Opinion ID: 1651275
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Peggy Green's Testimony

Text: Ms. Green first noticed the blasting activity in October 1999, and her neighbors informed her that the blasting originated in Weber's quarry. According to Ms. Green, the number of blasts ranged between five and ten per week. After becoming aware of the blasting, Ms. Green began to canvass the neighborhood to learn whether others were similarly affected by the blasting. She called two meetings, one in her subdivision, which has approximately 410 homes, and one in another subdivision, with approximately 300 homes, to address the issues associated with the blasting. Ms. Green also attended meetings of the O'Fallon city council and the St. Charles county commission to raise concerns regarding the blasting. She testified that she spoke to hundreds of individuals in the community regarding this blasting. At the time of the hearing, however, Ms. Green had moved from her home in the subdivision to another residence much farther from the quarry. Although she believed that her new home was within a two-mile radius of the quarry, she stated that she did not feel any vibrations in her new home and that her claimed class membership derives from her prior residence, which was within one-quarter mile of the quarry. Ms. Green did not suggest that she had obtained any scientific or statistical evidence or geographic survey as to how far the vibrations would travel in the varying ground conditions surrounding the quarry. Nor did Ms. Green attempt to determine how far in each direction the vibrations traveled by conducting a survey of residents within set distances from the quarry. Rather, she explained, the class definition was offered as those who owned homes within a two-mile radius of the quarry because she had received telephone calls from people to the north and east of the quarry who said they felt vibrations. Ms. Green spoke to one person who lived about two miles away in an unspecified direction. She also said that Fizey Road, a thoroughfare in the community, was approximately 2 miles from the quarry. During cross-examination, Ms. Green agreed that she did not have any personal information regarding whether the blast could be felt at two miles distance, nor did she identify anyone who lives at that distance who was affected by the blasting.