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Belfast Evening News The Letters Page

Dear Editor, I am very concerned having seen all the unnecessary bad publicity that Black Mountain quarry is getting from the papers at the moment. I’m worried that it may force it to close. I live at the base of the mountain with my husband who works at the quarry. Although I will admit that there are some areas that Whitemountain Quarries maybe could improve, they do their best and even paint their lorries green to help them blend in! However, many people still don’t like it (which I hope to change) because they say there are too many lorries and explosions and they affect the structures of their houses. In my opinion if they don’t like the area, then why move here in the first place? I live with it, after all those bangs mean my husband is earning money for my family. There are many positive sides to having the quarry where it is. Firstly it is outside of any main towns or cities to minimise disturbance. Plus here in Northern Ireland there are few jobs up for grabs and at Black Mountain Quarry there are 100 people employed. Imagine if all those people were unemployed… Plus all the time they are earning money by sending the rock out to other countries. This helps with the economic situation. Secondly the quarry sends the basalt that it extracts to many different firms. One kind of place that it sends materials to is the surfacing firms and the people wouldn’t be happy if the roads and runways weren’t properly surfaced! As well as that, not one tiny piece of quarried basalt is wasted as even the dust is sent off to be used as the basis for some ready mixed concrete! There are many more positive things that come from the Black Mountain quarry even if we don’t know that that is where they came from. Many of them are important and we couldn’t live without them. So come on the newspapers, support Black Mountain and all the good things it does. Mrs H. Pritchard Hannahstown Hill, West Belfast,

Dear Belfast Evening News, I am writing to tell you about the rising number of problems caused by the nearby quarry. Firstly, the continued growth of quarrying means that it is coming ever nearer and it looks absolutely ghastly. This must stop. They are destroying the local environment and it will never be recovered for future generations. Secondly, the noise of the lorries and blasting is dreadful. For those of us that work nights it makes it almost impossible to sleep. The blasts sound like an explosion in my garden, while the lorries create a continual rumbling like thunder. I have also notice big cracks appearing on the local houses, including mine. The quarry company denies it but such structural damage cannot be caused by anything else but the blasting. Furthermore the dust clouds coming from the quarry are causing people breathing problems. Several people down my street have developed asthma over the last couple of years. The dust clouds also make everything dirty with layers of dust building up everywhere. Finally, the roads are congested and full of pot holes. Tarmac is wreaked by the weight of the lorries carrying tonnes of stone, and no-one can get past these slow moving vehicles causing traffic jams. Something needs to be done. The quarry must be closed. The council must do something now! Your sincerely, Matthew Robbins. Dear Editor I think that the quarry should be shut down so many people have had such bad lungs because of the effect of the quarry. If it doesn’t stop now people will die trees will die animals will die. Just remember we will all die if this carries on do you want that to happen? over 1000 billon people died? A Local

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Dear sir/ madam Quarries have caused a few deaths because children often go into them and don’t realise that they are dangerous places. Also this quarry has had quite a few complaints from the public because they have to use exsplosives that can disturb you while you’re as sleep or doing something and sometimes dust comes. Also a lot of the things that we have now is from quarries and without them we wouldn’t be able to live eg: pills often contain white clay, salt is added to food while cooking, ground clay is put in bread for calcium and facecream also has some clay and most of the things that we have for building is there in the quarries. I SUPPORT KEEPING THE QUARRY OPEN BUT THE OWNERS OF THE QUARRY TO PUT MORE SIGHNS UP AND PUT THINGS ON THE NEWS SO PEOPLE KNOW TO KEEP OUT OF QUARRYS!!!! Yours sincerely Mohamed Abdellaoui Dear editor of the local new paper I am very very unpleased that were the quarries are, They are in the moutons and near the mountains also that is where trees are and the blasting can make the trees collapse, and they say that dust can get into the trees and make them die (basically the pollution is in the dust) . Also here is a list of I dislike about the quarry: The noise of blasting The dust from the site The ugliness of the quarry Causing damage to roads and noise and extra traffic on small roads Pollution But the noise it incredibly loud, disruptive, scary , the problem with the noisy is when someone is trying to focus, you keep hearing that blasting and it so loud and very annoying and makes it harder to work • dust pollution • Air pollution . Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause

damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere. The worst part is the ugliness of the quarry’s when they blast, they say that when they do the blast they have to fix the road. So when they make a big hole, they might dig to dip and hit a water pipe and there will be a water shortage. When they fix the roads after blasting they make such a racket and when a elderly male and female couple live near there they will get annoyed, irritated and agitated from this horrid noise although it might harass them it is also bad for there health due to the fact that it may cause asthma, coughing , and dry skin . Yours faithfully, a local. Dear Editor, I want to support the quarry and I suggest that we keep it open. I am worried about all the bad publicity that might cause it to shut down, but I don’t think it should. Without the quarry, life would be hard for many people. For most people the quarry is an important thing because it helps them with their lives. Without the quarry all the men who worked there wouldn’t earn any money because they would not have jobs. The quarry products does many things for everyone, it builds are roads, hospitals, shops and schools and even more. An average family needs for about a lorry of stone every year. If they didn’t receive the lorry of stone, they would suffer. So basically the quarry is really important to all the workers there and their families. Even though it does do some damage it’s still needed to a lot of families. Sincerely, Rebekah Wiggins Dear Editor, I am very concerned about the bad publicity surrounding the Black Mountain Mine. I, have worked there for the last twenty years, along with 99 other people directly employed and all the associated workers ,at least, another thousand , Dockers , lorry drivers , mechanic’s ,shipping personal etc. Ad to those , people who have shops , pubs, newsagents , all of whom rely on the people surrounding the mine, in these times

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of a very fragile economic climate, to close this profitable business , would be suicide for this area!!!! As for the scar on the landscape, Mother Nature, as always, will repair any damage in the fullness of time. The villagers complaints are justified, the mine does cause a lot of dirt and noise, damage to roads, that the mine built and repairs, but the fault of all this must land in the court of the housing planners. The

villages should never have been built so close to an operating mine. \the house buyers also new that the mine was there when they moved into the area!! Closing the mine, would turn Belfast into a waste land, no work, no money, no future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Belfast has a history of heavy industry, this is one of them. Regards very concerned, Thomas Clarkson .