the morning. The noisiest parts of the operation are those that Boral are proposing to extend the operating hours of, in particular the in-pit crusher. The crusher makes very loud banging noises which will, without doubt ,impact on our ability to sleep. At times the crusher sounds like it is just across the road so I hate to think how loud it will sound at 5am when the environmental conditions contribute to even greater noise transmission. Noise monitoring which was undertaken on our property clearly shows that the quarry is already exceeding it's allowable limits as dictated to them by the EPA. Expecting us to put up with this noise from 5am until 11pm is unrealistic, if we are unable to sleep due to the noise this only gives us a 6 hour window in which to rest.

We are also concerned about the particulate matter that is often suspended in the air. At times there is so much dust in the air that at night it looks like fog. The particles are very small and cannot be felt but I am concerned as we are obviously inhaling them. If these fine particles are silicates they could cause silicosis. I recently walked down to the lookout at dusk and could see both the Peppertree and Marulan South Quarry. The Peppertree quarry was enveloped in a cloud of dust, whereas the limestone quarry was not dusty at all.Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me but I will endeavour to get some pictures in the near future. I would like some independent monitoring to be done on both the noise and dust levels.

Due to these two issues of noise and dust I strongly object to any extension of the in pit operations of the quarry. In fact I query the 24hour operations as they stand considering that none of the other quarries in the district seem to operate 24 hours a day. The Peppertree quarry was not approved to operate the in-pit crushers throughout the night when it was given the go-ahead, nothing has changed since that time that should allow it to do so now. I have attached a letter that I wrote last year opposing the proposal which contains more of my objections and the reasons for them.