Halifax: Fight against strip mining on Monponsett Pond continues

• Following grassroots campaign to stop mining, Town issues second stop work order in two years, levies $30,000 penalty for illegal mining

• Morse Bros., Oiva Hannula Cranberry, Ryco Excavating continue leveling ancient archeological site

• Strip mining in drinking water well protection zone violates state, local law

• Halifax officials show leadership, Town is second to reject sand mining after Kingston denied a permit for Plympton Sand & Gravel in March 2024

Breaking News! VICTORY

 

July 18, 2024: For the second time in two years, the Town of Halifax issued a cease and desist order to Morse Brothers to stop strip mining on the shores of Monponsett Pond. The Town issued a $30,000 civil penalty for mining violations.  The victory is directly attributable to the relentless grassroots efforts of Halifax Community for Conservation Efforts

From the Board’s letter:

Multiple truckloads of earth have recently been observed leaving the property. In addition, you stated in an email message to Town Administrator Cody Haddad dated July 12, 2024 that approximately 2,500 cubic yards of material resulting from the prior screening of sand was being moved from the property. 

Notwithstanding your assertions in the July 12, 2024 email message, the recent earth removal was not authorized by the Soil Removal Permit because Morse Brothers had already removed almost all of the earth authorized by the Soil Removal Permit. 

By letter dated May 3, 2024, Attorney Rosenberg stated that 19,908 yards of sand/earth had been removed from the property during the period of February 12, 2024 to April 5, 2024. 

Also, the Board of Selectmen hereby assesses a fine of $30,000 (1500 cubic yards x $20) against Morse Brothers for the recent earth removal, which was performed without a permit pursuant to the Soil Removal By- law and constitutes multiple violations of the Soil Removal By-law. Attached please find written notice of violation pursuant to M.G.L. c.40, §21D.

Overview

For decades, a company, Morse Brothers, has been mining on the shores of Monponsett Pond in Halifax, MA. In 2022, residents decided they had enough: enough truck traffic through an Environmental Justice community on narrow country roads, mining in their drinking water aquifer, and destroying an archeological site known as the Whaleback. An acrimonious public meeting in fall 2022 led to two of three Board of Selectmen resigning. Read the Boston Globe story here about Halifax’s one-man Board. In December 2022, the Board issued the first cease and desist order. In May 2023, fifteen residents sued Morse and the mining operators to stop the mining. They lost but did not give up. Following a public hearing and permit application for more mining from Morse, the Board issued a strict mining permit. Morse sued, asking the court for an injunction claiming the permit infringed on their “right to farm.” The court rejected Morse’s argument in February, 2024.

Read more about the site and the mining in the Sand Wars Report here

Read more about the ISSUES and in the CHRONOLOGY below.

ISSUES

Ancient archeological site being strip mined

Morse is strip mining a geological formation known as the Whaleback Ridge, a forested glacial esker.   The Whaleback is a known Native American Indigenous archeological site. The Whaleback’s hills are about 72 feet with peaks as high as 150 feet. The Whaleback has been studied for its archeological significance to the Indigenous people of the region, the Wampanoag Nation. Much of it has already been destroyed. Listen here to the President of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe about the importance of the area. 

Morse has mined at least 165,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel the site but an accurate count has never been done.

Below: Morse strip mine, Halifax MA, January 2023. 

Drinking Water

Morse is strip mining in the water protection zones for the Town’s drinking water wells and is mining in the aquifer. This is against the law.  One Halifax public water supply well already  tested at 15 ppt for PFAS, just below the EPA limit of 20 ppt. Residents ask what would happen if the wells tested above the EPA limit for PFAS as a result of all of the earth removal in town. Would they have to buy treated water back from Brockton?

The site abuts the MassAudubon Stump Brook Wildlife Sanctuary.

Community impacts: Environmental Justice neighborhood, truck traffic, safety

The trucking route is through an Environmental Justice community. Residents suffer harm from excessive truck traffic on narrow country roads and safety concerns.

The Mining Companies

Morse appears to be a shell corporation covering for a shady network of sand and gravel mining interests.  Oiva Hannula Cranberry Co. of Carver, MA has “management contract” with Morse for the Halifax mining operation.   Scott Hannula  of Hannula Cranberry chairs the Carver Earth Removal Committee that  Carver that issues permits for mining operations. Scott Hannula appears to both own or operate his own cranberry company and the Oiva Hannula Cranberry Co. He is also on the board of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association.   According to an affidavit from Morse Brothers, Hannula has a $530,000 contract to “operate the Morse bogs” — which involves sand and gravel mining.

Morse claims it has a “portfolio of approximately 300 total acres of cranberry growing” includes bogs in Halifax, Middleboro and Hanson. Morse claims it is hauling  sand from town to town for these cranberry operations and it is exempt from earth removal regulations as “agriculture.”  In 2016 the Town gave Morse a permit for 50,000 cubic yards.  In April, 2022 Morse applied for another permit to expand by 1.14 million cubic yards.  Facing fierce public opposition Morse withdrew the permit application in August 2022. Morse and Ryco Excavating kept mining.  Read more in the CHRONOLOGY below.

In November, 2023, the Selectboard gave Morse a permit for 20,000 cubic yards, phase 1 of the previously proposed 1.1 million cubic yard operation. 

Follow the money

Morse is seeking a permit for 1,140,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel — about $15 million in revenue. The 20,000 cubic yards it recently mined is worth about $200,000.00

Morse’s controller testifies in a sworn affidavit that the Halifax bogs produce about 18,200 barrels of cranberries annually, worth about $820, 000 in annual total revenue. Multiple sources put the cost of production of a barrel of cranberries at $30-35 per barrel. For Morse’s Halifax bogs, the cost of production for 18,200 barrels would be about $546,000 to 637,000. This means cranberries from the Halifax bogs generate about $183,000 and $290,000 in annual profits. The  controller testifies that Morse has a contract with Ovia Hannula Cranberry for “management contracts” that requires Morse to pay Hannula about $530,000 per year to manage the Halifax bogs, on the low end of a cost of production.   Clearly, the profits from sand and gravel of about $1 million per year for 5 years outweighs cranberry profits even in the best scenario at $290,000. per year.

Morse also receives state and federal taxpayer subsidies. Since 2019, the state’s Cranberry Revitalization Program has given out about $1 million in taxpayer subsidies annually to the cranberry industry. From 2019 to 2022, Morse received $150,000 under this program, including $75,000 for the fiscal year 2023 while illegally mining in Halifax. According to Environmental Working Group, Morse has received federal agricultural subsidies of $640,663 since the 1990s. 

Chronology

July 24, 2024

Ten Residents Send Notice of Intent to Sue for Damage to the Environment Letter

On July 24, 2024, a Ten Residents Group send a notice of intent to sue letter to Morse Bros., Oiva Hannula Cranberry Co., Ryco Excavating and state agencies.

Read more here>>

Read the full coverage of the cease and desist letter, an overview of the Whaleback glacial formation, the history of the cranberry industry’s connection to sand mining, and more, in this in-depth coverage by the Plymouth County Observer.

July 18, 2024

Board of Selectmen issue second cease & desist to Morse

“Halifax BOS issues STOP order”

Read the Halifax Plympton Express story here

AUGUST 2, 2024 BY KRISTY ZAMAGNI-TWOMEY, EXPRESS CORRESPONDENT

Jan. 26, 2024

 Sand Wars in Halifax Continue reports the Plympton Halifax Kingston Express — Read the story here

Dec. 2023

Town refuses to enforce zoning bylaw prohibiting mining in drinking water protection district

In late November, 2023 Halifax residents sent a demand for enforcement of the zoning law to the zoning officer of Halifax asking them to rule that the Board of Selectmen Nov. 16, 2023  permit to Morse Brothers, Inc. was illegal. In 2022, the former zoning officer said it was illegal. Yet in 2023, the new zoning officer said the mining was OK under the zoning laws. See the letter here: Halifax Zoning Enforcement Demand Nov 2023

Here’s the building inspector’s denial letter. 

Nov. / Dec. 2023

Town grants earth removal permit, Morse goes to court claiming permit too strict

On November 6, 2023 the Board of Selectmen granted Morse a permit for additional 20,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel. They imposed permit conditions which Morse did not like so it sued the Town. Morse claimed the permit conditions interfere with their “agriculture.” The court denied Morse’s request for an injunction on 2/5/2024. See the court decision here. Superior Ct Denial Morse Motion for Injunction Judge Glenny-2-5-24

The November 6, 2023 hearing on the permit filled the Town Hall to near-capacity. About two dozen Halifax residents spoke against the permit. Not one member of the public spoke for the permit.  The public’s concerns and information presented included:

•  Threats to public safety from truck traffic on local, unpaved roads
• No benefit to Halifax but a detriment resulting in deforestation, taking earth from Halifax and moving it to another town, and adding 750 truck trips to already deteriorating and degraded roads
• The impact of tractor trailer trucks on underground water and gas lines that lie only about 18″ below the road used as the trucking route. This includes concerns about a possible gas explosion or water main break from the pressure of the loaded trucks . 
• Safety of children, many of whom walk or ride their bikes on the road used as the trucking route
• Mining in a water protection district  — the town’s zoning law clearly prohibits mining in well protection zones
• Does the Board have authority to issue this permit? Does it require a special permit first, as required because it is not agriculture under the bylaws
• If this earth removal was for agricultural purposes the sand would be used on site but most but not all 20,000 cubic yards of earth will be removed from the site and likely out of town. 
• Where is the sand going?  

In 2023, the company sought a permit for about 1.1 million cubic yards (see below). It withdrew the permit application in the face of fierce public opposition. Clearly the November, 2023 permit is just Phase 1 of Morse’s plan to excavate the entire 1.1 million cubic yards. 

May 2023

Fifteen residents file lawsuit

On May 5, 2023, fifteen Halifax residents filed a civil complaint against Morse, Oiva Hannula Cranberry of Carver, and Ryco Excavating, Inc. and its related entity, Ryco Leasing and Repair, Inc. for “engaging in unpermitted earth removal on the property located at 250 Lignan Street, Halifax.” 

The complaint is here. The residents asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the operation until the case goes trial and got resolved. Stopping the operation is necessary to prevent irreparable harm to the environment and residents. The injunction request is here. On June 21, 2023, Superior Court Judge Glenny denied the residents’ motion for an injunction siding with Morse, Hannula and Ryco. The Decision is here.  The case was eventually dismissed.

Morse Brothers opposed the injunction and submitted the affidavit of the company’s controller, Brendan Moquin. It is very revealing: it says if Morse is prevented from  sand and gravel mining it would be “catastrophic” to Morse’s business.  The company makes elaborate claims about all the earth materials needed to maintain its bogs, but the numbers tell another story.  

Jan. 10, 2023

On January 10, 2023, the Halifax Selectboard held a meeting to hear residents concerns and address violations of a December 2022  cease and desist. The public, including members of the Halifax Community for Conservation Efforts, presented clear evidence of the violations. They described the threat to public safety from Ryco’s truck traffic, drinking water, nearby conservation lands, wetlands, and “outstanding water resources.” 

• A mother spoke about her  fear of the safety of their children from constant sand and gravel  trucks traveling through the residential street.
• Residents spoke about damage to the Town’s street infrastructure from trucks:  culverts  in danger of breaking and dangerous road conditions. Residents reported Morse had unlawfully cut the tree buffer along the shore of Monponsett pond.
• Residents explained Morse Brothers has dredged into the aquifer, exposing drinking water to contamination. The mining is within a Zone II Wellhead Protection Area, within Public Supply Watershed, within a Zone A and Zone C Surface Water Protection Area, within an Outstanding Water Resource Area, adjacent to Freshwater Wetlands. It is also adjacent to the Stump Brook Mass Audubon conservation land. Before Morse clear cut and strip mined the 15 acre site it was categorized as Prime Forestland.

At the meeting, Morse Brothers claimed that all the sand gravel removed was going to other bogs they own in Middleborough and Hanson.  Residents reported Morse is filling their bogs in Hanson, Middleborough, and at 537 Thompson Street in Halifax with sand 3-4 ft deep.  They asked, Why are they filling the bogs with so much sand?  Moving earth out of the town without a valid permit, which Morse did not have, is illegal. While Morse attempted to claim an agricultural exemption from the permit requirement, this was not legitimate. Other bogs on the nearby sites are failing due to the high water table.

According to Halifax resident Jeremy Gillespie, “The issue really is, why are they taking the sand out of our water supply protection zones?  When they received taxpayer funded grant money from the state for the Middleborough bog project, did they let the state know they’d be taking the sand from these water supply protection zones in another town, whose water supply has been noted as highly susceptible to contamination and abutting the shores of an impaired public water supply lake with an EPA enforceable TMDL?” Read more below about Morse’s taxpayer grants.

 Dec. 29, 2022

Town issues cease and desist to Morse and Ryco

Even though Morse withdrew the mining permit application in 2022 (see above)  Morse and Ryco Excavating and trucking kept mining at the site. 

In  December 29, 2022 the Town Board of Selectment issued a Cease & Desist Order to Morse Brothers to stop sand mining.  The Cease and Desist is below. Morse, Ryco and Hannula kept conducting earth removal anyway and violated the Cease and Desist according to residents and witnesses.

“The Board is asking that you stop any earth removal…” – December 29, 2022 Letter from the Town of Halifax Board of Selectmen

August 2022

Morse withdraws application to mine 1 million cubic yards of sand and gravel

 In early 2022, Morse filed a permit application with the Town to remove more sand and gravel – 1.1 million cubic yards over 4-5 years from the Lignan Street area. Morse withdrew the application on August 12, 2022 when  faced with public opposition. Morse claimed the huge operation was “incidental” to its cranberry operations. 

In August, 2022, the controversy and backlash from residents about the illegal mining operation and expansion proposal resulted in the abrupt resignation of two of the Town’s three Selectboard members. The Chair was working for the company doing the excavation and trucking, Ryco  Excavating. This was clearly a conflict of interest.  The abrupt resignations were the subject of a Boston Globe article that however missed the point about the sand controversy.

June 2022

Public hearing on Morse’s application for 1,140,000 million cubic yards of  sand and gravel

Read the story from Plympton Kingston Halifax Express:

JUNE 24, 2022

 BY KRISTY ZAMAGNI-TWOMEY, EXPRESS CORRESPONDENT

The Halifax Selectmen met in-person on the evening of June 14. There was a public hearing for earth removal for the Morse Brothers’ cranberry property. Selectman Alex Meade said, “I remember most of the residents’ concerns were about the roadway itself and dust control. Since then, we’ve had questions about runoff from the trucks so leaking hydraulics things like that. I don’t know if you plan on putting in some kind of catch basin filters in?” “Certainly, we would be willing to talk about that,” the Morse Brothers representative said.

Meade said he would like to have a clear-cut definition of what the expectations are for the road condition as well as dust control. The spokesman said that the earth removal was necessary because the current layout is not conducive to newer ways of growing cranberries. “The things that we are talking about make sense for cranberry production. If we change the property to the new way, it now becomes a highest and best use for that property… there are good things for the town, there are good things for the grower… at the end of the day, we just want to coexist,” he continued.

They showed maps of the property to the residents present for the hearing and said that they were also available at Mass Mapper under Zone 2. Residents spoke about their concerns including home depreciation and the safety of children. One resident said that they already deal with being inconvenienced in September and October but said that was just part of the cranberry business. He said, however, that this was different and would cause disruption for years. Another resident said that he worries about the environmental impact of the properties surrounding the one in question including walking trails leading into Burrage. Another resident asked that the official abutters list be expanded to include more properties. Someone else expressed concern about the ability of first responders to get through to homes given the heavy truck traffic which was described as sounding like an “earthquake.”

The Selectmen agreed to do a site visit and then revisit the project in early August. “I don’t think we are at a point in this project to vote either way,” Selectmen Chair Ashley DiSesa said. [DiSesa works for Ryco and subsequently resigned from the Board]

April 2022

Morse applies for permit to expand sand mine

In April 2022, Morse applied to the Halifax Selectboard for a permit to remove 1.14 million cubic yards of sand and gravel to create “cranberry bogs and water supply ponds.” This would entail about 35 truck trips on week days for 5-6 years. It would level the Whaleback esker and mine in the aquifer. The total site disturbance is 67.1 acres. 

Town’s report on Morse Brother’s earth removal permit application for 1,140,000 cubic yards on the Whaleback Ridge 

Application from Morse Brothers Inc. and Grady Consulting for Earth Removal Permit for 250 Lingan Street

Morse, Hannula and Ryco Excavating claim this mining is allowed as “incidental” to cranberry agriculture.

Halifax’s general bylaw  prohibits earth removal due to its detrimental effects on water supplies, real estate values and the environment. See, General Bylaw, Chapter 144, “Soil Removal.” It prohibits earth removal on land zoned agricultural or residential unless the project qualifies for a permit.  It states: “Section 144-1. Permit required. No soil, sand, gravel or loam removal shall be permitted in any area unless and until a permit has been granted by the Board of Selectmen.” There is a limited exemption for certain projects up to 1,000 cubic yards. To remove more, the landowner has to show the operation is “incidental” to an existing agricultural operation on the land. IF the land is being used agriculturally, the landowner can apply for a permit to remove sand and gravel but it has to be “necessary and incidental” to the agricultural use of the land. To get a permit in 2016 for 50,000 cubic yards and when it applied for the 2022 permit for another 1.1 million cubic yards, Morse claimed the sand mining operation is “necessary” to build a bog and “incidental” to the existing use on the land. Neither is true: Morse cannot show it is necessary to build the bog or that the massive amount is “incidental”.

The Town also has a law prohibiting earth removal within 4 feet of the groundwater. Morse wanted to mine into the groundwater to obtain sand and gravel.  The people of Halifax passed a law against this type of mining in a residential agricultural zone. Morse has to play by the rules.