PRESS RELEASE: Superior Court Jury Verdict Awards Carver Residents Damages Against Sand Mining Operation
PRESS RELEASE
AUGUST 13, 2026
Contact: Attorney Meg Sheehan
Tel. 508-259-9154
Email: EcoLawDefenders@protonmail.com
Superior Court Jury Verdict Awards Carver Residents Damages Against Sand Mining Operation
Jury finds G. Lopes Construction and cranberry bog owner responsible for damage from silica sand dust emissions, noise, vibrations
Trial included silica dust testing, medical testimony and evidence of years of impacts from mining operation
Brockton, Massachusetts — August 11, 2026 — A Plymouth Superior Court jury returned a verdict in favor of two residents in a case from a 13-year long sand and gravel mining operation abutting their home on Meadow Street in the Town of Carver.
On August 11, 2026, the jury returned its verdict in Josephine Beadling and Keith Beadling v. Bette Maki, The Lopes Companies, LLC and G. Lopes Construction, Inc., Plymouth Superior Court Civil Action No. 2383CV00304.
The jury found G. Lopes Construction, Inc. and the landowner, Bette Maki of Alex Johnson & Sons cranberry company, liable on multiple claims arising from the sand mining operation.
On the plaintiffs’ nuisance claim, the jury found that G. Lopes Construction and Maki contributed to creating, allowing, or maintaining a condition or activity that caused substantial and unreasonable interference with the plaintiffs’ use and enjoyment of their property. The jury allocated 80% of the fault to G. Lopes Construction and 20% to Maki.
On negligence, the jury also made findings against G. Lopes Construction and Maki and allocated fault 80% to G. Lopes Construction and 20% to Maki.
Most significantly, on negligent trespass, the jury found that G. Lopes Construction caused dust, sand, sediment, or another thing for which it was legally responsible to enter the neighbors’ property. The jury found that G. Lopes Construction was negligent, that the entry was not authorized, and that the entry caused legally recoverable harm. On the negligent-trespass claim, the jury awarded the two residents a total of $400,000 in pain-and-suffering damages and $30,000 in property damages. The jury also awarded $100,000 for property damages under negligence by G. Lopes Construction and Maki for a total award of $530,000. in damages to the plaintiffs. With the mandatory interest, the total award is over $760,000.00
Years of efforts to address silica dust, noise, and truck traffic in residential neighborhood
The verdict followed years of efforts by the community to abate the sand and dust leaving the mining site, and the excessive tractor-trailer truck traffic, noise, and vibrations.
The plaintiffs testified they began raising concerns with the Town of Carver as early as 2014.
According to plaintiff Josephine Beadling, “It took years of documenting — taking pictures, videos and writing on note pads whenever I saw trucks, equipment, and clouds of dust or sand. We had truth on our side. If you live next to a sand mining operation, please document, document, document. If you are affected by airborne dust or sand let the town know. If you have to fill out a formal complaint form, do it.”
The trial testimony included clouds of dust entering plaintiffs home, and reports of sand dust sticking to their lips and skin. The mining operation entailed about 54,000 trucks going about about 35 feet from the plaintiffs ‘front door causing the house to shake. The company testified that it offered the plaintiffs car-wash tickets to eliminate sand from their vehicles and offered to have their house power-washed to remove accumulated sand.
The Town’s 2011 earth-removal permit authorized removal of approximately 545,000 cubic yards of material. The Carver Earth Removal Committee issued a cease-and-desist order in September 2022, but lifted it and issued a second removal permit in March 2023.
The private defendants maintained that the sand mining was for cranberry farming to create a pond to water bogs. Plaintiffs disputed that characterization and contended that the activity constituted commercial sand and gravel mining.
The mining operation dredged sand and gravel from the Plymouth Carver Sole Source Aquifer. The Aquifer provides drinking water to eight towns and almost 200,000 people. Mining in the aquifer threatens drinking water.
Scientific testing and wind analysis showing silica dust reaching plaintiffs’ home
Air-pollution expert Scott Hersey, Ph.D., testified that sand samples collected from the mining site in 2025 established the presence of Respirable Crystalline Silica, or RCS. RSC is an invisible type of particulate matter with sharp edges that when inhaled lodges in the lungs. It is commonly known in connection with Black Lung disease suffered by coal miners. When inhaled it is a health risk. Hersey concluded to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty that it was more likely than not that RCS from the mine reached the residents’ property and seeped inside their house. Hersey relied on wind data from the Plymouth Airport showing that the wind blew from the mining site toward the plaintiffs’ property within the preceding 24 hours in 20 of 25 dust events the plaintiffs’ documented.
Pulmonary expert testified about possible silica-related health effects
The trial record also included medical testimony about the potential health consequences of RCS and silica-dust exposure.
Pulmonary specialist Stephen L. Newman, M.D., M.B.A., FACP, FCCP, FAASM reviewed the neighbors’ pulmonary complaints and their possible relationship to environmental exposure to silica dust from the mine. Dr. Newman’s opinion was possible bilateral lower-lobe interstitial disease that can be seen in atypical, accelerated silicosis in both residents.
The medical testimony did not amount to a jury diagnosis of silicosis. Rather, it formed part of a broader trial record that included site sampling for RCS dust, analysis of dust transport, engineering evidence, resident testimony, and medical evaluation of potential health effects.
Engineering evidence links mining to off-site dust
Professional engineer James DeVellis, P.E. concluded that it was more likely than not that the sand mine was the source of the sand dust experienced at the plaintiffs’ home. He testified that the sand was Carver Loamy Sand, a pure sand a few inches below the surface of the land. Sand like that at the mine is the most valuable commodity in the modern world” according to reports.
DeVellis cited exposed sandy soils, uncovered stockpiles, active haul routes, excavation and processing, truck traffic, incomplete dust suppression, and the proximity of the neighbors’ home. He also concluded that the site did not demonstrate dust-control measures ordinarily expected at sand mining sites and that operations presented foreseeable noise and vibration impacts.
Challenging the claim of cranberry farming
Professional Wetland Scientist Brandon Faneuf, PWS, concluded that the operation was a commercial mining operation, not cranberry agriculture as claimed by the companies. A separate report shows the strip mine area of 19 acres, not the 10.99 acres shown on the landowner’s mining plan. Faneuf’s testimony further concluded that part of the sand and gravel mining occurred within the federally designated Plymouth-Carver Sole Source Aquifer, an aquifer identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as vulnerable to contamination because of its sandy soils and high transmissivity.
Setting precedent for protecting residents, environment
“This jury verdict confirms what residents in Southeastern Massachusetts have known for years — sand mining harms our well being and the environment,” said Meg Sheehan, part of the legal team representing the Plaintiffs. “The plaintiffs’ common law claims of nuisance, negligence and trespass are foundational laws that protect all of us from harmful activities conducted on nearby lands. No one has the right to conduct an activity on their property that harms their neighbor with environmental pollution, like emissions of carcinogenic silica dust, noise, or vibrations. The jury’s common sense verdict separated right from wrong.” The verdict represents an important measure of accountability for residents who spent years seeking protection from the impacts of the Meadow Street operation.
About Community Land & Water Coalition
Attorney Sheehan is a pro bono lawyer with Community Land & Water Coalition, a regional non-profit that works to protect communities, public health, land, water, and natural resources from the impacts of large-scale sand mining, earth removal, and inappropriate development in Southeastern Massachusetts. Sheehan represented the plaintiffs in her role as a pro bono lawyer specializing in environmental law and justice.
More information: www.communitylandandwater.org
