Intense blasts from Swampscott quarry leave residents shaken

By SAMANTHA CHANEY
SWAMPSCOTT – Residents in Swampscott, Massachusetts are complaining after a series of blasts at a quarry shook their homes, with some saying it felt like an earthquake.
It happened at around noon on Wednesday. Some residents described a loud sound echoing through the streets. Pat McBain, who lives nearby, said her whole house shook.
“Everything was rumbling for a few seconds and then boom, everything shakes,” said McBain. “It’s terrible.”
McBain said the rumbling felt like an earthquake. However, it was caused by blasting at a quarry owned by Aggragate Industries.  
“It’s a way of life in Swampscott,” said Jason Gardner. “They used to do multiple per week, from what I can remember, at least when we first moved here. And now it’s once or twice a week, if that.”
The quarry on Danvers Road has been in operation since the 1930s. However, residents said although the blasts aren’t frequent, Wednesday’s blasts were worse than ever before.
“If you’re shaking houses that much, maybe you shake the gas underneath the houses. So I was very concerned and I called the fire department,” said McBain. 
A spokesperson from HOLCIM Group, the owner of the building company, told WBZ-TV, “We’re working in another part of the quarry, which could be why residents were more sensitive to the recent blasts.”
According to Chief Graham Archer of the Swampscott Fire Department, “The blast was well within legal limits and was performed with all the correct permits and paperwork.”