Plymouth: County Woodlot Earth Removal

Plymouth continues to be devastated by earth removal operations even though the Town changed its Zoning Bylaws to prohibit operations over 50,000 cubic yards.

One of the most glaring examples of the bait and switch and backroom deals involves sites off Long Pond Road in Plymouth. First, the landowner presented the Town with plans for a cranberry bog claiming this would be the “end use” for the earth removal operation. Once several million cubic yards were removed, with a backroom deal the landowner, Kingstown Trucking, got the Town to agree that land based solar would be fine to replace the cranberry bog that was never built.

Millions of dollars disappeared off the adjacent County owned “Woodlot” as Kingstown excavated ever closer to the property line. Then it managed to get a contract to remove earth from the County Woodlot for the “end use” of industrial land based solar. Residents sued to stop the project but lost on standing grounds. Today, there is no solar project. Just an empty pit. And lots of green in the landowners pocket.

For more information, go to the County Woodlot website: www.savethecountywoodlot.com