House of Refuge v. J. T. Dyer Co.
House of Refuge v. J. T. Dyer Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The complainants, a number of property owners, filed this bill in equity against the defendant, an incorporated quarrying company, whose business is conducted in the immediate vicinity of their properties, in order to restrain it from blasting in its quarries before seven o’clock in the
The defendant owns and operates extensive quarries at Locksley for the manufacture and sale of crushed stone, which have been opened for about fifteen years, and have been owned by the defendant for about seven years. The operation represents an investment on the part of the defendant of about $140,000, and gives employment to 150 men. A public highway is located about 800 feet, and a railroad about 600 feet, from the face of the quarries. Nearly all the complainants owned their properties before the defendant purchased the quarries. The blasting is performed by the use of dynamite which it is customary to discharge in the mornings between the hours of 5:30 and 7 o’clock, and at noon between the hours of 12 and 1 o’clock. The most important findings of fact, which are fully sustained by the testimony, are as follows: the face of the quarry is thrown down by heavy charges of dynamite which is placed in deep holes that are drilled into the front of the rock and, when discharged, cause large blocks of rock to be detached and thrown into the bed of the quarry. These bowlders or masses of rock are then broken into smaller pieces by two methods so as to enable them to be placed readily in the heavy crushers, the first being a mud capping process, which consists of laying several sticks of dynamite on the top of a rock and covering them with mud and quarry dirt, having first attached to the dynamite a fuse about four feet in length. A large number of these charges are exploded at the same time by a number of men lighting the fuses as rapidly as possible so as to produce nearly a simultaneous discharge. The
From the record it is apparent that the extreme blasts of dynamite, of which complaint has been made, are either the result of recklessness in the use of a dangerous explosive, or that the defendant uses such heavy charges merely for its financial benefit. In either light it is an unwarranted act and should-be restrained. The argument of the appellant and the authorities it relies upon are so fully and conclusively disposed of in Sullivan v. Steel Co., 208 Pa. 540, and 222 Pa. 72, that it is not necessary to repeat them here.
It is not suggested that the defendant should abandon its quarry, but the law requires that it shall conduct its business in such a manner as not to endanger life, disturb the peace of residents and depreciate the market value of private property in its immediate neighborhood. Many of these complainants were first on the ground, their properties were developed and improved in this attractive, suburban location, which is rapidly becoming residential in character. The House of Refuge, which adjoins the defendant’s property, is an important public institution with more than seven hundred inmates. While
The facts found and admitted make out a proper case for regulation by the courts of the manner in which even this lawful business shall be conducted. If this severe blasting, which affects so large an area of country, is not restrained, it will naturally’ and inevitably result in the lowering of values in this suburban settlement to the standard of a mere quarry district. The defendant admits that the blasts from 5:30 to 7 a. m. are made as a pure matter of financial advantage, and such alarming detonations at 5:30 a. m., during the hours devoted to rest, must have a higher warrant for their continuance than the mere commercial advantage of an individual operator.
The decree entered is a reasonable one under all the facts of the case, and it is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.