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Appealing Pepperell soil reclamation project

By Adam Urquhart - Staff Writer | Jan 14, 2019

PEPPERELL, MASS. – While opponents of the proposal from Massachusetts Composting Group Inc. voice their concerns over their soil reclamation project, Attorney Douglas Deschenes of Deschenes & Farrell P.C. said all material potentially being brought into town has to meet the general state guidelines as to what is and is not contaminated.

“We will not be allowed to bring in material that is deemed to be contaminated or hazardous by the DEP,” Deschenes said.

He said there also will be specific requirements for their proposed site, located at 161 Nashua Road, as well. In addition, he and Philip Peterson, a licensed site professional working for Terra Environmental LLC., who represents MGCI, explained there will be many eyes on the material from the time it leaves the construction sites, to the time it is received down in Pepperell.

“When we start shipping the materials, there’s a pretty robust tracking system,” Peterson said. “When the materials are being removed from the site, the LSP for the owner is required to have somebody on site to observe the materials getting loaded in to make sure it’s on the up and up.”

He said there are both tracking and approval numbers involved with each aspect.

“It’s constantly being reviewed through the whole process,” Peterson added.

Deschenese said there is an LSP at the sites where the materials are being dug up, and they are testing to make sure it’s correct, and then identify the sites that are legally allowed to accept the material, like the Pepperell site, if the DEP issues the consent order to move forward. From there, the material is coordinated with those receiving sites’ LSP, who verifies and makes sure its the right material coming to the right place. He also said, on top of that, the DEP permit requires them to have a third LSP, who is independent, to do a report. All reports are required to be provided to the DEP, and the DEP can do their own inspections.

“We have an obligation to sort of reclaim this area, and my clients have a goal of preparing it so they can actually build something on it,” Deschenes said. “It’s in the town’s industrial zone.”

Nevertheless, residents in town in opposition are raising concerns regarding environmental, public health, traffic safety, noise, air quality and economic impacts. However, he said they are not proposing any material in any resource areas, and are at least 100 feet away from all resource areas like brooks, streams and special habitat areas.

“They’re scared by the fact that it’s so much material, and they get this idea that it’s waste someone is trying to get rid of,” Deschens said. “I think that’s the biggest thing we’re trying to overcome here, this whole permitting process is to ensure that the material is safe and won’t cause environmental problems to the town.”

He explained that there was a letter penned from the Board of Selectmen asking the building inspector to do a zoning determination as to whether the project being proposed qualified as a commercial dumping ground and whether that is an allowed use at the property. He said the building inspector then responded to that request by making the following determination, that based on the proposal to deposit unwanted or unusable soil removed from construction projects for no other purpose other than the permanent storage on this site. He explained further that it was determined that it would be a depository for unwanted materials, concluding that it would be a commercial dumping ground, and that it was not an allowed use.

“I’ve appealed that determination and, in doing so, I made it clear, and this is going to be the subject of that upcoming meeting, that it’s not a disposal site, that we’re not using it as a dumping ground for garbage, rubbish, demolition materials or other refuse that is unwanted or unusable, and that it’s not just being done for the purpose of storing the material,” Deschenes said. “My argument is that we are purposefully putting the material there to accomplish a couple things.”

He disagrees that it is being done to store material there, arguing that by purposefully putting the material there, they are trying to restore the site pursuant to previous soil removal permits, to satisfy the reclamation requirements under previous permits.

In addition, he said they want to prepare the site for redevelopment by filling in the area that was dug out. In doing so, he said they are proposing to fill the site to a height of somewhere between 265 and 290 feet, which is the site’s historical elevation prior to earth removal over the past 50 years.

Furthermore, the soil that would come into town is that from sites like Harvard or MIT, where they are building new buildings and have to remove soil.

“It is soil that’s become excess at one site, and they need to remove it,” Deschenes said adding that he thinks this DEP policy on soil reuse is an effort by them to provide a safe method for dealing with excess soils to make sure it is clean and utilized correctly in other locations.

Moreover, relative to concerns some residents have over potential traffic issues with trucks potentially coming off the highway through Nashua and Hollis, Deschenes said some of those concerns he has heard of include dust, impacts to the road and those sorts of issues are being worked on with the town. He said they are working with the town on things like agreeing that the trucks will only come a certain way, and will not pass through town, rather only coming along a pre-approved path. Other things include operating during certain hours of the day and days of the week. He also said they will be restricted as to which routes trucks can travel along and be limited to a certain number of trucks per day. He said that is part of working with the town, and there still are more meetings to be had.

Deschenes said this meeting is not in anyway going to determine whether they can do this or not, rather it will determine whether or not the town has sort of another obstacle to put in their way or not.

“What’s pending before the town, is still we’re working with the DEP to get approvals under this interim policy on soil reuse, and through a consent order to be able to bring the materials in, and the DEP has to approve that before we can do it,” Deschenes said. “This deal with the building inspector and the zoning board is a local sort of issue to be addressed in the big scheme of things, because if the DEP determines that what we’re proposing is acceptable and meets their program, then the question will be are we allowed to do it under local zoning, and that’s what this kind of goes to.”

That meeting to appeal the ruling is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Pepperell Senior Center, located at 37 Nashua Road, Pepperell.

Adam Urquhart can be reached at 594-1206 or aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.

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