A New Hampshire-based recycling and renewable energy company has been sued for allegedly damaging protected wetland resources, illegally transporting and storing both solid and hazardous waste and failing to report releases of hazardous material, Attorney General Maura Healey announced on June 1.
The complaint alleges that C&G Land Reclamation & Renewable Energy Solutions LLC, its manager Clyde Holland and its operator William P. Trainor Sr. violated numerous environmental laws and regulations in their operation of an illegal solid waste disposal site in Salisbury.
“These defendants recklessly created an illegal and hazardous dump in Salisbury and damaged valuable wetlands, endangering the public and the environment,” Healey said in a statement. “We will aggressively prosecute those who flagrantly violate laws put in place to protect the health and safety of our communities.”
The AG’s complaint alleges that the defendants altered and filled approximately 14,500 square feet of protected wetlands at the company’s property on Lafayette Road in Salisbury with sand and solid waste, including steel construction material and concrete rubble. The defendants’ alterations to the wetlands destroyed wildlife habitat and vegetation and changed drainage characteristics and flow patterns to Smallpox Brook. The defendants then allegedly failed to comply with two enforcement orders issued by the Salisbury Conservation Commission requiring restoration of the damaged wetlands.
The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants illegally transported solid waste, including creosote-treated railroad bridge timbers, concrete rubble, rebar, bricks and construction debris, and continued to store that solid waste at the site without the required solid-waste permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and the Salisbury Board of Health. Despite multiple stop work orders issued by the town of Salisbury, the defendants have allegedly continued to bring solid waste onto the property.
According to the lawsuit, defendants uncovered drums of waste oil and hydrochloric acid at the site and then transported and stored those drums of hazardous material without a license and without complying with any applicable safety regulations.
The defendants also allegedly failed to notify MassDEP that sampling revealed hazardous materials, including known carcinogens, in the soil at the property, which is unfenced and located near an elementary school.
Healey’s office is seeking civil penalties and a permanent injunction requiring the defendants to restore the damaged wetlands, to remove the solid and hazardous waste and to clean up hazardous materials at the Salisbury property.
