A State Senator has been among those who want to try and stop a rock quarry from blasting near the Old Hickory Dam.
Senator Steven Dickerson has planned to present the Dam Safety Act to the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee on Monday.
The act would stop rock quarries from blasting within a mile of any government-operated dam in Tennessee.
The bill has aimed to protect dams in Tennessee. Most of them are over half a century old.
In February, lawmakers in the House tried to take up the measure, but the committee asked for a delay despite hearing about a letter the Army Corps of Engineers wrote to U.S. Representative Jim Cooper.
“The Corps predicts vibrations at the earthen dam to be 25 percent higher than Corps protocol as well as deafening sonic boom like air blasts and the potential for fly rock posing hazards to the neighborhood and the recreation area,” Lisa Quigley, Jim Cooper’s Chief of Staff, said in February. “But the Corps makes it clear and does not have the authority to stop the quarry.”
Senator Dickerson has represented people who live in the Old Hickory community where the Dam is located near the proposed rock quarry on Burnett Road.
