She could be adversely affected by the proposed Redimix concrete plant

We received an email from Patricia Fairhurst of Dover who shared this photo of her daughter with us and added:

"Please add this little girl to your list of our children who could be adversely affected by the proposed Redimix concrete plant. I bought my home in a this neighborhood in 1998 because it was a safe and quiet place to raise my children. The Redimix proposal endangers both of those aspects of our lives here. We can't let this happen."

Indeed, we can't let this happen! Please send us your stories and pictures too- and it doesn't have to just be children - we need to put all of our pictures online to let Pike Industries and the towns of Madbury and Dover know that it's not just names and addresses that will be affected, but people- men, women and children all.

Welcome Fosters Daily Democrat Readers!

This blog was featured in the top headline news story of the "second front page" section of the Fosters Daily Democrat! If you are new here then welcome! As Fosters mentioned this site is for those community members of Madbury and Dover who are concerned about the proposed concrete plant.

How can you participate? It's easy! Just click here to email us what you'd like to post to the blog and we'll post it for you! Be sure to include how you would like your name to appear in the blog post. In addition, you can sign up with Blogger to have your own Blog account and we'll add you as an author so you can post your blogs directly to the site! It's easy!

We're also collecting pictures of the people of the community who are concerned with the proposed plant- to put faces to the names and posts that appear on this site. So please, click here to email us your pictures!

Thanks for stopping by! Please check back often as this blog is updated regularly!

A letter from an 11 year old resident

My name is Naomi Keefe and I am 11 years old. I am writing this letter to protest against the installation of a new concrete batch plant, operated by Redi-Mix, on Barbadoes Pond on the Dover/Madbury town line.

As a current resident of Grandview Drive across from Barbadoes Pond, the number of reasons is very immense on why the concrete plant should not be constructed. Firstly, it is a great environmental hazard. Occupants of Grandview Drive would no longer be able to swim, fish, or boat in the pond. Our neighborhood has a beautiful selection of wildlife and vegetation and the concrete plant would eliminate much of this.

Secondly, the concrete plant can cause lung problems from dust and other debris. The ingredients in concrete are sand, gravel, cement and water. Sand and gravel dust contains a large amount of quartz which has been shown to cause silicosis. Silicosis is a progressive disorder that can be disabling and sometimes fatal. This is just one of the many health issues.

Lastly, the installation of a concrete plant will create a tremendous increase in traffic. The estimate Redi-Mix has presented is about 160 truck passes per day. That means a concrete truck will pass by not only the houses on route 9, but the neighborhoods adjoining it, about once every 3 minutes. The plant would operate year-round, excluding Sundays, and has proposed a 50-year life span. The current sand and gravel reserves are plentiful enough for ten years only and when that time is up, there will be another portion of trucks coming to and fro daily.

After reading this letter, for just a minute put yourself in my shoes, what would you do?

Sincerely,
Naomi Keefe

My daily drive

Every morning I commute past Pike Industries on my way to work, and every morning I am greeted by this beautiful sign on Cindy Bushong's lawn- it reads:

NO REDI-MIX CONCRETE PLANT PIKE INDUSTRIES GO AWAY!

It's like a morning cup of coffee, I've come to appreciate it and look forward to it each day. I applaud Cindy for being brave and making such a huge statement. You unite us all and inspire us to create things like this weblog.

But then I drive past Cindy's sign and I encounter Pike's entrance. Their sign is like a cold, lifeless stare. The twin metal gates to their asphalt plant are like the arms of a machine. Recently the machine came back to life, after over a year of non-operation. It was like Pike flipped the switch just to spite us all- attempting to protect themselves from future non-operational arguments, yet giving more weight to the original argument of non-operation.

Some days the machine tries to spit at me, and I find myself behind, or a few cars behind, one of their asphalt dump trucks. They spew toxic fumes and steal my fresh air- forcing me to roll up my windows, or put the air on recycle. Sometimes, but not every time, they feature a helpful warning label - "CONSTRUCTION VEHICLE: DO NOT FOLLOW." Do not follow Pike Industries? I think that label should appear on EVERY one of your trucks, heck, make it your corporate motto- because following you is like following poison. Your concrete plant will likely force us all to not only roll up the windows in our cars, but also force us to close the windows of our homes. You could be stealing our town's fresh air- and for some, you could be stealing their very breath.

So Cindy I join you here, and shout from my rooftop and for all the world and internet to hear: NO REDI-MIX CONCRETE PLANT PIKE INDUSTRIES GO AWAY!

30 years on Barbados Pond

As residents/tax payers in the town of Madbury, we are very concerned about the proposed concrete plant that would create numerous issues/hazards for ourselves and our neighbors. We have lived here for 30 years, seen many changes to the neighborhood, and will most likely be forced to sell our home due to the increased tax rate in Madbury. Like all home owners, when the time comes, we would expect to sell our property at fair market value.

We hope and pray that this concrete plant will not be allowed to begin construction.

Our future is at risk, financially, physically, and emotionally.

I trust that the "powers on the board" will seek to protect the rights of home owners who have made lifelong financial contributions to the town of Madbury.

Jean and John Barry
Littleworth Road
Madbury

Why I'm here. Also, send in your stories and pictures!

The internet is a powerful thing. It has brought to task some of the most powerful people and companies, it has stopped injustice dead in its tracks and it has forced policy change in monolithic corporations. I KNOW that with the power of the internet we can STOP Pike Industries from building this concrete plant. But, I need your help to do it!

Here's how- I intend this blog to become a collection of YOUR stories and photos- putting faces to the people of Madbury and Dover who will be affected by Pike Industries. I hope my post about my baby daughter inspired you to share your story too. So please, send me your thoughts and feelings, stories or anecdotes, history of Madbury or Dover and the concrete plant, or anything at all, and I'll post it to this blog, anonymously or with your name, whichever you prefer. Just email me at SayNOtoPIKE@gmail.com

In addition I hope to collect anyone's picture who wishes to share and post it to the say NO to Pike Industries Flickr Photo group and to this blog. I'm hoping to create TWO sets of photos- one of the children who will be affected and then one of the area residents who will be affected. So, please send in pictures of yourself AND your family!

I also plan to start interviewing different residents of Madbury and Dover and posting videos to YouTube about this as well. If you would like to be interviewed, please email me.

Pike Industries already knows how we feel about them- their attorneys and representatives face huge crowds of people who oppose their plan when they come to town hall hearings, and there is a beautiful anti-plant sign on the lawn of a house adjacent to their plant entrance. Also, there is already an excellent no2pike.com website out there that's chock full of up-to-the-minute information about this, but I'm hoping to add to the online efforts with this blog and YOUR help!

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN! To join the effort, please take just a few minutes to email your story and/or pictures to me at SayNOtoPIKE@gmail.com

I am afraid for my baby's health

I first moved to this area in the summer of 2006- my wife was pregnant and we felt like we had finally found the right place in New Hampshire to raise our baby- we'd found our dream home. Fast forward one year, we have a baby girl! She was born in our house and over time we've fallen in love with our neighborhood and community. We've come to realize that our house will be the house that our baby daughter grows up in. But all that was called into question when we found a flyer attached to our mailbox one day.

The flyer told us that all our dreams of the future and our perfect neighborhood were in jeopardy! It said that a company, Pike Industries, was working to try to open a "Redimix concrete plant" close to our home- in a town with almost zero commercial and industrial activity!

Concrete plants release dust or “particulate matter” during the handling of cement and aggregate, the production of concrete, and from on-site haul roads. "Particulate Matter" contains particles that are so small that they tend to stay in the lungs and can have a significant health impact. Concrete production facilities also use concrete release agents. These release agents contain substances that are classified as "Hazardous Air Pollutants" (HAP). HAPs can cause serious health problems. They can increase the risk of cancer, birth defects, or have other adverse health impacts. The official MSDS for ready mixed cement concrete shows chronic exposure to sand and gravel dust containing high levels of quartz has caused silicosis, a serious and progressive disorder which can be disabling and lead to death. Silica dust is listed as a potential carcinogen by the IARC. The proposed plant would be within the secondary groundwater protection area for both Dover’s Hughes and French Cross Road wells and is in close proximity to the Bellamy Reservoir. The Hughes and French Cross Road wells produce 1.5 million gallons of drinking water per day.

We fear for our baby's health! Our community is up in arms! Newspapers are covering it, town hall meetings are chock full of people in opposition! Some are collecting signatures in opposition, some have even started their own "no to pike" informational websites. Me? I've decided to blog about it and you can too- if you are concerned about Pike Industries attempt to open a Redimix Companies Concrete Plant in the Madbury and Dover New Hampshire areas then please contact me if you'd like to contribute your thoughts to this blog.

I hope this can be a place where myself and other members of the communities affected by this new plant can speak out and share their feeling with the world. I have big plans for this blog- video, pictures, podcasts and more. Pike Industries and Redimix Concrete Companies, I hope you are listening.