Millington Quarry Back on Planning Board Agenda

A fifth public hearing on the Millington Quarry's proposal for how the quarrying operation off Stonehouse Road would be prepared for future use once quarrying stops for good is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night before the township

A series of experts for the quarry already have testified before the board to outline plans for regrading the land, and otherwise preparing the property for future residential use. the quarry's attorney, Michael Lavigne, emphasized that there is no plan before the board at this time for a residential project and that would need to be the subject of a future application.

was how to guarantee that the quality of the soil to would be brought into the property as topsoil or fill would be adequately monitored. Previously, a consultant for the township found contaminated soil coming in on trucks with fill, but no new soil supposedly has been brought into the site since 2008.

The Planning Board is charged with deciding whether to recommend the Township Committee should give final approval to the quarry's rehabilitation— or reclamation — plan for the 180 acres or so that has been used for quarrying for many decades.

The Township Committee also has the option of recommending that the quarry's proposal be modified. That process bogged down a previous post-quarrying plan that went before the governing body in 2008 — and never received final approval.

The township representatives discovery of contaminated soil coming into the property around that time sparked a lawsuit between township, and the quarry's owners and operators. The quarry's operator, Tilcon New York, has since dropped out of the lawsuit, which Millington Quarry also has put on hold pending the outcome of the hearings before the Planning Board. An attorney for the quarry, Michael Lavigne, reminded the board this week that the lawsuit had only been placed on hold through Jan. 17 at this point.