For decades, Carver residents have dealt with sand blowing onto their homes, yards, cars, streets, and neighborhoods, while expressing concerns about their drinking water and public health to state and local officials for years.
February 17, 2026: Community stands up to 10 years of sand mining at 59 Federal Road in residential neighborhoods
CLWC, researchers and residents document cumulative impacts to environment, health impacts from Silica Dust and harms to residents
In January, 2025, the Carver ERC considered issuing a cease and desist for sand mine at 59 Federal Rd. then backs down — allows business as usual, while residents are exposed to Respirable Crystalline Silica, dust, noise and unsafe road conditions.
Below: AD Makepeace mining operation, December 2025, 59 Federal Road, Carver MA. Exposed groundwater is visible in the lower right and middle left. Vast areas of Carver Loamy Course Soil, a source of Respirable Silica Dust, are visible. View the drone footage of December 2025 here.
Makepeace’s 2024 proposed expansion for more “cranberry agriculture” at 59 Federal Road, Carver
In 2024, AD Makepeace applied to the ERC to expand the massive 85 acre mine at 59 Federal Road, including dredging in the Aquifer. The plans are on hold, according to Makepeace.
Below: Makepeace proposed expansion, 2024.
Makepeace’s proposed expansion at 59 Federal Road will be 650 feet from residential drinking water wells; GAF Engineering relies 30-year-old report to claim mining won’t harm wells
Makepeace withdrew plans after public hearing, but continues mining 85 acre site, below.
Above: June 15, 2024: 59 Federal Road, Carver, MA. The Cranberry Village neighborhood is at the bottom of the picture. In 2024, Makepeace filed a permit application to expand the mine to the southwest. As of May 2025, it has been withdrawn. The mining began in about 2016 with the clearing of land and mining sand and gravel for the solar project seen in the top of the photo. Read more about the solar project here.
“I have attended almost every Earth Removal Committee meeting since 2021. I have heard every cranberry company, trucking company and the Earth Removal Commitee members misrepresent massive sand mining projects as “cranberry agriculture” or “subdivisions.” These are half-truths and part of a coordinated effort to strategically misrepresent sand mining to evade local bylaws.”
-Attorney Meg Sheehan, CLWC
“I’m actually here to ask for a moratorium on the sand mining so that it can be studied—not just the Earth removal plans, but the whole operation of sand mining and how it’s affecting our area, the wildlife, the waters, and the people who live here. It’s just an enormous operation… it’s a wasteland. It’s loud… there’s humming and beeping… I think about all the creatures that are being dug up and the aquifer that’s threatened.”
-Linda Jacobs, neighbor and resident of Cranberry Village, Carver MA
“ I hope that we aren’t just going to pretend that these things aren’t happening down there, because they are and I think most of us know that.”
“It’s just extremely upsetting to me that the town seems to, as the woman said before me, favor big business over human beings.”
“I wish the town would pay as much attention to projects that impact our community’s wellbeing as they do to debating the zoning of business signs”.
Carver residents at Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing, 5/29/24
Impacts to drinking water, no study ever done!
“I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t think I could afford water being piped in from another town.. A lot of people like Carver because we have well water. And we want to protect our water”.
—Cranberry Village resident at Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing on 5/29/2024 on petition to shut down Makepeace’s Read Custom Soils trucking terminal on Federal Road.
Residents in South Carver are a ground zero for AD Makepeace’s industrial scale sand mining. The mining is getting ever closer to homes.
Read Custom Soils, 46 Federal Road, trucking depot for AD Makepeace sand mining operations
Read Custom Soils, Makepeace’s sand distribution operation, is across from Cranberry Village at 46 Federal Road. Read more about Read Custom Soils here.
Environmental Justice neighborhoods
Below: Map of Environmental Justice communities in Carver. Blue represents Makepeace’s sand mining site at 59 Federal Road. The yellow areas two EJ neighborhoods that directly abut Makepeace’s 59 Federal Road mining site.
Above: AD Makepeace mining site at 59 Federal Road abutting Cranberry Village to the right. Sand covers homes and cars, vibrations from tree clearing and mining shake homes, dangerous truck traffic threatens safety.
https://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/sand_1.jpg6161200CLwpBShttps://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FINAL-CLWC-LOGO-no-background-297x300.pngCLwpBS2026-08-24 01:19:172026-08-23 13:45:5259 Federal Road, Carver MA: A.D. Makepeace Continues Mining, Residents Say Enough is Enough
MASSACHUSETTS JURY FINDS SAND MINE OPERATOR LIABLE; TRIAL REVEALS NEW SILICA DUST AND HEALTH EVIDENCE
Nearly four years after CLWC published an investigation on the sand mining operating at 0 Meadow Street in Carver, Massachusetts— and after years of complaints by Meadow Street residents — a Plymouth Superior Court jury returned a verdict a 2023 case brought by two neighbors impacted by the operation. The jury awarded a total of $530,000 in damages to the neighbors. See it here: Jury Verdict: August 11, 2026
The Plymouth County Superior Court jury trial lasted from July 27 to August 11, 2026 when the jury returned the verdict on three claims under the 2023 complaint. The jury found the sand mine operator G. Lopes Construction and the landowner Bette Maki operating under the Alex Johnson and Sons cranberry company liable under the three counts. First, under private nuisance, the jury found both G, Lopes Construction and Maki contributed to conditions substantially and unreasonably interfering with the neighbors’ use and enjoyment of their property. On that nuisance finding, it allocated 80% of the fault to G. Lopes Construction and 20% to Maki.
The jury separately found that G. Lopes Construction caused dust, sand, sediment or another thing for which it was legally responsible to enter the neighbors’ property, that the company was negligent, that the entry was not authorized by the neighbors and that the entry caused legally recoverable harm. On the negligent-trespass claim, the jury allocated 100% of the fault to G. Lopes Construction. The completed verdict slip awards each Beadling $15,000 for property damage and $200,000 for pain and suffering on that claim.
The verdict follows a trial based on new evidence about the silicon dioxide components of Carver loamy soil which was being mined and generated Respirable Crystalline Silica according to experts. The mining operation lasted over 13 years and generated at least 54,000 truck trips to haul the sand and gravel. The trucks passed within 35 feet of neighbors’ front doors, on narrow country roads, causing air pollution, noise and vibration compounded by the mining operation itself.
Below: Map showing forested land where the mining operation dredged in the Sole Source Aquifer. This is before the mining. Below is after the mining.
Above: March 17, 2022. The mining site owned and operated by Maki and G. Lopes Construction at 0 Meadow Street. Before the mining, the area shown as a open water was forested upland area. A total of 19 acres was strip mined and the operation dredged the Sole Source Aquifer, exposing it to contamination.
At the trial, the plaintiffs testified that they had brought the situation to the Town’s attention since at least 2014 about sand covering the property, excessive noise, traffic and speeding trucks. Two neighbors who were not plaintiffs testified about vibrations from truck traffic so hard they caused a picture to fall off the wall. Another testified that there was so much sand on his deck he used a leaf blower.
The trial record ultimately included resident testimony, company records, site sampling, laboratory silica analysis, meteorological analysis, engineering evidence, land-use and aquifer analysis, and pulmonary medical testimony.
The jury then made a finding that goes directly to the central issue CLWC reported on it blogs and to the Town in 2022: G. Lopes Construction negligently caused dust, sand or sediment to enter the neighboring property and cause legally recoverable harm.
About the trial
The two week trial involved 10 witnesses from the plaintiffs and five from the defendants, G. Lopes Construction and Maki. The lawsuit was first filed in April 2023, when the neighbors first challenged the town’s Earth Removal Permit issued to Maki despite over 10 years of complaints from the neighborhood about noise, dust and vibration from the mine. The complaint also contained claims for nuisance, negligence and negligent trespass.
In July, 2023, the plaintiffs requested an injunction to stop the mining until the lawsuit could be resolved. They supported the request for an injunction with the expert affidavit of Gary James, P.E. and photographs and testimony from the neighbors showing sand covering cars and the yard. See the Affidavits Here On July 17, 2023, Superior Court Judge Glenny denied the injunction. The mine continued to operated until March 2024. In the meantime, residents appealed to the Appeals Court but did not prevail and the mine kept opereating. More available here: Appeals Court proceedings.
The trial testimony established that there were at least 54,000 truck trips through the residential neighborhood, up to 120 trips on some days, that the defendants were repeatedly notified about sand, dust and noise; a company safety official offered to power-wash the house and provided car-wash tickets because sand had blown from the site; the excavation intercepted the groundwater table; and the neighborhood relies on wells drawing from the aquifer
Scientific evidence on silica dust and wind directions
Environmental engineering expert Scott Hersey testified that that four samples collected on June 11, 2025 contained material met the conditions he identified for respirable crystalline silica (RSC). He concluded that wind conditions made it more likely than not that dust from the site reached the plaintiffs’ home and that RCS from the mining operation more likely than not entered the property.
Hersey compared approximately 1.12 million meteorological observations with 25 documented dust events and found mine-to-home winds during the preceding 24 hours for 20 of those 25 events.
Pulmonary expert evaluated possible silica-related health effects
Pulmonary specialist Stephen L. Newman, M.D., testified at the trial about a peer review of the residents’ pulmonary complaints and their possible relationship to silica-dust exposure. The medical expert did not diagnose them with silicosis, but stated that one of them was at risk for progressive silicosis and associated complications given what Dr. Newman characterized as prolonged extensive unprotected exposure to silica dust.
As to the second resident, Dr.Newman reported bilateral lower-lobe interstitial lung disease typical of rheumatoid lung disease, with possible atypical, accelerated silicosis. He identified both prolonged silica exposure and rheumatoid arthritis in his causation analysis.
These medical opinions should be understood alongside the site’s later silica testing and dust-transport analysis. They are expert opinions; the jury verdict itself should not be characterized as a diagnosis of silicosis.
Above: March, 2022. One of many photos documenting sand emissions from the 0 Meadow Street sand mine. Expert testimony gave the opinion that to a reasonable degree of engineering certainty it was more probable than not that the sand contained RSC, a health hazard, and that the plaintiffs were exposed inside their home as well as in their yard.
Engineering and scientific experts also evaluated the operation itself
Professional Wetland Scientist Brandon Faneuf concluded that approximately the operation did not comply with the site plans and encroached within 277 of the plaintiffs’ home. He testified this was a commercial mining operation, not “cranberry agriculture” as claimed. In a separate report, Mr. Faneuf shows 19.3 acres were disturbed and that the mining exceeded the 10.99-acre excavation area depicted in the Draft Gilmore plan. He also concluded that part of the mining occurred in the federally designated Plymouth-Carver Sole Source Aquifer.
Professional engineer James DeVellis concluded that the operation more likely than not caused sand and dust to reach the Beadlings’ home and that ordinary dust-control measures expected at earth-removal operations near residences were lacking.
Role of the cranberry industry in sand mining
Like many mining operations in Southeastern Massachusetts, this mining operation dredged sand and gravel from the Sole Source Aquifer to maximize the volume of sand and gravel for commercial sale. Estimates of the commercial value of the sand and gravel is up to $11 million at today’s prices. Testimony at the trial showed G. Lopes Construction paid Maki at least $670,340 for materials removed from 2012 to about 2023. The total amount paid to Maki likely exceeded $770,000 through March 2024.
These sand and gravel dredging operations are ubiquitous throughout the region. Cranberry companies claim the dredging is part of normal cranberry operations. They claim they are building a “water hole” or reservoir to supply their cranberry bogs, or a “tailwater pond” to collect polluted water that discharges off the bogs. Find out more here. Watch the short documentary, Sand Wars: An investigation into the money, politics and corruption behind sand mining and its silent environmental crisis in Southeastern Massachusetts. Website: www.sandwarssoutheasternma.org
Town’s role
Sand and gravel mining extraction requires a municipal permit in Massachusetts — and little or no state permitting. In Carver, the Earth Removal Committee (ERC) is responsible for local permitting of sand and gravel mining. In 2011, the ERC granted Maki a permit for 545,000 cubic yards of earth removal for a “cranberry reservoir.” The permit expired in 2016, but the Town allowed the operation to continue, until residents brought the situation to their attention. The Town issued a cease and desist in September 2022, but then issued a new permit allowing it to continue until March, 2024.
The Town allowed G.Lopes Construction and Maki to operate with speeding trucks, violations of the 25-truckload per day limit, and excavation in the groundwater despite residents’ concerns. The ERC has conflicts of interest because the majority are in the cranberry, trucking or excavation business.
ERC issues second permit in March, 2023
Despite the harm to the residents and environment, the ERC issued Maki and Lopes a second permit in March, 2023. GAF Engineering, Lopes and Maki filed for the new earth removal permit to extend the illegal operation for another 15 months. Speaking about the public hearings on the permit a spokesperson for Carver Concerned Citizens said,
“To say that we are disappointed is an understatement. I wonder what it is going to take for the ERC to do their job, which is to protect the residents of Carver. I have yet to see one board in this town do the right thing. When residents showed the ERC pictures of silica sand from the operation covering their property and described the excessive and concussive noise and vibrations they have endured for a decade, causing cracks in their home’s foundations, we were treated with disrespect and dismissed. Town officials work for the residents, not for the sand and gravel industry.”
The public asked the ERC, Board of Selectmen, Carver Police Department, Building Inspector and Board of Health for years to protect the residents from excessive truck traffic, silica dust, noise, and vibration. Residents complaints and concerns continue to be dismissed and disregarded today. Trucks run after hours with no consequences.
State government’s role
Massachusetts officials have failed to take action to address sand and gravel mining in Southeastern Massachusetts and other parts of the state. There is no state licensing program that the sand mines follow. The Governor has ignored residents’ appeals for almost 5 years.
State environmental and public health agencies have failed to act. One example is the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. On March 28, 2022, Ten Residents of Carver filed an appeal with the agency challenging Maki’s claim of an exemption from the Wetlands Protection Act. In 2022 the MassDEP and Environmental Strike Force did a site visit to view site. The DEP ruled on July 30, 2022 that the reservoir was three times the size needed for 12 acres of bog and was not exempt agriculture. The DEP continued to allow the mine to operate, dredging in the aquifer for another two years!
https://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/deforestation2-scaled.jpg19202560CLwpBShttps://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FINAL-CLWC-LOGO-no-background-297x300.pngCLwpBS2026-07-17 16:06:072026-07-18 11:01:16Breaking News: State’s Highest Court Confirms Local Power to Regulate Industrial Solar
Massachusetts Orders Full Environmental Review After Community Campaign Wins Major Victory
MEPA Requires Comprehensive Study of Proposed Development and Sand Mining Impacts on Ricketts Pond Site
PLYMOUTH, MA — The Community Land & Water Coalition (CLWC) today hailed a major environmental victory after the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) ordered a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Ricketts Pond Business Park expansion for a proposed 60-unit residential development in Carver and Plympton.
The June 29 decision rejects the developer’s request to bypass additional environmental review and instead requires a comprehensive analysis of groundwater protection, air quality, traffic, public health, climate impacts, and the cumulative effects of years of large-scale sand mining on the site.
“This decision confirms what residents, local officials, and environmental advocates have argued all along—that this project deserves a full and transparent environmental review,” said Meg Sheehan, coordinator of Community Land & Water Coalition. “The sand mining operation has destroyed every aspect of the environment that existed on the site — clear cutting Pine Barrens forests and hauling off the land itself in tractor trailer trucks for commercial sale since 2018. The public deserves answers before additional development moves forward.”
The decision follows years of advocacy by CLWC and local residents, including more than 1,600 people who participated in the MEPA process by submitting comments urging the state to require a full environmental review. The Town of Plympton Board of Health, Planning Board, and Open Space Committee also participated in urging a full environmental review.
Key Findings
A two step environment study is required under the state’s MEPA law: a draft study for public comment, and a final study. Both must cover ways to avoid or mitigate damage to the region’s sole-source drinking water aquifer; air quality from dust, and diesel emissions, traffic, groundwater withdrawals and stormwater runoff, climate resilience, cumulative impacts, environmental justice, and open space.
The Secretary also rejected the developer’s request to waive the Environmental Impact Report requirement ruling that it did not meet the requirements.
Pine duBois of Jones River Watershed Association said “ Rickett’s Pond is a neglected but important environmental resource for this area. Already water use from wells has drawn down the pond and vanquished the adjacent vernal pool. Eradication of trees and denuding hillsides adjacent to the new highway has altered the landscape and resources forever, with no consideration or forethought. We’re destroying the natural resources we all rely on for health and safety, and sacrificing opportunities for future generations to thrive, for what?”
CLWC will continue to work with the community to participate in the MEPA Environmental Impact Report process to ensure the issues identified by state agencies, local officials, and residents receive the comprehensive review required under Massachusetts environmental law.
Since 2018 CLWC and a wide grassroots network has fought to raise awareness about this sand mine. It is an approximately 40 acre site in Carver and Plympton on Route 44 going East at the Spring Street exit. Read more here
This photo below from December 5, 2021 shows the last remaining stand of trees on the hill in the center of the site.
July 8, 2024: Third Request of enforcement of Earth removal bylaws is sent to the Town of Plympton and their Board of Selectmen. The letter asks their to be an investigation into unauthorized earth removal at the site. Read the letter here.
June 24, 2024: New evidence alleges the mining at the site on Lot 3 is illegal and violates stormwater regulations. Read the memo here. A DEP hearing will be held on Sept. 4, at 100 Cambridge Street Suite 900, Boston, MA 02114.
May 15, 2024: CLWC sent a second demand letter to the Town of Plympton demanding that it enforce the town’s bylaws against SLT Construction. Read the letter here. May 15 2024 SLT Letter Final
July 30, 2025: A group of 10 residents sent a notice of intent to sue letter to prevent and minimize damages to the environment. Read the letter here.
The letter asserts “The evidence that SLT is engaged in large-scale earth removal on the Plympton side of the Property is indisputable.” The letter contains updated drone surveillance photos and a demand to enforce the Bylaw.
If the Town does not enforce the Bylaw, the public can go to court to enforce it.
Go to CLWC’s You Tube Channel to see drone videos like this one from December 2021 showing massive deforestation in just one day: here
In 2022, CLWC tried to enforce the Carver zoning laws against SLT. The Town refused to enforce the law and sided with SLT.
Read more about the public’s effort to enforce the Carver Earth Removal Bylaw against the illegal expansion of the mining operation onto the adjacent “Marob” property here.
Below: May 13, 2024. 0 Spring St.
The OADR from 2018 and 2022 don’t account for the impact on Rickett’s Pond and its Buffering Vegetative Wetlands (BVW) caused by sand and gravel deposits from the RPBP mining site, including Lot 3. These materials have been entering Rickett’s Pond since at least 2019. Since February 2018, the Project Site has undergone complete deforestation, alteration, and excavation to remove sand and gravel. These activities have significantly affected areas protected under environmental regulations. They could potentially change groundwater levels, which might affect the hydrology of nearby wetlands. Moreover, the changes in surface runoff patterns have redirected water flow from one sub-watershed to another, directly impacting the plant life and wildlife habitats in the surrounding areas. View drone footage of the site here.
Leading hydrologist Scott Horsley says SLT’s dense housing proposal on the sand mine in Plympton threatens Town’s drinking water. Read his comments to the Town here
https://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/sand-mining_2.jpg9461594Meg Sheehanhttps://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FINAL-CLWC-LOGO-no-background-297x300.pngMeg Sheehan2026-07-02 12:38:012026-07-02 12:53:16Carver-Plympton: Rickets Pond Sand Mining Site
See the permit application here. It is for a 7.45 acre strip mine. Will dredge the Sole Source Aquifer, everyone’s drinking supply, for at least $7 million in sand.
Requires a wetlands permit which it does not have so ERC cannot issue the permit.
Impacts to Residents:
At least 37,500 truck loads, at least 3 years of work.
Excessive truck traffic, air pollution from sand dust, noise in Tremont St. area where there are already numerous sand mines — EJ Pontiff Cranberries sand mine at 104 Tremont St., Edgewood Cranberry sand mine also on Tremont St.
ADGA company falsely claims mining is “cranberry agriculture.”
At least $7 million in sand.
Does not have wetlands permits under state and local law.
Forest destroyed: Critical Natural Landscape, near Core Habitat and Priority Habitat for Rare Species.
Impacts to Residents:
At least 37,500 truck loads, at least 3 years of work.
Excessive truck traffic, air pollution from sand dust, noise in Tremont St. area where there are already numerous sand mines (Pontiff at 104 Tremont St., Edgewood on Tremont St.
Impacts to drinking water wells says expert, groundwater protection district.
PERMIT 2 – 25 FULLER STREET/ADGA REALTY
ADGA company falsely claims mining is “cranberry agriculture.”
Decades of illegal sand mining here already– violating Earth Removal Bylaw, wetlands laws.
Demand an audit of illegal mining.
ADGA seeks “AFTER THE FACT PERMIT” for illegal sand mining and to continue.
NO plans submitted!
PERMIT #3 – ROUTE 44 DEVELOPMENT GREEN PARK WAY
108-acre development site – Up to $8 million in sand to be strip mined.
Almost ½ million cubic yards — years of mining and at least 50,000 truck loads.
Developer wrongly claims this is just “grading” for future construction.
PERMIT #4 – ERIC WESTON / SLT CONSTRUCTION CO. – 0 PLYMOUTH STREET
VOTE NO EXPANSION OF 2021 PERMIT!
Weston falsely claims mining is “cranberry agriculture.”
MINING IS EXPOSING RESIDENTS TO HARMFUL Silica Dust.
In 2021, the ERC illegally gave Eric and Elaine Weston an earth removal permit for over $1 million in sand.
https://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/deer-pond--scaled.jpg17072560CLwpBShttps://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FINAL-CLWC-LOGO-no-background-297x300.pngCLwpBS2025-07-08 23:28:092026-08-04 13:08:55Plymouth: Victory in wetlands case against AD Makepeace
June 18, 2026 BREAKING NEWS: Conservation Law Foundation announces intent to sue AD Makepeace Co. for wetlands violations in Plymouth
AD Makepeace’s wetlands filling at the Wankinko Bogs in Carver at 46 Federal Road are the subject of a notice of intent to sue by Conservation Law Foundation. Read CLF’s letter here.
Excerpt from CLF’s letter:
The Wankinko Bogs Site is within an approximately 538-acre parcel identified by the Town of
Carver Assessor as Map 131, Lot 2-4. The wetlands at the Site included a perennial stream that connected to the Wankinco River. The Wankinco River flows through Tihonet Pond and into the Wareham River. These waters constitute waters of the United States. A.D. Makepeace engaged in commercial sand and gravel mining at the Wankinko Bogs Site since 2011. In doing so, it has strip-mined or plans to strip-mine approximately 60 acres of wetlands. Between June 2012 and May 2015, A.D. Makepeace filled the perennial stream, permanently eliminating it. The discharged dredged or fill material remains in place. A.D. Makepeace also entirely filled portions of the wetlands in order to build trucking roads to facilitate its mining operations.
Upon information and belief, A.D. Makepeace did not obtain an individual permit from USACE to discharge dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States at the Wankinko Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
MAY 2026: MassDEP judge says AD Makepeace violates state Wetlands Protection Act by mining without a valid permit; mischaracterizes sand and gravel as “agriculture”
On May 12, 2026, a MassDEP Presiding Officer found ADM Cranberry conducted sand mining in a wetland buffer zone in violation of the Wetlands Protection Act while an appeal was pending. The judge also found AD Makepeace’s project was not “agriculture” for purposes of the wetlands law, but commercial and agricultural. This sets a major precedent for all the region’s sand mines that claim their sand mining is “agriculture.” The judge found Makepeace must comply with the state stormwater rules. Read the Decision here:
Decision was in response to CLWC appeal of Town of Carver wetlands permit to allow AD Makepeace mining expansion
In May 2024 the Earth Removal Committee gave AD Makepeace its 13th sand mining for “cranberry agriculture” since 2003
Earth Removal Committee admits bogs not built in 20 years, issues permit anyway
Residents suffer from noise, dust, excessive truck traffic, threats to drinking water wells
Above: April, 2025. AD Makepeace Co. sand mining operation at 46 Federal Road, Carver, MA. The mine started in 2011 and has continued expanding since. As of 2025 it covers about 60 acres. The company claims it is building cranberry bogs. This claim is used to evade local land use laws. See the drone footage here.
May, 2024: Town of Carver issues 13th sand mining permit to AD Makepeace Co.
In March, 2024, the Town of Carver Earth Removal Committee (ERC) granted AD Makepeace Co. the 5th sand mining permit for 46 Federal Road. The mine has been operating since 2011. Today the mine covers about 60 acres. Makepeace claims mining 60 acres is necessary to build 23 acres of bogs. At this location, Makepeace has mined sand worth at least $60 million in sand according to recent price information. The cranberry bogs are not built and it has not harvested one cranberry in 14 years of mining.
The ERC issued the “earth removal” permits under the claim that the mining is “necessary” to level the land for a cranberry bog and “incidental” to using the land for agriculture. It is not. Makepeace uses the sand and gravel to supply is its commercial aggregate business Read Custom Soils located on the same site.
The ground-breaking investigative report Sand Wars in Cranberry Country explains how AD Makepeace and other cranberry companies evade the laws to get sand mining permits.
For the 2024 Earth Removal Bylaw permit application Makepeace recycled old plans from 2011 called “Cranberry Bog Development and Earth Removal Plan.”
This site is one of seven Makepeace mining sites in the south Carver area.
Local residents challenged the May 2024 earth removal permit for 46 Federal Road in court. They exercised their rights under the law to protect their health, homes and their environment including their drinking water. See lawsuithere.
A court dismissed the case on “standing” grounds saying the residents are not harmed. Those living in Cranberry Village, a mobile home park, know better. The mining is happening over the Carver aquifer protective district. The mining threatens drinking water according to world renown expert Scott Horsley. The mining exposes the Environmental Justice community to sand dust, excessive noise, and diesel emissions from incessant trucks.
Town ERC sided with Makepeace in getting the case dismiss — ignoring the rights of its own residents to be free from harm from sand mining.
https://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FINAL-CLWC-LOGO-no-background-297x300.png00Meg Sheehanhttps://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FINAL-CLWC-LOGO-no-background-297x300.pngMeg Sheehan2025-05-29 13:37:252026-07-19 17:42:47Carver: AD Makepeace expands mine at 46 Federal Road
Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP) gives Makepeace “take permit” for 10 rare and endangered species and 50 acres of Priority Habitat 601
Mining misrepresented as “cranberry agriculture”?
No earth removal permit from Wareham making the sand mining illegal
Above: Persius Dusky Wing, Endangered Species in Massachusetts. NHESP allowed Makepeace to “take” this species by destroying its habitat.Above: Northern Tiger Beetle, Endangered Species in Massachusetts. NHESP allowed Makepeace to “take” this species by destroying its habitat.
From 2014 to 2021, AD Makepeace clearcut and strip mined 50 acres of pristine Pine Barrens habitat classified as Priority Habitat 601 by NHESP under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. Makepeace leased the land to Borrego Solar to build 50- acre solar porject. Now it is owed by another solar company, Clearway.
Background
In 2014, Makepeace applied to the Wareham Planning Board for site plan review to install Phase 1 of a 52 acre ground mounted solar project to be built by Borrego Solar. Makepeace’s Jim Kane wrote to the Planning Board Chair George Barrett this was likely Makepeace’s “last large ground mounted solar project under the existing regulatory system”. A few years later, the company revealed plans to build at least three more large grounded solar projects in Wareham: at 140 and 150 Tihonet Road and 27 Charge Pond Road. Makepeace built about 15 large ground mounted solar projects in Wareham and Carver. Most of these involved sand and gravel mining. Makepeace’s solar projects, most of them preceded by mining. As of 2025, Makepeace has proposed a 40 acre ground mounted solar project and BESS system at 0 Maple Springs Road in Wareham, 2 miles of solar canopy on its Canning Bogs on Frogfoot Brook and on Jordan Road in Plymouth.
At the 160 Tihonet Road, Wareham site, in 2014, Makepeace told the state environmental review office, Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) “The site will be cleared and graded to a level area ranging from approximately 64’ to 68’ above sea level”. MEPA ignored the environmental impacts of changing the topography and removing groundwater protection. It blindly repeated this in its MEPA Certificate.Makepeace’s consultant Beals + Thomas said in the MEPA Environmental Notification Form: it is “anticipated that excavated earth material will be used in the vicinity of the site such that travel via town roads will be avoided.” This is implausible.
According to witnesses, Makepeace trucked the sand to Carver to its Read Custom Soils for commercial sale and directly out of town.
Between 2014 and 2018, approximately 22 acres of the 52 acre site were cleared. Borrego installed the first phase of the Borrego solar project in approximately 2015.
State NHESP allows destruction of Priority Habitat
The 160 Tihonet Road location was once “Priority Mapped Habitat” designated under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. In 2015, Mass Wildlife, which is supposed to protect our wildlife and rare natural plant and animal communities gave Makepeace a permit to kill 10 Pine Barrens species protected by law under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA). This included the endangered Northern Barrens Tiger Beetle and Persius Duskywing butterfly.
After Makepeace destroyed 50 acres of Priority Habitat 601, NHESP redrew the map.
Below: This map from NHESP shows Priority Habitat (PH) 601 after Makepeace destroyed 50 acres by sand mining then installed a large solar project.
Below: AD Makepeace sand mining at 160 Tihonet Road, Wareham, 2018. The sand mining is clearly visible on Google Earth. Residents complained of non-stop tractor trailer trucks leaving the site. The Wareham Select Board and the state ignored the mining.
MassWildlife issued the permit through its Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP). The permit to kill, or “take” the species is ironically called a “Conservation and Management Permit”. The law requires “mitigation”. How can endangered species be conserved and “managed” when more and more habitat is destroyed? What is the cumulative impact of all the deforestation by Makepeace and other solar and sand mining operations in the Pine Barrens?
Below is an excerpt from the 2015 NHESP permit for Makepeace to “take” 10 legally protected species so it could say it was strip mining 50 acres “in compliance with the state endangered species law.”
Makepeace calls the mining and solar “cookie cutter”
In a letter to the Wareham Planning Board in 2014, Jim Kane, Makepeace CEO said “This project is the same cookie cutter solar project like Charlotte Furnace and Tihonet West solar in Wareham and Federal Road in Carver.” At these three other sites, solar was preceded by forest clear-cuts, endangered species habitat destruction and extraction and commercial sale of sand and gravel. Does “cookie cutter” mean environmental destruction and killing off endangered and rare species to Makepeace CEO Jim Kane? See the letter her:
https://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FINAL-CLWC-LOGO-no-background-297x300.png00CLwpBShttps://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FINAL-CLWC-LOGO-no-background-297x300.pngCLwpBS2025-04-29 11:40:002025-12-29 15:37:24Wareham: 160 Tihonet Road: AD Makepeace Co. sand mining impacts on endangered species
Carver, MA is a sand mining hub where companies are supposed to be regulated by the Earth Removal Committee (ERC)
Continuing investigation reveals current ERC Scott Hannula connected to the sand mining and trucking industry
Overview
Sand mining in Carver is supposed to be regulated by the Earth Removal Committee. The ERC is dominated by the cranberry industry that conducts sand and gravel mining under the pretense of “agriculture” claiming they are building bogs and ponds. This is a ruse to evade local and state laws. Read more here.
After the long time chair , a cranberry grower conducting sand mining, resigned in 2022 the Selectboard appointed more cranberry growers, trucking companies and sand mining operators to the ERC. In August, 2023, long time sand mining operator, sand trucking company operator and cranberry grower Scott Hannula was named to the ERC as its chair — as “Industry Representative.”
This blog identifies the many ties Hannula has to the cranberry, trucking and sand mining industry — the very industry he is supposed to regulate as chair of the ERC. These ties are documented below show that Hannula cannot be objective in implementing the Carver Earth Removal Bylaw. The public is calling for Hannula’s resignation.
Scott Hannula and sand mining, Rochester Road, Carver
Scott Hannula is the sole officer and director of Scott A. Hannula Cranberry and treasurer and director of Oiva Hannula & Sons, Inc. Both companies own cranberry bogs in Carver MA. Source: Massachusetts Secretary of State, Corporations Division.
In 2010, Scott Hannula applied to the Carver ERC for an earth removal permit for Oiva Hannula & Sons. The ERC granted the permit. See the permit here: ERC Permit 2010 to Oiva Hannula & Sons
Oiva Hannula’s ERC mining permit expired in 2015 but they kept mining as shown by the ERC reports and receipts, until at least July, 2022. One year later, in August 2023, Scott Hannula joined the ERC and was elected Chair.
Below: January 2022. Trucks lined up in the early morning at the Oiva Hannula & Sons sand mine in Carver. Eight months later Scott Hannula became Chair of the Committee that granted his company permits to conduct the mining. The Committee allowed Hannula to operate with an expired permit for over 7 years.
While Scott Hannula was overseeing the mining at Oiva Hannula & Son’s Rocheseter Road mine, he did business with various trucking companies. This includes New England Recycling/G.Lopes Construction and John Shurtleff, a member of the ERC that granted Hannula the permit. Hannula also did business with Ryco Excavating according to the ERC records.
Although the ERC initially granted Hannula the permit for 344,805 cubic yards of sand and gravel removal at Rochester Road, there is no independent verification of how much was removed during the decade long mining operation.
In about 2022, Hannula owed at least $46,400.00 to the Town of Carver in permit fees. It is unclear whether the fees were paid.
Scott Hannula mining for Decas/Fruit d’Or, Mayflower Road, Carver
In 2016, Scott Hannula represented Decas Cranberry in applying for a permit from the ERC for mining on Mayflower Road. At first, in March 2016, the permit wasfor 125,000 cubic yards. Then on July 17, 2017 the ERC granted Hannula and Decas permission for another 40,000 cubic yards, and then on August 7, 2017, the ERC said the volume was “not to exceed 240,000 cubic yards. There is no independent verification of how much Decas Cranberry, Hannula and Ryco Excavating mined from the Mayflower Road site.
This permit application does not meet the state or local standards for sand mining. Scott Hannula will be responsible for overseeing the years long permit. He cannot serve both Fruit d’Or and the ERC. He must resign. See Fact Sheet to STOP THE FRUIT ‘d OR MINE at 0 Mayflower Road, Carver here
Below: July, 2024: Area of expanded new Hannula/Ryco Mine, Mayflower Rd., Carver. Blue area is 10 acres of forest Hannula/Ryco and Fruit d’Or plan to level and mine for years. Green is the trucking route.
Scott Hannula mining for Morse Bros. in Halifax, MA
Oiva Hannula has a $530,000 contract with Morse Brothers a company that claims to be a cranberry company. Morse Brothers has been mining at a site on Monponsett Pond in Halifax for a decade. Hannula has been running the mine with Ryco Excavating.
In July 2024, the Town of Halifax issued a cease and desist effectively to Scott Hannula who was doing the mining with Ryco Excavating. It also levied a $30,000 penalty. Read more here.
On March 13, 2024 when Hannula was mining at this site, there was a diesel oil spill into Monponsett Pond. The oil leaked from mining equipment. See the state environmental spill report here. In May, 2024 Scott Hannula submitted a clean-up report to the state effectively taking responsibility for the spill. See the state documents here.
Below: Dec. 2022, Halifax MA, truck route for Hannula and Ryco mining operation on Monponsett Pond. Mine and truck route are in Environmental Justice neighborhood.
Oiva Hannula trucking sand for
AD Makepeace Co. /Read Custom Soils
In March, 2023, Oiva Hannula & Sons, Scott Hannula’s company, trucked sand for AD Makepeace from Carver to Plymouth Beach under a state contract. A few months later, in August 2023, Scott Hannula was appointed to the ERC. AD Makepeace has “earth removal permits” for massive amounts of sand and gravel mining that Hannula is responsible for overseeing and monitoring. Read more here.
In February, 2024, the ERC granted Makepeace a new permit for $15 million in sand and gravel. Scott Hannula signed the permit as a member of the ERC. See the permit here: Carver ERC Feb 2024 Permit to AD Makepeace
Above: Oiva Hannula & Sons trucking sand for AD Makepeace. In 2023, AD Makepeace made a closed door deal with the ERC to get exempted from the Bylaw to haul sand to Plymouth Beach without paying fees or getting a permit. This March 23, 2023 photo shows Scott Hannula’s company, Oiva Hannula & Sons, hauling sand from Read Custom Soils in Carver to Plymouth Beach for a beach nourishment project. Read more about that here.
Scott Hannula’s ties to Haseotes Sand & Gravel
ADGA Realty Co.
In 2023/2024 Hannula was involved with ADGA/Haseotis Sand and Gravel operating mines on Indian Street, Carver and admitted he had a conflict of interest.
Haseotes Sand and Gravel and related entities are the subject of a request for enforcement submitted to the ERC for unpermitted sand mining in Carver at numerous locations since 2010. This mining is ongoing. At a January 31, 2024 meeting, the ERC, with Mr. Hannula as chair, was forced to address a request for investigation to ERC from the Conservation Commission regarding Haseotes-ADGA possible unpermitted mining. The ERC found no violation but failed to provide any credible evidence. Hannula does business with Haseotes. This includes doing work on Haseotes’ bogs in Plympton while on the ERC. This is established by photographic evidence and eye witness testimony (available on request).
At the ERC meeting in January, 2024, Hannula left the room claiming a conflict of interest but would not explain why. Representatives of Haseotes were at the meeting claiming the mining was agriculture.
Scott Hannula votes on fees for sand mining companies he has ties with, approves plan for G. Lopes Construction
Ever since he joined the ERC in August 2023, Hannula has taken actions that benefit the sand and gravel mining industry that he works for and oversees. He voted on fees that impact the companies he works for and with — AD Makepeace, Fruit d’Or, Ryco Excavating, Haseotis Sand & Gravel and more. See Hannula’s vote on the ERC fees here.
In July, 2024, Hannula signed a permit decision for G. Lopes Construction for the Meadow Street site. As documented by the Oiva Hannula & Sons reports to the ERC signed by Scott Hannula, he has a long history of doing business with G. Lopes Construction. See the form here. Hannula Signs ERC Approval for G. Lopes Construction, 2024
Find out more
A shady network of truck and mining companies exploits legal loopholes in order to obtain permits for profitable sand and gravel mining throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. Read more in Sand Wars in Cranberry Country.
A citizen led investigation into the network began to shine the light on the industry in 2021. Almost immediately, three long time members of the Carver Earth Removal Committee resigned, including John Garretson, III who chaired the Committee for decades, John Shurtleff who trucked sand and gravel for companies he permitted, and Robert Ieronimo the successor chair to Ieronimo. Read more about corruption in Cranberry Country and sand and gravel mining here.
The Carver Selectboard is ultimately responsible for these appointments and also has improper ties to the cranberry and trucking industry. AD Makepeace Cranberry Co. and its subsidiary Read Custom Soils, LLC a major sand mining business, funds municipal projects for the Towns of Carver, Plymouth and Wareham.
Sand mining industry under investigation by state OIG
Above: June 15, 2024: 59 Federal Road, Carver, MA. The Cranberry Village neighborhood is at the bottom of the picture. In 2024, Makepeace filed a permit application to expand the mine to the southwest. As of May 2025, it has been withdrawn. The mining began in about 2016 with the clearing of land and mining sand and gravel for the solar project seen in the top of the photo. Read more about the solar project here. 
Above: AD Makepeace mining site at 59 Federal Road abutting Cranberry Village to the right. Sand covers homes and cars, vibrations from tree clearing and mining shake homes, dangerous truck traffic threatens safety.
