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Tails
Administrator
1757 Posts |
 Posted - 08/31/2009 : 10:44:09 PM
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This problem just keeps going on and on and on and on, and since April, the neighbors could not even open their windows? TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE and this issue is a huge impact on my decisions this election.
I'd like to know who wants Wood Waste moved and who doesn't, because if he moves, this will be the nightmare we will be stuck with. We should have tried to get rid of him. He just made a 3.6 million dollar PROFIT on the old city yards, and he has to have a fence that's falling down like that? Makes me ill.
http://portreporterunlimited.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-landfill-photos.html
Monday, August 31, 2009
Landfill updates
This was in the Aug. 28 update on the landfill, from MassDEP:
In addition to tracking the causes of odor complaints, Shaw continued to inspect the Landfill identifying and marking landfill gas and leachate breakouts first thing each morning and throughout the day. In addition, Shaw personnel observed a problem with the operation of a number of extraction wells at the landfill. They notified New Ventures, of the issue and New Ventures, under the supervision of their engineer, SITEC, is implementing measures to identify and correct the cause of the problem. Shaw personnel are monitoring these activities.
I found this very interesting. The "problem with the operation of a number of extraction wells at the landfill" obviously has been a "problem" for a while.
This is from today's update:
Today New Ventures, under the supervision of their engineer, SITEC, is conducting a repair of the landfill gas extraction system at the landfill. This repair requires in part excavation of a shallow trench in the uncapped area of the landfill. These activities are likely to cause odors. The trench will be backfilled as soon as the repair is complete today.
Obviously, some kind of environmental engineer not related to New Ventures was always needed on site.
Nobody thought that something was wrong, with all the gas that has been escaping? Nobody but the landfill neighbors, that is ...
This is really inexcusable.
On a lighter note, apparently last Thursday, Aug. 27, was a day free of odor. One of the neighbors wrote an email to all concerned thanking them for this.
Thank you for last Thursday. We had all of our windows open for 9 hours straight. It was the first time for us to do that since April. We even had lunch on the deck. It was truly amazing.
Can you imagine living like that? Thanking all and sundry for ONE day without a nauseating stench in your home?
I remember, way back in July it was, Mayor Moak saying that the work causing the stink would all be done "in a couple of weeks."
I'm not necessarily blaming him; obviously he has no control over New Ventures.
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Tails
Administrator
1757 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2009 : 1:18:42 PM
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Behind the stink; Documentary outlines Newburyport landfill saga
By Katie Farrell Lovett
Staff writer
September 24, 2009 12:14 am
For some Newburyporters, the story of the Crow Lane landfill is a way of life. They live it every day.
But for others, the vast history of the ongoing saga is unclear.
It's those looking to gain an education who may benefit most from Mary Godfrey's new film, "Dumping Billy: The Story of the Crow Lane Landfill," which she will premiere Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the Firehouse Center for the Arts as part of the Newburyport Documentary Film Festival.
The film is not an "activist piece," Godfrey says.
"The film covers the story of the Crow Lane landfill up until November 2008, when I stopped filming," she says. "It is not an exposé on (owner-operator) New Ventures. People can expect a very reserved piece."
Although Godfrey, 32, grew up in Newburyport, it was on the other side of the city from the landfill, which New Ventures, owned by William Thibeault, has operated since 2000. But a graduate school assignment brought her up close with the landfill.
A student at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, specializing in news and documentary, Godfrey was required to compile a 20-minute "short" documentary as a final project in a broadcast journalism class.
She initially hoped to do a different environmental piece. But when that idea didn't pan out, a neighbor suggested the Crow Lane landfill as a subject matter.
The landfill has been an issue in Newburyport for more than a half decade. New Ventures purchased it in 2000 to cap it, but for years, neighbors surrounding the landfill have dealt with the smells of rotten eggs and burnt matches produced from the decomposing gypsum at the site as it sits uncapped. The city, state and New Ventures have engaged in ongoing legal battles relating to the closing — a fight that has included many fines and shutdowns of the site.
Last spring, Mayor John Moak and Health Director Jack Morris issued an administrative order, prompting the capping to begin again. City officials hope it will be closed this fall.
For the film, which she shot between July and November 2008, Godfrey interviewed neighbors and those in the city affected by the landfill. She attempted to interview representatives of both the state's Department of Environmental Protection and New Ventures, but both declined since the matter was in litigation at the time.
"To me, it was a new way in which to tell a story that everyone's been reading about for the past several years," Godfrey says.
Those who have been following the story won't learn any new information, but will see the subject presented in a new medium, she adds.
"It really covers the main points," she said.
http://www.newburyportnews.com/pulife/local_story_266224148.html |
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Tails
Administrator
1757 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2009 : 2:00:50 PM
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I'd like to hear what happens at this meeting. I have been asking the question......Where is it that Wood Waste will ship their trash too once the landfill is closed, an no one knows.
I think it's very important for the City of Everett to know..... and see a copy of a contract (or whatever they use) with the new landfill. You can not put your guard down when it comes to this type of business and the owner.
Mayor to hold meeting to update council on landfill
By Katie Farrell Lovett
Staff writer
October 30, 2009 03:54 am
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NEWBURYPORT — Mayor John Moak has called a special City Council meeting for Thursday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m. to update councilors on the closing of the Crow Lane landfill.
Moak said yesterday he called the meeting after the council's ad-hoc committee on the landfill asked for an update on the closure and the state of the berm.
Representatives from the Department of Environmental Protection will be present at the meeting as well.
The meeting, to be held in the City Hall Council Chambers, is slated to last an hour, the mayor said.
At-large City Councilor Kathleen O'Connor Ives said she and Ward 4 Councilor Ed Cameron had approached the mayor and asked for the meeting.
The meeting is important for the neighbors of the landfill to hear directly about the closure and how DEP will respond to odor problems, as well as what will happen after the process is complete, Ives said.
Ives said she hopes health director Jack Morris will also be at the meeting. Morris has taken a regional health director position with Amesbury and Salisbury but will continue to work part time in Newburyport until a replacement is found.
"The project is still ongoing," Ives said.
http://www.newburyportnews.com/punews/local_story_302230612.html |
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massdee
Moderator
4245 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2009 : 07:00:27 AM
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The landfill - it ain't over yet
OK, so a couple of weeks ago the final membrane layer (FML) was about to be placed on the last bit of the landfill by the end of that week ... and yet, here it was a special meeting of the City Council on Nov. 5 and the MassDEP was telling us how the contractor laying the membrane had to leave to go to another job and won't be back until Nov. 18, or so.
But never fear, landfill neighbors - it should all be over in time to ruin your Thanksgiving. (As in, the new schedule for finishing this part of the job is the day after Thanksgiving.)
I can't even go into the rest of it because it's too late at night/early in the morning, but suffice it to say that the news was not good.
What also was not good was the absence of anyone representing Ward 1.
Everyone else was there, for at least part of the meeting (and even though Tom Jones came in very late, his wife Terry Berns was there). Bob Cronin was there. Ari Herzog was there.
I do believe I heard some tense of the word "concern" voiced by a councillor ...
There are, I think, 3 meetings left in this session of the Council.
I wonder if we have seen the last of Larry?
Posted by Gillian Swart at 12:38 AM
http://portreporterunlimited.blogspot.com/2009/11/landfill-it-aint-over-yet.html
"Deb" |
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massdee
Moderator
4245 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2009 : 07:08:31 AM
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Published: November 06, 2009 03:59 am ShareThis PrintThis
1
DEP: Work on landfill ends in May State says liner to be finished this month, odors will stop
By Katie Farrell Lovett
Staff writer
NEWBURYPORT — The Crow Lane landfill will be fully capped by the end of May, and a post-closure plan will be filed with the state by mid-June, state Department of Environmental Protection representatives told the City Council last night.
DEP northeast regional director Richard Chalpin and John Carrigan, a section chief at the Northeast Regional DEP office, updated the councilors and landfill neighbors about the closure process while also looking ahead to the future.
The liner should be fully in place, including the small area still missing, by the end of November, Carrigan said. Once that is in place, it should abate the odors coming from the landfill.
The completion of the capping is slated for May 30, with a post-closure plan being submitted by June 15, he added.
New Ventures, the owner and operator of the landfill, is required to submit a post-closure report, which will also be given to the city for public review and response. The document will include a post-closure maintenance plan and estimated cost. Additional elements will be included as well, Carrigan said, such as a time length for the maintenance and monitoring of the berm.
Bruce Vogel, of Myrtle Avenue, asked what happens once the landfill is capped.
"Do we get handed the keys to this thing after it's all done?" he asked. "Who owns it?"
New Ventures is the owner, Carrigan responded. If the company does walk away from its obligation, the state will take it over and access accounts and funds, becoming responsible for making sure it is properly maintained.
As planting and vegetation can't be finished until the spring, the liner will be exposed for about eight months, he said, assuring councilors that the material can last if exposed to sun without degrading.
City councilors raised questions on the boring tests that were done several months ago without a plan for the berm construction being finalized.
Ward 5 Councilor Brian Derrivan said negotiations on a berm design should stop and a plan should be issued.
"There's no question in my mind, it's always been about the money," he said. "I don't think I'm the only person who thinks that. Why do we have to negotiate with him?"
Without the report being released, there is a perception that there's a problem with the berm, he said.
Chalpin said the process is not a negotiation but a review process to make sure the design is the right one.
Construction on the berm won't start until the warmer weather arrives, Carrigan said, as it can't be done during the winter months.
Health director Jack Morris said he anticipates that blasting could occur at the site soon, which is needed to remove some of the bedrock. DEP said they plan to give neighbors at least a few days notice when it will be happening, and Mayor John Moak said the city can issue a automated phone message for that area, if given enough notice.
A firefighter is required to be on site when blasting occurs, and the Fire Department must issue a permit, Morris said. The blasting will be in a limited area, Chalpin said.
Councilors also asked for the results of air and water tests that were performed at the site. Carrigan said the results will be posted on the DEP Web site by next week.
Contaminants that were found at the landfill are not unusual and are often found at landfills, he said. No immediate red flags have been raised, he said, adding that the data is still being reviewed. Once the data is put on the state's Web site, there can be further discussion, he said.
"There are things that you normally expect to find at a site like this," Carrigan said. "I'm not trying to dodge the question. I'm trying to answer in a fair manner."
With concerns raised about a new "burnt" odor in the city, Carrigan said testing was done and complaints of a similar smell were reported in Everett, where New Ventures transported capping materials from its waste facility in that city. Most likely, that may have been the source, he said.
Ron Klodenski, a landfill abutter, was one of numerous neighbors who attended the meeting.
"I do have some hope that we're getting closer," he said. "I guess I am somewhat optimistic."
Landfill odors have been absent over the last several days, he said.
"Let's hope it continues," he added.
http://www.newburyportnews.com/punews/local_story_309234354.html#disqus_thread
"Deb" |
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massdee
Moderator
4245 Posts |
Posted - 11/14/2009 : 2:03:54 PM
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http://www.wickedlocal.com/newburyport/news/x687822601/Neighbors-sue-landfill-owner
Neighbors sue landfill owner
By Gillian Swart
Fri Nov 13, 2009, 01:28 PM EST
Newburyport -
After more than five years of vile, rotten-egg odors that have caused numerous health complaints, and after pleading for help from local and state officials to no avail, neighbors of the Crow Lane landfill are suing the site’s owner, New Ventures.
The complaint, filed in Essex Superior Court on Oct. 20 by William Simmons, a Salisbury lawyer who specializes in environmental law, claims that the landfill has been a continuous nuisance and that New Ventures has been negligent and has shown a “reckless indifference to the health and welfare of the community.”
In order to cap the landfill, New Ventures signed an agreement with the city that allowed the company to truck in about 450,000 cubic yards of construction and demolition waste. But a major component of that waste was gypsum drywall, which releases hydrogen sulfide as it decomposes. It has been the emissions of that gas that have caused the continual odors and problems for residents in nearby homes.
In addition to annoyance, discomfort and inconvenience, the complaint argues that neighbors have suffered substantial and unreasonable interference with the use of their property because of New Ventures’ negligence. And now, those neighbors want to be compensated.
On behalf of about 85 residents of Newburyport #8209; more have signed on since the complaint was filed #8209; Simmons has demanded a jury trial in order to determine how much money New Ventures should pay each resident and each home owner in the Crow Lane neighborhood.
“The landfill owner has 20 days from the date of the filing to respond,” Simmons said. “After New Ventures answers, there will be discovery, during which both sides try to garner information relevant to the case, or “triable facts,”’ Simmons added.
According to the complaint, New Ventures is liable not only because it created a continuous five-year nuisance, the company also failed to comply with laws, regulations, rules and permit conditions of every governmental agency that had jurisdiction over the site.
Not only did the company fail to prevent hydrogen sulfide emissions, the complaint alleges that New Ventures refused to try to control odors by providing necessary equipment and by applying a daily cover to active work areas. Such a cover also would have controlled blowing litter and kept water from seeping into the landfill.
According to the suit, New Ventures also violated a federal law that requires solid waste be stored so that it doesn’t pose any fire, health and safety hazards. It also charges that the landfill is a noisome trade, a business that threatens residents, their property or public health and causes injurious odors. And, according to state law, anyone who is injured in the comfort and enjoyment of his or her property because of a noisome trade can sue and recover damages. .
In addition to asking the court to award each individual plaintiff money for their past discomfort, inconvenience and the loss of the use of their property, the complaint asks for additional money for each day plaintiffs have their lives disrupted by odors and health problems after December 2009, the date New Ventures has been ordered by Suffolk Superior Court to end all releases of hydrogen sulfide from the landfill.
Neighbors named as plaintiffs in the complaint include At-large City Councilor Tom Jones and his wife Terry Berns; Gloria Braunhardt; Michael and Alida Frey; Victoria Hendrickson; Robert Kelleher; Ronald Klodenski; Joseph Teixteira, chairman of the conservation commission, and his wife Kimberly Kudym; and several minor children (along with their parents).
Too little, too late?
On the heels of a special meeting in which the state Department of Environmental Protection announced that the landfill will not be covered until the day after Thanksgiving, the City Council Monday approved a resolution asking the state attorney general to crack down on landfill owner New Ventures.
“Now, Therefore, be it resolved that the Newburyport City Council asks the Office of the Attorney General to more aggressively pursue contempt actions and urges further legal action in order to protect the health and safety of Newburyport’s residents,” the final paragraph of the resolution reads.
At-large councilor Kathleen O’Connor Ives, who drafted the document, said that after the state DEP visit last week, she thought it was “only fitting” that the council relay its concerns to the attorney general’s office.
At a special meeting of the City Council on Nov. 5, DEP section chief John Carrigan told the council and the audience of mostly landfill neighbors that the landfill will not be covered with the final membrane layer until the day after Thanksgiving. The landfill will not be officially capped until May.
Councilor-at-large Tom Jones echoed the frustrations of his fellow landfill neighbors, who have endured six years of “fugitive” gas emissions, broken promises and deferred deadlines, when he noted the 2005 deadline for capping and closing the landfill is long gone.
Carrigan said fugitive emissions should be mitigated after closing, if the landfill is closed properly.
“If closed properly,” said Ward 2 councilor Greg Earls. “I would be more comfortable if you said ‘when it is closed properly.’”
Carrigan replied, “I admit I’m a little nervous.”
Richard Chalpin, DEP Northeast regional director, added that there have been “constant battles” with the landfill owner.
Although Carrigan and Chalpin tried to allay the fears of city officials and neighbors that the berm is not safe, the abutting wetlands are in danger, and William Thibeault, owner of New Ventures, will walk away leaving the city holding the bag, concern lingers.
Both men were questioned closely by city councilors and members of the audience about those issues and about the gas emission system, which is supposed to burn off landfill gases.
Chalpin said the problems with the system are caused by the owner/operator. New Ventures will be responsible for maintaining the system after the landfill is closed.
If the owner walks away, the state would take over and can gain access to the $3 million cash in bonds, the financial assurance mechanism New Ventures put up at the start of the project.
Looking ahead
The landfill was scheduled to be covered two weeks ago. Carrigan said a small portion of the top of the hill was not graded before the contractor had to leave for another job. Work is scheduled to resume Nov. 18.
Once the landfill is capped, sand and loam will be placed over the liner and grass will be seeded. There are also some storm water issues that Carrigan said would be completed by June. New Ventures is required to submit a post-closure plan that will be open for public review and comment.
Health Director Jack Morris said blasting through rock to enable laying of pipes will be done under the direction of the city fire department. Mayor John Moak said that, with enough notice, the city could use the reverse 911 system to notify residents within 250 ft. of the blasting site.
Rosemary Powers, who attended the meeting representing DEP commissioner Laurie Burt, said the commissioner is “concerned and interested in this issue” and she is aware of what neighbors have endured for years.
Neighbor William Woodbury, who with his wife Deborah is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by the landfill neighbors, said he had a lot of concerns about what will happen after the landfill is closed.
“For my family, the last six years have been nothing short of a nightmare,” he told the DEP people.
“Sure, I guess I’m optimistic,” said Wildwood Drive resident Ron Klodenski this week. “What else can I be but optimistic? At this point, what other choice do I have?”
Neighbors sue landfill owner
Residents are asking the court to compensate them for five years of problems that have kept them from enjoying their property
"Deb" |
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Tails
Administrator
1757 Posts |
Posted - 11/18/2009 : 12:44:17 PM
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Landfill's lawyer responds to lawsuit
By Katie Farrell Lovett
Staff writer
November 18, 2009 03:39 am
NEWBURYPORT — Neighbors of the Crow Lane landfill who filed a lawsuit last month against the owner of the landfill heard a response yesterday from New Ventures.
Salisbury environmental attorney William Simmons is representing the 74 adults and 14 minors who have sued landfill owner and operator New Ventures. The plaintiffs are asking for a jury trial and seeking damages stemming from spending the last half decade living with the impact of the Crow Lane landfill, such as health repercussions from the sicking odors and the impact on their property values, they say.
According to the complaint filed Oct. 20 in Essex Superior Court, the plaintiffs are saying New Ventures has "negligently" and "willfully" broken the law with their actions.
The plaintiffs total 39 households.
Simmons' firm received the response yesterday and had no comment on the document, as they were still reading through it.
The neighbors are seeking an award for the "annoyance, inconvenience and discomfort damages" to each individual named in the suit and an award of "loss of the exclusive possession and loss of use of their property damages" as well as an award for future damages for each day after December that the plaintiffs are damaged by hydrogen sulfide emissions from the landfill.
The complaint claims New Ventures has "failed to abate the continuing nuisance" from the landfill, noting that the landfill "created a private continuous nuisance in that the continuous release of air contaminants and pollution, including ... objectionable odors and H2S onto and around plaintiffs' properties," which caused substantial interference with the neighbors' right to use and enjoy their properties.
Simmons said he first heard from a neighbor last year, and the case began to move forward after a meeting with abutters at the end of September.
Now that New Ventures has filed its response, the case will move into the "discovery" stage, Simmons said. Simmons said the case could be resolved in about a year and a half, as it's on an expedited track.
http://www.newburyportnews.com/punews/local_story_321233357.html |
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massdee
Moderator
4245 Posts |
Posted - 11/18/2009 : 4:10:08 PM
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Good for those families in Newburyport. I hope they tie Thibeault up in court and are compensated for all they have had to endure.
"Such a clown" |
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Tails
Administrator
1757 Posts |
Posted - 11/18/2009 : 7:27:06 PM
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There should be some heavy compensation. I don’t know you can return 5 years of a child’s life to him.
That’s great that they are taking a stand like that. More people from Everett should have taken this type of stand a lot sooner. What do we get? We get back room deals being made - and Everett being a big money maker for Wood Waste - a VERY WEAK consent agreement, that only protects Wood Waste. We never collected on any of his violations. So much for the enclosure being built by November 09……..two years from now we will be hearing the same lies.
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New Ventures/Crow lane landfill
