MERRIMACK – A blasting violation, recorded late last week, has forced work to stop once again at Merrimack Premium Outlets, the controversial outlet mall under construction in South Merrimack.
Work crews, which started blasting this fall at the construction site off Exit 10 of the F.E. Everett Turnpike, exceeded the permitted decibel levels with an explosion Friday afternoon, violating the town’s development agreement and causing houses to rattle throughout the area, according to neighbors’ complaints.
As a result, Fire Chief Michael Currier, the town’s blasting agent, has declined this week to approve the permit necessary to continue the blasting work. Currier will not do so, he said, until the blasting firm, Maine Drilling and Blasting of Auburn, submits a revised blasting plan, including more preventative actions to better guard against further violations.
“They seem to have issues with (staying within the blasting levels),” Currier said this morning. “If they can’t do fix it themselves, we’ll have to do it for them.”
The violation, which exceeded the permitted level by 1.8 decibels, is the fourth such breach recorded since blasting started in November. In December, three violations – two for noise, one for vibration levels – prompted Currier to pull the blasting permit, stopping work for several weeks.
Work commenced once again in late December after project planners tweaked their blasting plan.
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