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Judge OKs deal allowing Pike to mine quarry
11.23.2010
Published November 23, 2010 by The Portland Press Herald
by Dennis Hoey
A judge has approved an agreement that would allow Pike Industries to mine its rock quarry in Westbrook's Five Star Industrial Park, with a number of conditions.
Maine Business Court Justice Thomas Humphrey issued his opinion Monday afternoon.
Humphrey's decision could end a dispute involving the city of Westbrook, Pike Industries and Idexx Laboratories that began a couple of years ago.
"As a practical matter, one would think this (consent order) is the end of the matter," said William Dale, Westbrook's attorney.
Though the ruling would restrict how Pike can operate its quarry off Spring Street, two disgruntled neighbors, Smiling Hill Farm and Artel, a biopharmaceutical company in the industrial park, could still appeal Humphrey's ruling to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
There is also a separate lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Birdland Neighborhood Alliance, which seeks to invalidate the agreement.
The city has sought to have that lawsuit dismissed. The case is pending in Cumberland County Superior Court.
Pike sued Westbrook last year after the city's zoning board ruled that the company didn't have the right to operate its quarry.
Idexx and other tenants of the industrial park opposed the quarry, saying its blasting was disruptive and incompatible with high-tech operations like its own.
But Idexx dropped its opposition after city officials and Pike came to an agreement that would allow the quarry to operate with restrictions.
"This agreement will allow Pike to mine the quarry, but it will be the most tightly regulated quarry in New England," said Tony Buxton, an attorney for Pike Industries. "Pike believes it can operate under these standards."
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