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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2008 : 08:24:45 AM
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From Newburyport:
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Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Globe investigations at City Hall
In a quick followup to Ari Herzog's recent post about the landfill owner sleeping with politicos, Greg Earls told me after tonight's meeting that someone from the Globe had been in City Hall earlier in the day, looking through financial information on file in the clerk's office for City Councillors and, I believe he said, the mayor.
I told him, and Donna Holaday, that Ari had posted on his blog campaign contributions Thibeault had made to politicians, including our state senator, Steve Baddour.
Holaday was visibly startled. I told her that the donation(s) were only $500 a pop, and she said that $500 is the maximum allowable contribution.
Posted by Gillian Swart at 10:08 PM 0 comments
Labels: landfill, Politics/politicians |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2008 : 08:47:30 AM
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Published: June 19, 2008 03:59 am ShareThis PrintThis
Newburyport: Council rejects landfill owner's plan
By Stephen Tait
Staff Writer
NEWBURYPORT — A unanimous vote by the City Council last night will — at least for now — keep more construction and demolition material out of the embattled Crow Lane landfill.
Councilors voted during an hour-and-a-half long closed session to reject the proposal from New Ventures, owner of the landfill, to reopen the 2002 Host Community Agreement to allow for the dumping of more material at the site to bring it to a level where it could be closed by year's end. They returned to the public meeting and announced the result of the vote.
In exchange for bringing in more volume, New Ventures was offering to release the city from some potential pollution liability, since the state has declared Crow Lane a contaminated site.
But councilors said they rejected that plan because the deal New Ventures presented did not offer enough benefit to the city. The vote was 8-0, with three absent councilors: Tom O'Brien, Larry McCavitt and Kathleen O'Connor Ives.
Throughout many meetings on the issue, dozens of neighbors and other residents spoke against the proposal.
"The city needs more on its side before we agree to it," Mayor John Moak said. "It has to be good for us."
Moak then added: "I think the sentiment (among councilors) was they've heard enough."
The mayor did say, however, that it is a "really tough issue because I want to get the landfill closed in a timely manner."
The council's vote last night included instructions for the "mayor and city attorney to seek further compromise" on the issue regarding so-called 21E, a state regulation that designates the landfill as a contaminated site. Under state law, that means the city could be liable for the site since it dumped there in years past.
The vote didn't sit particularly well with at least one longtime landfill activist, Ron Klodenski, who said on one hand the proposal was rejected, but on the other, the council is instructing city leaders to "try again" — which defeats his desire of not allowing any more material on the site.
"I mean, I'm glad they didn't say yes," he said. But he said that the motion to "get a better deal means we are going to get some other benefit but we'll still get the truckloads."
Almost immediately after the meeting — in an e-mail sent to a network of dozens of people who monitor the landfill — Klodenski said his interpretation of the vote is that the council said, "we reject this deal, but we'll take your trash if you offer us something better."
He added: "Maybe I misunderstood. I hope so."
Councilor Brian Derrivan, who represents Ward 5, said the councilor hope the mayor and attorney will seek full relief from 21E matters, not just partial, as New Ventures proposed.
For nearly a half decade the Crow Lane landfill has cause problems for city and state officials while plaguing the neighborhood with noxious smells of burnt matches and rotten eggs, caused by rotting gypsum wallboard from construction materials dumped at the site.
The city and state have fined New Ventures numerous times, and the city has on several occasions shut down the landfill for failing to live up to numerous agreements.
Neighbors have suffered through headaches, watering eyes and lost sleep — among other symptoms — from the smells. New Ventures' proposal sought to bring in more of the same material that caused the smells — up to 75 trucks a day.
Many argued, including during public comment last night before the executive session, for the council to reject the plan because of the deceitful business practices of New Ventures.
Klodenski said the only reason the company seeks to put more material on the dump is to make more money.
At the same time, New Ventures is in negotiations with the state attorney general's office and the Department of Environmental Protection about closing the site. City officials said New Ventures was waiting to sign that agreement until the council voted on the proposal to bring in more material.
It is unclear what the council's negative vote will mean for New Ventures' agreement with the state.
New Ventures wants to bring in more volume to the landfill in order to make the site "financially viable," Moak said in a previous interview. He said that stems mostly from the change in policy a few years ago that required that gypsum get mixed with soil before getting put on a landfill.
The mayor said New Ventures went to the state to say they needed more volume to make up that cost. New Ventures makes money by trucking in material. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
 Posted - 06/19/2008 : 12:45:59 PM
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What would be the deal now for Wood Waste? The waste has to go to Michigan, I would assume. I was by there yesterday and everything looks (and smells) the same. What happened to " I'll have it tarped tomorrow" per Attorney Rossi??
It's already starting..... |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2008 : 5:23:42 PM
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A hot evening at City Hall
By the way - on last night's landfill meeting: Brian Derrivan and Tom Jones, the former the Ward 5 councillor and the latter an at-large councillor and 'neighbor' of the landfill, both voted against going into executive session.
It was kind of a surreal, but pleasurable, experience, sitting out in the hall for an hour-and-a-half. I got to know Brenda Reffett better, met and chatted with Kay Lazar, and we all marveled at Stephen Tait's ability to flip a pen into the air and catch it again without even paying particular attention to it - and everyone was joking around about how we could listen in on the executive session.
Even Ed Cameron, when he popped his head out to tell us it would only be 5 minutes more (it was 15), said he was surprised we weren't all pressed up against the door trying to listen in.
"We already tried that," Reffett joked back.
We speculated that if we cheered or booed every once in a while, they'd figure we could hear them anyway and let us back into the room. After a while, we settled in and started talking about such 'hot' topics as home heating costs and options.
The open parts of the meeting were televised, so I imagine anyone who's interested can catch a replay sometime on community cable.
But, to my dismay, only Ward 5 people and a couple other interested parties showed up to the meeting.
Still, despite Ron Klodenski's reservations and his sense that the vote was of the "We reject this deal, but we'll take your trash if you offer us something better" variety, I guess it was a baby step in the right direction.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 11:12:07 AM
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Developer draws flak for donations
Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By Kay Lazar
Globe Staff / June 22, 2008
A controversial proposal to double the daily truckloads of debris from an Everett construction recycling facility to a Newburyport landfill has sparked community anger about the money and the man behind both operations: developer William Thibeault.
In public meetings, blogs, and e-mail chains in recent weeks, residents in Newburyport and Everett have questioned whether the 46-year-old businessman, known for buying junkyards and developing them into retail sites, has influenced decisions by local and state leaders through campaign contributions. Officials in both communities, as well as the state, have been locked in litigation with Thibeault over various business dealings, including his latest proposal involving the Everett-to-Newburyport runs.
At the same time, state and local records indicate that Thibeault is no stranger when it comes to campaign contributions, donating to a number of politicians with clout in Everett and elsewhere in the region.
A fragmented state monitoring system makes it difficult to pinpoint how much Thibeault - or any individual - has contributed to a candidate. State law caps the maximum aggregate contribution to all state, county, and local candidates by an individual to $12,500 per calendar year. But the state agency charged with monitoring and enforcing the law does not track donations in municipal races, except for those in the state's five largest cities: Boston, Cambridge, Lowell, Springfield, and Worcester. Records from the rest of the communities, often hand-written and at times haphazard, are left to local officials to monitor.
"We don't go to the 351 cities and towns and data-entry the contributions that are reported to the local officials," said Brad Balzer, deputy director of the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Records in Newburyport's city clerk's office going back to 2000, when Thibeault bought Crow Lane Landfill in Newburyport, do not show any contributions from the developer.
But state records indicate that in 2005, Thibeault and his sister, Della Thibeault, each contributed $500 - the maximum individual donation allowed to a candidate - to state Senator Steven Baddour, a Democrat who represents Newburyport. The records also show Della Thibeault contributed $500 in 2005 to then-state senator Jarrett Barrios, a Democrat who represented Everett. Both Thibeaults contributed $500 to Barrios in 2006. Barrios left the Senate last year.
William Thibeault then contributed $300 to the 2007 campaign of Anthony Galluccio, who took over Barrios's Senate seat. Thibeault also gave $500 in 2006 to Everett Ward 1 Alderman Frank Nuzzo for his unsuccessful run for state representative. Thibeault's Wood Waste facility is in Nuzzo's ward.
In Everett, the city clerk's records show Thibeault, his sister, and one other relative have donated a total of $3,060 since 2003, mostly in mayoral campaigns and usually to former mayor David Ragucci. Half of the total - $1,500 - was donated last year to Carlo DeMaria, an alderman who was elected mayor in a hotly contested race. No other Everett candidates received money from Thibeault last year, the records show. DeMaria was the only mayoral candidate to publicly back Thibeault's latest development plans in Everett.
Thibeault, who is not an Everett resident and has several New Hampshire addresses, said critics are taking his campaign contributions out of context.
"I donate to a lot of political events throughout the state that I like and that I believe in," Thibeault said. "I believe in Carlo DeMaria. He is a gentleman who can bring a lot of positive developments for [Everett]. I liked what his vision was and what his ideas were, and that's what I wanted to support. That's my right to do that."
Thibeault also said he has given a lot of money to various charities and civic programs in Everett, where his company has been headquartered for 20-plus years. He said he hasn't donated to local leaders in Newburyport because he has been "at odds" with officials there since entering into a contract in 2002 to cap and close the Crow Lane Landfill.
Thibeault's latest proposal to double the daily truckloads of debris from his Everett Wood Waste facility to his Crow Lane Landfill in Newburyport was unanimously rejected by Newburyport's City Council late Wednesday. Residents had repeatedly urged leaders to oppose it because, they said, the landfill already has generated noxious odors that have created a variety of health problems. The council instructed Newburyport Mayor John Moak to instead continue negotiating with Thibeault.
Under the plan that was rejected Wednesday, Thibeault had offered to release Newburyport from some, but not all, of its liability under state environmental law for waste dumped by the city at the landfill years ago. In exchange, Thibeault wanted Newburyport to accept the increased waste from his Everett facility. Newburyport and state officials have issued fines and stop-work orders at Crow Lane in recent years for repeated environmental violations.
State environmental officials, who are still weighing Thibeault's latest proposal and must sign off on it, have declined comment. The state attorney general's office is overseeing a court-ordered capping and closing of Crow Lane, and all sides in the dispute are due back in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday.
After Newburyport's leaders rejected the proposal Wednesday, Mark Reich, the city's attorney, said in an interview that he was "worried" the move would generate more litigation.
Thibeault said he is frustrated.
"As a show of good faith and good will, I agreed to give up almost half the [environmental liability] claim against them, which in essence could be valued in the millions of dollars," Thibeault said. "They want to get the landfill capped and we are trying to do that, and now they are using [their authority to regulate the volume of waste] as a squeeze play to hold me hostage.
"I've given them a lot. I don't know what the alternative is. The landfill is going to sit there uncapped and we will be in lawsuits."
Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 11:14:10 AM
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I would suggest before anyone even considers the discontinuance if 4th street or any other matters concerning Wood Waste to go drive down Boston Street then take the right on 4th street. It is the grossest thing I have ever seen/smelled in my life. Huge piles of waste in the back. So many Casella and other dumpsters just thrown everywhere. NO WAY was that waste just construction debris. There are also “no parking” signs that did not appear to be from the city. I wonder if someone had those “no parking” signs made to stick the knife in other businesses there. Billy Cardello made a comment that " You would be lucky to get two cars down there".......I didn't see any problem with that and I also did NOT see the "grassy un-passable road" that the Mayor spoke of.
Wood Waste has to be over the limit of waste they can have stored there. I think that's what lower Broadway is going to look like. They want the transfer station there first, then the "possibility" of other developments. We are all being fooled and especially near the water, we will be in for big trouble. In my opinion, we are going to end up with a 32 acre dump site down on lower Broadway and don't be surprised if the old city yard goes the same way. I don't care "who" says "no way" after what I saw....."yes way"
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Edited by - Tails on 06/23/2008 11:27:41 AM |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 11:45:40 AM
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| As much as I personally would like to see Wood Waste out of Everett completely, I am realistic enough to know that would never happen. So, in my opinion, the second best option is to keep Wood Waste where it is and have the state enforce their demand for Mr Thibeault to build an enclosed facility on that site. I do not trust Mr Thibeault to do the right thing. My biggest concern is he will get his permit for lower Broadway and then just ignore any conditions the city has applied to his permit. He will then tie the city up in litigation and continue doing what he has always done, be non-compliant and do whatever he damn well pleases. To borrow a phrase from Just Wondering, it's time for our city father's to stand up and grow a backbone. Each and every one of them knows what the right thing to do is. It's time for them to look out for the people and to stop following the money. This business and it's practices are bad for the City of Everett. The majority of the taxpayers and the voters are not in favor of this relocation. Any vote the city council makes on the Wood Waste and Mr Thibeault issues should and will become a key factor in the next city election. We all deserve better than what we are getting from City Hall. |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 12:09:36 PM
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| Another thing that I have been curious about. Are there any regulations on just how much waste Mr Thibeault can keep at his facility? I know he has been stock piling it up on Boston Street due to the cease and desist order in Newburyport. Shouldn't he be forced to remove it from Everett in a reasonable amount of time? If it was a private citizen pulling this, code enforcement would be down right away handing out fines. Is the city able to give fines to Wood Waste? Couldn't our Board of Health do something about the obnoxious odors and dust coming from there? The city really needs to monitor that situation down there a lot better than they have in the past. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 12:38:14 PM
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Our Board of Health cant handle this. This article was from 2006.
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The owner of the company in charge of capping the Crow Lane landfill is accused of reeking havoc in Everett, the site from which construction and demolition debris will be transported to Newburyport.
City officials and residents in Everett are making a big stink about the local recycling facility that they say is spreading debris, dust and foul odors all over the surrounding neighborhood. The target of their complaints is Wood Waste of Boston's co-owner William Thibeault, who also runs New Ventures that has been fined $250,000 for breaking environmental laws and regulations at the Crow Lane landfill.
You wouldn't believe the smell; it smells like rotten eggs; said Wayne Matewsky, city councilor for Ward 1, where the recycling company is located. I'm shocked he can bring stuff to Newburyport. I'd stop him from doing anything.
According to an agreement being drafted by the state Attorney General's Office, Thibeault will be allowed to resume transporting construction and demolition debris from Everett to Newburyport to once and for all finish the capping that began four years ago. The work stopped after the city last December issued a cease and desist order.
Everett's issues will become ours, Councilor Bruce Vogel said. I’m amazed that the DEP and the AG are doing business with this guy.
Tensions between Thibeault and the city of Everett have intensified recently, Matewsky said. Last Friday, a small but vocal group of protestors wearing surgical masks gathered at the facility. City officials say the company, which has been operating in Everett for 14 years, is violating the conditions of its state license by not building an indoor facility to keep dust and debris from entering the air.
Health Inspector Joe DeVito said three 15-foot-high piles of debris are sitting out in the open although the company was ordered to build an enclosed structure five years ago. Around 15 trucks a day add to the piles, he said.
The trucks just scoop it up, throw it into a grinder and it blows out everywhere, said Everett Health Inspector Joe DeVito. There could be asbestos and lead in there. No one is looking through it because you'd need 40 to 50 guys down there. It's impossible.
They've been a problem for seven to eight years. They run rampant over environmental laws, Matewsky said. God knows what's inside those trash bags.
Thibeault said that the Everett's complaints stem from a legal dispute over land.
We agreed to a three-year extension on the land with the previous (mayor's) administration, he said. And the new administration did nothing to close the deal. I put a lis pendens (notice of pending action) on the city yard and filed a lawsuit. (Their assertion) is a retaliation that my lawyer is looking into.
Thibeault also said that he hasn't built a permanent facility to contain the debris because the city wants Wood Waste to relocate again so the property can be redeveloped.
The administration allowed us to continue with the temporary structure, he said.
Matewsky disputes these claims, stating that Thibeault is actually referring to an adjacent property.
He put a bid on it and hasn't been able to purchase it, Matewsky said. That land has nothing to do with the situation at hand.
Mayor John Moak said he always knew the debris would come from Wood Waste, but was not aware of the extent of what Everett is going through.The problems reinforced his conviction that the city must have an inspector in Everett although the DEP, according to the preliminary agreement, will monitor activities on site to ensure the gypsum is separated from the construction and demolition debris before it arrives in Newburyport.
It doesn't give me a warm feeling, Moak said. There's no way we'll do anything without monitoring.
Councilor Tom Jones said he had heard of the problems although, he said, the level of complaints appears to have escalated.
There are new worries, he said of the situation in Newburyport. I hear that people are getting sick and I don't think it's only the gypsum.
Some neighbors in Everett have been blaming the drifting dust and debris from Wood Waste for compromising their health. Their symptoms mimic those reported by Newburyport residents who live near the Crow Lane landfill.
The wind blows this all over the neighborhood, said Jeanne DiStefano, who lives across the street from the facility in Everett. People have been complaining of sore throats, itchy eyes and other allergy-like symptons. My eyes are so red that you'd think I'm the devil.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection says it has been investigating the problem.
The [DEP] has been working with the Attorney General's Office in relation to the operation and storage of material at the facility, said DEP spokesman Joe Ferson.
In July, the Environmental Protection Agency fined Wood Waste for $157,000 for discharging storm water from the facility to the Island End River without a permit, a violation of the Clean Water Act, according to the EPA.
Frustration is growing in Everett, DeVito said. The city is sending regular letters to the DEP, the attorney general and Gov. Mitt Romney, urging them to take action, but DeVito said that with the exception of one returned phone call, their attempts have been futile.
If it had been Wellesley or Belmont where some of these people live you'd never see these problems, he said, but because it's Chelsea and Everett, no one cares.
Matwesky speaks of 4th street in this article and it's time to STICK TO "YOUR" WORD MATEWSKY. It would also "appear" as if our BOH has given up.
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kimmy
Member
32 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 1:20:32 PM
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| The council should request all the records on woodwaste from the begining from the health inspector before making any decisions. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 1:58:00 PM
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I think the Board of Alderman is well aware of all the issues from the Board of Health. People can do their own research on this matter and realize this is not good for Everett. Although is does appear that our Board of Health has given up, I’m disappointed the way this has been handled by them and code enforcement. I can’t believe after what I saw, that code enforcement would not have any jurisdiction.
Wood Waste should be fined daily and the BOH and Code Enforcement should have inundated the AG and the DEP daily on this matter with letters, phone calls and pictures, and they should have kept those records, and if they did not get any response, I’m sure the papers would have loved that information.
There is only one decision to make…………make him do what he was supposed to do 12 YEARS AGO on Boston Street and leave the rest of the city and the waters alone. He is untrustworthy and can not be trusted.
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 4:14:29 PM
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Landfill in the news, again
I went to an event in Methuen, on Friday, and was hoping Sen. Baddour would be there so I could grill him about campaign contributions to the landfill owner (even though I was there for Merrimack Valley Magazine).
Here are yesterday's story from the Globe and today's story from the Daily News. The good news is, none of our city officials accepted campaign contributions from the landfill owner, which I don't think we believed they would do anyway.
Apparently the majority of people in the city want this issue to run its course without their input. The majority rules. I got nothing left to say, but check out Tom Salemi's blog, where he has something to say.
P.S. One of the things Kay Lazar did NOT say at that meeting last week was that she was not going to be a Globe North reporter anymore! Mary Baker Eaton talks about this on her blog, here.
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Kay Lazar is no longer writing for Globe North?? |
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 10:04:41 PM
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| Just burying an inappropriate post. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2008 : 4:55:24 PM
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Landfill court date: update
From Ron Klodenski:
As a result of today's 10-minute court session at Suffolk Superior Court, the City of Newburyport will now be at the negotiating table when the DEP and the landfill owner continue trying to agree on some settlement that will allow the landfill capping to proceed. My understanding is that the city attorney, DEP attorney, assistant attorney general, and the landfill owner's lawyers will appear again in court on July 14 for a status conference. At that time, as I heard it, "the city will tell the court what it wants." Present at today's session were the city attorney, DEP attorney, assistant attorney general, and the landfill owner's lawyers.
It was also mentioned that the landfill owner has a pending preliminary injunction for his Everett facility, and that this injunction would be involved in the negotiations.
Please note that this is only a layman's interpretation of what happened. If I find more legally and technically accurate information, I'll send it around.
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2008 : 4:59:11 PM
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| I really hope we are *not* going to wait until July 14th to start hauling waste out of Wood Waste. Per Attorney Rossi’s words, it’s already in the works to haul it to Ohio. They need to start hauling it there and not sit on it. Wood Waste is out of control and should not be accepting anymore trucks there. |
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Wood Waste
