MONSON, Mass. (WWLP) – State Senator Anne Gobi filed an amendment to the state budget that would require all quarries in Massachusetts to get tested for pyrrhotite, which is the mineral that causes cracking in foundations.
“There’s a vein that goes through all of central Massachusetts, and then there are other smaller veins in other parts of the state,” Gobi explained to the I-Team.
The veins of pyrrhotite are causing issues for homeowners that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. It was originally thought that concrete with this mineral in it came from a single source in Connecticut. But now, there is at least one known source in central Massachusetts.
Sen. Gobi said she cannot disclose what that central Massachusetts company is, but she did say they stopped using the concrete once they found out about the problem.
“What’s coming out is not being used for foundations,” Gobi said. “It’s absolutely the responsible thing to do. They’re doing it on their own because we don’t have any law on the books that requires that.”
Gobi is trying to change that. She submitted an amendment to the state budget that would require all quarries in Massachusetts get tested for pyrrhotite, so the mineral is no longer being used to build foundations that could one day crumble.
“We know from Connecticut that pyrrhotite over a period of time, 15-20 years, will show the problems,” Gobi said. “The longer we wait and don’t test, the longer we push this problem out.”
That amendment is being considered by the conference committee that’s currently reconciling the state budget. That budget is due on the governor’s desk by July 1st.
There is also a larger crumbling concrete bill being considered by lawmakers right now. Part of that bill would create a fund to help homeowners pay to have their foundations replaced.
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