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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Enter Anti SPAM Code: Click here to refresh this page Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message Icon:                             Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by massdee[/i] [br]This is from Dec 5,2008 Landfill owner flagrantly ignores court By Barbara Taormina Fri Dec 05, 2008, 07:54 AM EST Newburyport - The state Department of Environmental Protection this week hit New Ventures, the owner of the Crow Lane Landfill, with another round of violations. The Attorney General's office wants to meet New Ventures in court as soon as possible, and the City Council has been reviewing a possible settlement agreement that would allow the company to restart the work of capping the area. After a lull of activity at Crow Lane - when the loudest talk about the landfill seemed to come from the residents who were once again swamped by the ugly stench that has dominated the area since New Ventures began capping the site - state and city officials seem poised to start fighting back again to protect the neighborhood. For some, the most encouraging sign has been DEP's sudden or renewed commitment to make New Venture follow the rules. At this point, with all these things happening, I don't know exactly what to think, says Ron Klodenski a Wildwood Drive resident who has been leading the neighborhood opposition to the landfill. I'm hoping that the DEP is starting to come to life, and that they'll find a solution without causing us more pain and suffering. The DEP's latest move is a letter to New Ventures that cites a dozen violations of a 2006 court order that requires New Ventures to maintain equipment that would mitigate odors from the landfill. Most people in the neighborhood believe the recent rash of bad smells has been due to New Ventures failure to maintain the landfill gas recovery system and to empty leachate tanks. DEP sent out a similar letter last August, which was, as has so often been the case, ignored by New Ventures. That led Attorney General Martha Coakley's office to file a compliant against the company for its flagrant contempt of an order meant to protect public health and the environment. But in what has become almost typical Crow Lane luck, the judge hearing the case had a scheduling conflict and penciled in the New Ventures trial for April 23. Coakley's office responded with a motion asking the Superior Court to move up that trial date to January. Council looks for solution Meanwhile, on the local front, the City Council has been chewing over a new version of a settlement agreement that would allow New Ventures to truck in more construction waste that would round off the surface of the landfill and allow the company to finish capping the area. In exchange for the right to dump more waste, New Ventures would agree to release the city from any liability in cleaning up the area, which DEP has designated as a 21E or hazardous waste site. Because the city years ago sent some waste and sewerage sludge to the landfill, Newburyport would also bear some responsibility in cleaning up the site. Although some councilors initially seemed to favor the settlement agreement - since it would save the city any potential clean-up costs as well as some significant legal bills, and would allow the site to finally be capped - the more the agreement has been talked over, the less people seem to like it. Neighbors were encouraged last week when Councilor Brian Derrivan, who represents Ward 5 where the landfill is located, said he had asked Mayor John Moak to stop negotiating a settlement with New Ventures. Derrivan said the talks seemed unlikely to yield any worthwhile concessions for the city, and the money being spent on negotiations should be saved for future court battles. Derrivan also told neighbors that he didn#146;t think the majority of councilors were willing to support the settlement agreement. Councilors have raised a slew of questions about the agreement. At-large Councilor Tom Jones, who grew up in the Crow Lane neighborhood and can now see the landfill from his front door, says the 21E issue and any potential clean-up costs are essentially a big club that New Ventures is holding over the city's head. Jones suggests that any waste the city dumped at the site is a fraction of what's been hauled in by New Ventures, and he believes any clean-up costs would be divided accordingly. Jones also wonders what the city gains through the 21E concession, since the settlement agreement also calls for the city to assume responsibility for maintaining the site for 30 years after the landfill is capped. If anything goes wrong or if any additional clean-up work is needed, it would be up to the city to provide it. Waste not, want not But one of the most troubling aspects of the settlement agreement is that it allows New Ventures to start trucking in more waste a lot more. Most neighbors agree that the odors they are now enduring are minor compared to the early days of the capping project when residents couldn't step outside their doors without getting sick to their stomachs and the hospital actually interrupted a procedure taking place in the operating room to see where the unbearable smell was coming from. But some neighbors figure if the dumping starts again, the problem will return full force. If you double or triple the number of trucks, I think we can anticipate that we would be inundated with that stench again, says Jones. And with New Ventures track record of ignoring court orders, dismissing complaints from the neighborhood and its total disregard of the health problems it's creating, some feel it would be difficult to trust or even hope that the company would play by the rules this time around. Klodenski believes one of the problems is that the city never had a consistent legal strategy for dealing with New Ventures. And, in the past, neighbors have felt abandoned by DEP which, for so long, has been either unable or unwilling to step in and enforce its own rules at Crow Lane. As Jones puts it, "At every turn, the city has been outmaneuvered by the terms of the state and the crafty dealings of New Ventures." Still, at this point, Klodenski and the neighbors seem to be allowing themselves to feel a little cautious optimism about DEP and the attorney general's ramped-up roles in the Crow Lane solution. They seem to be holding out hope that a judge will order New Ventures to comply with the existing court order to maintain the site and control the smells. I really don't know what other choice we have, says Klodenski. http://www.wickedlocal.com/newburyport/news/x1196580666/Landfill-owner-flagrantly-ignores-court [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature.