Latest asphalt plant proposal worries neighbors in Old Hickory

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A proposal to build a new asphalt plant in Old Hickory is getting pushback from some neighbors there, five years after they fought the construction of a similar plant.

A public notice from the Metro Nashville Public Health Department shows Jones Bros. Contractors applied for a construction permit to build a hot-mix asphalt plant on Burnett Road in Old Hickory next to Hoover Materials, which operates a quarry.

The proposed site is also next to Old Hickory Beach.

Metro Health’s Pollution Control Division will review the construction permit, according to the public notice. It has opened a 30-day public comment period about the project.

“In and of itself, that they think a pollution study is even necessary is cause for concern,” Conor Rowe, who lives nearby, said. “I think there’s got to be a better solution than building in the backyard of a neighborhood really.”

Rowe said he moved to the Rayon City neighborhood four years ago with his wife. They didn’t anticipate having concerns about another asphalt plant. He’s worried about the smell, the potential pollution and the danger of more dump trucks.

“The overall stench that can come from a plant like that, that can waft through the community,” Rowe said. “Let along the many dump trucks that I assume will be carrying these loads of asphalt in and out of our community.”

WSMV4 reached out to Jones Bros. Contractors about the pushback on the proposal and the company declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Rowe is hoping more of his neighbors take their concerns to Metro Health.

“Those who live here do not want this and those that want this do not live here,” Rowe said. “I’m right next to it, I mean, they’re going to be driving up and down this street every single day.”

The public comment period will end Jan. 2, 2023.

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