The engineer for the company that hopes to mine both sandstone and limestone near the Rolling Hills development in Franks­town Township said the company does not plan to do any blasting.

Earlier this month, Blair County Planning Commission members said they were not in favor of a surface mining project in Frankstown Township and said they didn’t believe it is consistent with the region’s comprehensive plan.

Commission members reviewed a large noncoal surface mine permit application to the state Department of Environmental Protection from Minetech Engineers on behalf of Glass Bagging Enterprises Inc. The permit application proposes combining three small noncoal surface mining permits for a four-phase, 123-acre mining site located along Locke Mountain Road near Rolling Hills.

The new permit would incorporate 15 acres covered by the operators of three existing small noncoal permits, according to a legal notice regarding the project. Glass Bagging proposes to continue to surface mine and stockpile sand and sandstone and discharge treated water to the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River, the notice reads.

Glass Bagging wants to mine 26 acres — 24 acres of sandstone and two acres of limestone.

The site sits only 300 feet below the Rolling Hills neighborhood and the houses in the neighborhood are not served by public water. Frankstown Township has expressed no interest in extending service lines to the neighborhood.

Planning commission members expressed concern that blasting at the site could impact water service in the area.

However, Minetech engineer Todd Coleman said no blasting is planned at the site.

“Glass Bagging has been mining at the Frankstown site since 2015 on the three referenced small noncoal permits. DEP does not permit blasting on small noncoal permits and no blasting has ever been conducted on this site by Glass Bagging,” Coleman wrote in an email. “I can emphatically tell you that no blasting is proposed to be conducted on this enlarged permit area. Mining will continue in a manner that has been ongoing now for 10 years. I am not sure how the planning commission erroneously concluded that blasting would be conducted.”

Frankstown Township Manager Henry Fownes said he hasn’t received any complaints about the project.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.