Press release from Attorney General

ATTORNEY GENERAL MARTHA COAKLEY OBTAINS COURT ORDERS IN CASES INVOLVING NEWBURYPORT LANDFILL AND EVERETT SOLID WASTE FACILITY

BOSTON — Today, Superior Court Judge Peter Lauriat entered two court orders in Suffolk Superior Court involving a landfill in Newburyport, and a solid waste processing facility in Everett. The first order, a consent judgment, resolves a case brought by the Commonwealth against New Ventures Associates, LLC, owner of the Crow Lane landfill in Newburyport. The Court also entered an agreed-to injunction imposing restrictions on Wood Waste, Inc., the operator of the Everett facility. New Ventures and Wood Waste are run by the same principal, William Thibeault.

Today’s orders address nuisance odor problems at both facilities. The consent judgment requires the Crow Lane landfill to be fully capped by the end of the year. The Crow Lane settlement also requires New Ventures to pay a $230,000 civil penalty to the Commonwealth, although a portion of that penalty is subject to waiver if the landfill complies with the agreed-to landfill closure schedule and other requirements of the consent judgment. The injunction with Wood Waste requires all stockpiled construction and demolition residual material at Wood Waste’s Everett and Chelsea sites to be removed within 105 and 135 days respectively. Under the terms of the orders, portions of the construction and demolition material processed at the Wood Waste landfill, after mixed with soil, may be used to close the Crow Lane landfill.

“We are hopeful that today’s court orders will bring an expeditious resolution to problems that have long plagued residents who live near both facilities. The best way to address the problems at the Crow Lane landfill is to complete its closure, and this settlement was the only practical means of getting that done this year,” said Attorney General Coakley. “The settlement allows New Ventures to resume using ground construction and demolition debris as cover material at the Crow Lane site in accordance with state policy, but it includes various measures designed to ensure that such material is properly handled and managed. Should problems arise regarding compliance with the requirements of the court’s orders, we stand ready to enforce them as necessary to minimize any problems at the landfill and the Everett facility.”

“Today’s agreement brings us closer to a long-overdue resolution regarding the Crow Lane landfill in Newburyport and the Wood Waste facility in Everett,” said Laurie Burt, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). “New Ventures needs to get back to work and fulfill its agreement to comply with all state requirements and bring about the safe and prompt capping and closure at Crow Lane by year’s end. This is a job New Ventures sought to do, and promised the city it would complete. This settlement will finally make this closure happen.”

The Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit in 2006 against New Ventures for violating MassDEP enforcement orders, resulting in the release of hydrogen sulfide gas at the Crow Lane landfill. In October 2006, the court issued a preliminary injunction requiring New Ventures to install pretreatment controls to stop the spread of the gas, which has a foul, rotten egg-like smell, and to cap the landfill on an expedited schedule. Over the next several months, New Ventures installed the air pollution control equipment and capped 60 percent of the landfill.

New Ventures failed to comply with many of the requirements set forth in the 2006 preliminary injunction, resulting in odor problems and landfill capping delays. On July 27, 2007, the Attorney General’s Office filed a motion asking the court to order New Ventures to take several immediate steps to control hydrogen sulfide emissions at the landfill. On September 20, 2007, the court ordered those additional measures, including placing a temporary cap on part of the landfill and installing three new gas extraction wells to control noxious odors from the uncapped portions of the landfill.

Today’s consent judgment sets an enforceable schedule for capping the landfill by the end of the year, with key interim milestones. Among other requirements, the landfill must test the stability of the area where the berm will be constructed, and then construct a critical portion of the berm within 90 days of MassDEP’s stability approval. If the test results demonstrate that a design modification is necessary, the berm must be built within 90 days of MassDEP’s approval of a new berm design stabilization plan. The remaining portion of the berm and capping of the entire landfill with an impervious liner must be completed before next winter.

The judgment includes strict performance standards for continued operation of the air pollution control equipment, as well as various measures to prevent odor problems from occurring during completion of the landfill’s closure. The closure process can be stopped for violations of most requirements in the judgment, and, to further induce compliance, portions of the $230,000 penalty will be suspended if New Ventures meets six key closure milestones at the Crow Lane landfill. Additional remedies are available for new violations.

The stipulated preliminary injunction filed against Wood Waste today requires the company to remove all existing piles of ground construction and demolition material from Everett within 105 days. The injunction also requires the principals to remove material that Wood Waste has accumulated on an adjacent parcel in Chelsea within 135 days. The preliminary injunction further requires Wood Waste to control odors and dust during the removal process to prevent nuisance conditions in the surrounding communities, and establishes procedures for Wood Waste to address complaints around the clock.

The Crow Lane and Wood Waste cases are being handled by Assistant Attorneys General Matthew Ireland and Andrew Goldberg of Attorney General Coakley’s Environmental Protection Division, together with MassDEP attorney Michael Dingle and John Carrigan, Chief of the Solid Waste Division of MassDEP’s Northeast Regional Office, and Mark Fairbrother, also of MassDEP’s Northeast Regional Office.