Farming
The nearby farmers are very concerned about the quarry dust settling across their fields and have worries about the cattle ingesting the silica. There have been no studies to show how this might affect both the animal’s health and their milk. 4,000,000 litres of milk per annum are produced within a mile of the quarry – much of it organic.
Impact on the Business Community
There are numerous small businesses within the area, such as The Cornish Sea Salt Co., which employs 35 people, The Cornish Seaweed Company and Roskillys, famous for organic dairy products and ice-cream. These businesses could be destroyed by any pollution in the immediate environment.
- Heavy machinery at the quarry will increase risks of oil contamination within the marine environment.
- Ammonium Sulphates, in the explosives, can cause compound runoff containing nitrogen which, in turn, may cause increased turbidity in the waters and algal growth, both of which would damage the marine organisms
- Silica dust settling on the ground could be ingested by local dairy herds with subsequent environmental health implications and an impact on milk production
Roskilly’s is a main tourist attraction and famed nationwide for ice cream production, with around 50,000 visitors per annum. It is sited next door to the quarry. They have 35 full time employees rising to 60 employees in the summer. Tourists would no longer wish to sit outside Roskillys to enjoy a meal or an ice cream, with huge quarry trucks moving along the lane through out the day! Their trade would be devastated by such a development and the jobs they provide would disappear.