See the Timeline below
State, local officials stand by, town issues more permits and approvals
Corrupt town Earth Removal Committee complicit, allows mining expansion
Town Zoning Board of Appeals, Conservation Commission, state agencies refuse to enforce the law and side with mining company
For over six years, SLT Construction Co. has caused environmental destruction and harmed the health and well-being of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. SLT has leveled the highest hill in Carver down to the street level. It has expanded illegally into Plympton. In collusion with the Carver Earth Removal Committee, it got a permit to expand on the abutting “Marob Trust” property. Marob’s owner previously conducted a massive mining operation on part of its property with an earth removal permit from Carver. Now SLT has taken the rest of the sand.
Under investigation for fraud according to sources
SLT Construction and its contractor AGT Trucking (Alan Germain, recently elected Town Moderator in Carver) are under investigation by the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General. The office investigates fraud and waste of public resources.
Residents, environment suffer
SLT’s non-stop commercial mining operation makes the lives of people living nearby intolerable. Dust, noise, vibration, constant truck traffic, logging, and operation of sand and gravel processing equipment cause ear-splitting, concussion noise. Truck traffic is non-stop. Excavation, loading tractor trailers, rock crushing, and sorting cause noise and vibrations that make their homes shake. Carcinogenic silica dust blows from the site onto homes, exposing residents to a health hazard. This is a residential neighborhood
Drinking water threatened
Read the 2022 hydrologist report here:
Drone photos show Rickets Pond is drying up. In over 40 years, this has never happened according to local residents.
SLT leveled the highest hill in Carver, clear-cutting forests and altering drainage patterns, stormwater flow and groundwater infiltration rates. The site is in the Plymouth Carver Sole Source Aquifer. Forests, vegetation and sand and gravel filter and protect our water. SLT has permanently removed the filtration and protection of the drinking water supply for 200,000 people – present and future generations.
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Timeline
2015
The Town of Carver rezones the area as the “Spring Street Innovation District” on the recommendation of the Town Planner and Town Manager, who promise the land will be used for an “innovative business park.”
2018
SLT makes a deal to buy the land from MassDOT. SLT and MassDOT start industrial clearing, logging, and a commercial sand and gravel mining operation that is continuing as of 2024. The Carver Earth Removal Committee grants earth removal permits even though the application is incomplete. The permits do not have mandatory conditions. The public hearing in 2021 was a “sham,” according to Superior Court Judge Sullivan. The files on the 2021 sham permit are here. The state “MEPA” office signs off on the project and does not conduct even minimal due diligence to require SLT and MassDOT to conduct a proper environmental impact study. The MEPA Certificate is a sham. See that here.
This is a commercial mining operation, not an innovative business park. The Zoning Board of Appeals, Earth Removal Committee, Board of Selectmen, Conservation Commission, and Board of Health have all allowed commercial sand and gravel mining and processing—a quarry—to operate with impunity.
2021
Save the Pine Barrens seeks enforcement of the Bylaw to stop violations. The Building Inspector refuses. The appeal is made to the ZBA. Following a sham hearing before the Carver ZBA, the denial is appealed to court. In late 2023, the residents decided to dismiss the case and pursue other options.
January, 2022:
Residents file a lawsuit to protect themselves, families, and the environment against SLT’s mining expansion
Court Hearing: September 6, 2024: Appeals Court, Boston
| Where: John Adams Courthouse, Allan M. Hale (Rm Four) Pemberton Square, Boston, MA 02108 Time: 10:30 a.m. Name of the case: Cynthia Beard and others v. James Nauen, Carver Earth Removal Committee and others. Confirm time and find out more: https://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/docket/2023-P-1484 Open to the public. Questions: If you have any questions please email AppealsCtClerk@jud.state.ma.us. Find the legal briefs with the arguments to the court here in Google Drive. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VNzs_sNKIiIWeLcxUCNwjnnJLNba0uYi?usp=sharing |
The Lawsuit:
The lawsuit challenges the second earth removal (sand and gravel mining) permit the Carver ERC granted to SLT for the 0 Spring Street, Carver mine. The ERC granted the permit in November 2021 for mining on about 5 additional acres known as the “Marob Lot.” The name of the lawsuit is Cynthia Beard and others vs. James Nauen as a member of the Carver Earth Removal Committee and others. It is Superior Court Case 2283 CV 00032 and Appeals Court case 2023-P-1484.
In January 2022, a group of eleven Carver residents living next to the sand mine sued SLT and the Carver Earth Removal Committee in Superior Court to try to stop the mining on the Marob Lot and nullify the 2021 permit. Since then, the Carver Earth Removal Committee (ERC) and SLT have been fighting the residents every step of the way, forcing them to spend limited resources to pursue the case in court. The residents are simply seeking justice, clean air, and the protection of Rickets Pond, their homes, and drinking water. Read more below about the legal steps leading up to the September 6, 2024, hearing in the Appeals Court.
Since January 2022, SLT and the Earth Removal Committee have taken every legal step possible to fight the residents trying to protect the environment and their homes. While fighting the residents, SLT immediately started mining the Marob Lot under the new permit, expanding the existing 20-acre open pit mine by another 5 acres.
The ERC and SLT stalled the lawsuit so they could keep mining. As of September 2024, SLT and the ERC are arguing the lawsuit is moot because the mining on the Marob Lot is done. The residents say it is not because the ERC never required SLT to take the steps required by the Bylaw to protect the environment and residents, and let them mine anyway.
The Sham 2021 Earth Removal Permit
The November 2021 ERC agenda for the public hearing where the ERC granted the permit covered up the name of SLT and hid the permit application under the wrong location. This new permit was issued under the name of the abutting landowner Mary McGrath/Marob Trust. According to statements by Peter Opachinski at the Earth Removal Public Hearing, SLT made a deal with McGrath to excavate sand and gravel to “blend the two lots together.”
Below: May, 2024. This is the Marob Lot after SLT’s mining under the 2021 Earth Removal Permit. SLT told residents they would be planting the site with “wildflowers” after the mining.
Court happenings
July 2022:
At a court hearing on July 20, 2022, Superior Court Judge Sullivan says the so-called public hearing the ERC held on the SLT application for an earth removal permit was a “SHAM.”
September 22, 2022:
Superior Court Judge Sullivan denied SLT’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint appealing the November 2021 earth removal permit. Read the Decision here. The Judge’s written decision says:
“The Earth Removal Bylaw is ‘clearly intended to protect citizens of Carver, such as the plaintiffs, from detrimental effects of earth removal… Plaintiffs have raised concerns regarding their safety and general welfare. The concerns raised are not speculative, as the plaintiffs allege that they have been experiencing the detrimental effects of the earth removal operations since it began, which the plaintiffs have established by way of affidavits.'”
In February 2022
The Earth Removal Committee and SLT opposed the residents’ lawsuit again, forcing them to go back to court to defend their right to fight for a clean environment and the protection of their homes and families. The Earth Removal Committee and SLT moved to dismiss the residents’ lawsuit for lack of legal standing, saying they are not “harmed.” This time, the court judge agreed with them. This is the subject of the legal appeal on September 6, 2024.
2022: Hydrologist says SLT threatens drinking water, Conservation Commission violated law.
February 3, 2022:
An expert hydrologist report concludes SLT’s mining operation threatens public and private drinking water wells and adjacent wetland resources, and the Carver Conservation Commission is allowing violations to happen.
April 2022:
SLT files for site plan review and special permits with the Carver Planning Board for office and warehouse buildings—not the self-storage units identified in the MEPA Certificate.
Drone video shows SLT digging up stumps at the Spring Street site. In early 2022, a huge pile of stumps that had been removed during the excavation on the site was clearly obvious to everyone driving on Route 44. Suddenly, they were gone. On April 5, 2022, it looks like they were dug up. This video also shows SLT excavated into the groundwater in three places. The “stormwater basin” near Spring Street is full of silt.
May 24, 2022:
Carver Planning Board describes in detail all the violations they saw on their site visit at SLT—and they still grant a 2-year extension of the subdivision approval. Peter Opachinski of SLT explains on video how they “plan” to start excavation in Plympton. Maps show SLT is already mining in Plympton.
SLT has sold three lots in the subdivision. The new owners want permits from the Planning Board and Conservation Commission. The entire 27-acre subdivision site violates the zoning law because earth removal is prohibited in this zoning district.
June 27, 2022:
Carver Planning Board hearing on 3 new lots in SLT subdivision. Should they get approved even though there are many legal questions about the mining operation and an expert says the project threatens drinking water and wetlands?
July 19, 2022:
Carver Zoning Board of Appeals: final day of public hearing on Save the Pine Barrens’ request for enforcement of the Zoning Bylaw. The Zoning Bylaw makes it illegal to mine in the SSID zoning district where SLT’s mine is being conducted. On July 19, 2022, the ZBA refused to do its job, saying it lacked “subject matter jurisdiction” over zoning violations. The ZBA’s contorted legal argument is contrary to established law and wrong. STPB appealed the erroneous decision. The case was eventually dismissed by STPB in order to pursue other options.
September 2022:
Carver Planning Board denies site plan review and special permit for Lot 3 on SLT’s plans. SLT sues the Planning Board. SLT changes the plans, and the Planning Board issues the permit.
Town of Plympton issues a cease and desist to SLT Construction to stop unpermitted earth removal on the Plympton portion of the site.
Carver Conservation Commission issues a wetlands permit for Lot 3 to put structures near Rickets Pond. Save the Pine Barrens and 10 residents appeal the Conservation Commission’s permit to MassDEP. The appeal goes to a hearing in June 2024. An expert says the whole subdivision is in violation of the Clean Water Act and the state Wetlands Law. Read the expert testimony here >>>
April 5, 2022:
Drone video shows SLT digging up stumps at the Spring Street site. In early 2022, a huge pile of stumps that had been removed during the excavation on the site were clearly obvious to everyone driving on Route 44. Suddenly they were gone. On April 5, 2022 it looks like they were dug up. This video also shows SLT excavated into the ground water in three places. The “stormwater basin” near Spring Street is full of silt.
May 24, 2022:
Carver Planning Board describes in detail all the violations they saw on their site visit at SLT — and they still grant a 2 year extension of the subdivision approval. Peter Opachinski of SLT explains on video how they “plan” to
2023
SLT applies to the Town of Plympton for an earth removal permit. Following a public hearing, the Town Selectboard says it will not proceed unless SLT supplies an environmental report to make sure the operation won’t harm drinking water. SLT never follows up.
SLT then applies to MassDEP for an asphalt, brick and concrete “recycling facility” on the Plympton portion of the land.
July 21, 2023:
MassDEP asks SLT for more information before it acts on the permit. See MassDEP’s letter here. SLT never follows up with the environmental study.
November 14, 2023: SLT Construction appeals to try to get Plympton to issue a permit for a “materials processing facility.” See the appeal below. SLT says it has to mine 102,000 cubic yards to level the site for the facility. The Zoning Board of Appeals denies the permit.
2024
The public continues the fight to hold the Town of Carver and SLT accountable for the destruction and harm caused by the 6-year-long ongoing sand and gravel mine.
July 8, 2024:
CLWC sends a demand letter to the Town of Plympton. We ask Plympton to stop SLT’s illegal mining. Read more here. As of September 2024, the Town has not responded. The illegal mining continues. Watch the latest drone video here.
September 6, 2024:
The lawsuit against SLT and the Carver Earth Removal Committee has a court hearing. This case is about the earth removal permit the ERC granted, allowing SLT to expand its mining operations to the east of Rickets Pond. The land is owned by Marob Trust and Mary McGrath. The hearing is open to the public and will be held in the Appeals Court in Boston. Read more in the 2021 timeline above.
2023
May 12.
In the next step in the process of appealing the ERC’s 2021 permit to Marob Trust/SLT to expand on the north side of Rickets Pond, Plaintiffs file the Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. Read their Memorandum and Motion to the Court here.
[…] Engineering did the plans. BEWARE! This company is also the one that is doing the work on the SLT strip mine on Route 44 that is emitting dust into Rickets Pond and all over the neighborhood. An expert report concludes this threatens public […]