Sand mining continues to ravage Southeastern Massachusetts. Dozens of sand mines excavate the earth and load it into hundreds of trucks a day. The land is gone forever – parts of Plymouth and surrounding towns sold off to meet the global demand for sand as the shortage grows. Plymouth’s sand mines have the potential to emit dangerous silica dust.
In May 2025, Olin College of Engineering analyzed sand dust from a home near a sand mine on Plymouth Street in Carver. The scientific analysis confirmed the dust is silica dust, also known as respirable crystalline silica. Residents in the home are being exposed to silica dust, according to the experts. Silica dust is a carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization. Breathing in this invisible dust can cause lung disease, silicosis, and other health impacts.
In Plymouth, a 33-acre sand mine at 71 Hedges Pond Road on the former Cedarville Conservation Area is underway. Plymouth residents are at risk of exposure to silica dust from this sand mine, according to Olin’s experts. I explained this at the Select Board meeting “on the road” on July 15. To help the community find out more about the risk of exposure to silica dust, Olin and Air Partners are implementing an air monitoring program to collect information from homes near sand mines. Any resident concerned about their exposure to silica dust can contact Community Land & Water Coalition to find out more. This free to residents and the town. The Town of Plymouth is conducting a health survey through the Board of Health and exposure to silica dust should be at the top of the list.
The impacts of sand mining, like silica dust and threats to drinking water, cross political boundaries. Sand mining is rampant in the Town of Carver, too. On August 5, at 3 p.m. the Town of Carver Earth Removal Committee is holding an important hearing on four new proposals for more sand mining. The hearing is open to the public. Residents from across the region are concerned about exposure to more silica dust, impacts to forests, biodiversity, drinking water, truck traffic, and Native American sites. CLWC urges everyone to attend the hearing and support Carver residents directly affected by the town’s approximately 12 active sand mines. This impacts us all.
– Margaret E. Sheehan