Tag Archive for: Solar gone wrong
Plymouth: AD Makepece Co. Solar Site Subject of CLF Violations Notice
BREAKING NEWS: Conservation Law Foundation announces intent to sue AD Makepeace Co. for wetlands violations in Plymouth
June 18, 2026:
AD Makepeace’s wetlands filling at the “Canning Bogs” in southwest Plymouth 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 Canning Bogs Site is within a parcel of land identified by the Town of Plymouth Assessor as Map/Lot 126-000-007-003. The Site formerly contained a perennial stream that flowed through the Bogs and into the Wankinco River. The wetlands were also connected to the Wareham River and Buzzards Bay. The wetlands, perennial stream, and rivers are all waters of the United States A.D. Makepeace discharged dredged or fill material into perennial streams and wetlands at the Site. A.D. Makepeace altered streams by dredging and filling them. A.D. Makepeace dammed the Wankinco River by installing flume/weir devices. A.D. Makepeace also dredged, filled, and altered associated wetlands connected to the Wareham River and Buzzards Bay between May 2015 and January 2021. 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 Canning Bogs Site, nor did it obtain coverage under a general permit.
Background
A.D. Makepeace Cranberry Co. of Wareham MA proposes two miles of solar panel canopies installed over agricultural canals adjacent to its bogs in South Plymouth. Makepeace used to call these the Carverside bogs. It renamed Canning Bogs recently. The bogs are in a globally rare biodiversity hotspot surveyed and inventoried by the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program in about 2003. Here is the company’s September 18, 2023 Press Release.
Plymouth and MassDEP Turn a Blind Eye to the Wetlands Violations Wetlands Permit Appeal
Since at least 2022, CLWC advocated for the Plymouth Conservation Commission, Board of Health, and MassDEP to take action on these violations. Instead of investigating and applying the law, the Conservation Commission and MassDEP granted Makepeace and the solar developer a wetlands permit for 2 miles of industrial solar panels and battery storage on filled and altered wetlands and streams. See the permit here: Wetlands Order of Conditions 57-3343 The Commission granted waivers and variances from the Plymouth Wetlands Protective Bylaw. This was wrong. The Planning Board also rubber stamped this project.
On February 20, 2024, CLWC appealed the Plymouth Conservation Commission permit to the Mass DEP. The appeal is here. Wetlands Appeal and Exhibits.
On preliminary motions, MassDEP sided with Makepeace, ignoring evidence of wetlands filling.
Now, CLF is taking Makepeace to federal court for violations of the federal Clean Water Act.
March 2024: State requires MEPA Environmental Study
Makepeace must include the solar project it tis MEPA review for the adjacent 54 acre solar project at 0 Tihonet Road in Wareham (“North Wareham Solar”. In March, 2024, the state Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs issued a MEPA certificate on the environmental study for the North Wareham Solar project. It requires the Canning Solar project in Plymouth to be studied for the cumulative Damage to the Environment. Read more here.
The new Canning solar and North Wareham solar projects are in addition to three proposed in Wareham, one already built nearby and others in Carver. In total Makepeace has destroyed hundreds of acres of forests for at least 15 large ground mounted solar projects. This includes clearing forests to create “farmland” for dual use solar at Swan Holt bogs in Carver. These areas are surrounded by Makepeace’s proposed and ongoing sand mining operations.
About the Canning Bog Site: History of Waste Dumping and Mining
The Canning bogs where the canal solar is proposed was historically traditional cranberry bogs, probably created in the mid 1900s. This involved draining, diking and diverting wetlands and streams. Starting in 2010, Makepeace started to mine the upland around the old Carverside bogs for sand and gravel. This included mining in the aquifer. Makepeace claimed the mining was necessary to “square off” the old style irregular shaped bogs to make them rectangular and efficient. After mining, Makepeace filled in the hole created by the mining with debris that appears to be stumps and tree logs. Eyewitnesses say Makepeace also dumped sewage sludge in the pits. Today cranberry bogs cover the pits. A Google Earth Pro chronology is below.
Satellite image above shows about 89 acres of bogs and mining as of 2012. Google Earth Pro.
Carverside bogs, 2021 as shown by MassMapper GIS map. Colored areas depict wetlands and streams.
There is no known earth removal or permit for Makepeace’s mining at the Carverside bogs. Burying wood and operating a dump here harms the environment. In 2022, CLWC reported this to the Town of Plymouth Board of Health. There has been no response. See the report here.
CLWC has also asked the MassDEP Environmental Strike Force to investigate. Here: Request for Environmental Investigation
Who is “Renewable Energy Development Partners” and What Have They Done?
REDP consists of former Makepeace real estate executives Hank Ouimet and Tom Melehan. The two plied their knowledge of local real estate obtained while working for Makepeace to get land for large development projects such as industrial solar. Once they get the local solar permits, REDP sells them to Wall Street investors. Makepeace and REDP are both responsible for disastrous and some say fraudulent solar projects throughout Southeastern Massachusetts.
These projects include:
- In Wareham, Makepeace, REDP and Beals+Thomas are responsible for strip mining a biodiversity hotspot and Priority Habitat on Charlotte Furnace Road. The project is now a 50-acre solar site.
- In Carver at the Swan Holt bog site, REDP and Makepeace started installing copper chromated arsenic wood poles in wetlands to mount solar panels. They only stopped when there was public outrage. They replaced the poles with metal. Now there is about 1 mile of solar on a stream. With Beals + Thomas the companies clear cut and strip mined about 12 acres of forest to create “farmland” to get state SMART solar subsidies for “dual use” agricultural solar. The SMART program incentivized this strip mining and deforestation.
- In Plymouth in 2016, REDP obliterated about 25 acres of pristine forest in the Herring River ACEC and on a known Wampanoag area for large solar. Then REDP flipped the project to a “renewable energy” venture capital fund.
- In Carver on Gate Street REDP installed solar shortly after the area was strip mined. In about 2021, Hank Ouimet admitted in a public hearing that even though this was “agricultural solar” the company had no “agriculture” under the panels as required by the SMART solar regulations.
- In Rochester, REDP installed a dual use solar project on a bog and admitted it had no farm plan yet sought SMART solar subsidies.
Carver: Jan. 25, 2023: Carver Earth Removal Committee extends Johnson Brothers Cranberry, Ryco sand and gravel mining operation to continue indefinitely despite violations, expired permits
Johnson, Ryco claim this is “cranberry agriculture”
Operation has been dewatering, mining in the Aquifer
Some drone video of this expansive operation here
In 2011, federal jury found Johnson violated Clean Water Act by destroying 46 acres of wetlands to allegedly build cranberry bogs
Above: Jan. 25, 2023, Carver Earth Removal “public hearing” on Van Johnson’s expired Earth Removal Permit for “cranberry agriculture.” L to R: Bill Madden, P.E., GAF Engineering, Francis “Van” Johnson of Johnson Cranberries. Background: ERC member Dick Ward, cranberry grower, AD Makepeace employee John Mason, ERC Chair Ieronimo.
Above: Jan. 2023 STPB request for enforcement. It was ignored by the ERC and Town of Carver.
Below: Johnson Cranberries – Ryco Excavating mining site on Purchase Street, Carver showing stockpiling of sand excavated from the Aquifer, ready to be hauled off by Ryco for commercial sale. MassMapper 2019 Image
Below: 2019 Johnson Cranberries mining in the Aquifer
Carver Earth Removal Committee files here
Feb. 2021: Beals+Thomas scam-berry plans for Large Ground Mounted Solar on Van Johnson’s strip mine created just for that – under the false pretense of agriculture
Carver: Jan. 25, 2023: Carver Earth Removal Committee extends Johnson Brothers Cranberry, Ryco sand and gravel mining operation to continue indefinitely despite violations, expired permits
In 2011, federal jury found Johnson violated Clean Water Act by destroying 46 acres of wetlands to allegedly build cranberry bogs
Above: Jan. 25, 2023, Carver Earth Removal “public hearing” on Van Johnson’s expired Earth Removal Permit for “cranberry agriculture.” L to R: Bill Madden, P.E., GAF Engineering, Francis “Van” Johnson of Johnson Cranberries. Background: ERC member Dick Ward, cranberry grower, AD Makepeace employee John Mason, ERC Chair Ieronimo.
Above: Jan. 2023 STPB request for enforcement. It was ignored by the ERC and Town of Carver.
Below: Johnson Cranberries – Ryco Excavating mining site on Purchase Street, Carver showing stockpiling of sand excavated from the Aquifer, ready to be hauled off by Ryco for commercial sale. MassMapper 2019 Image
Below: 2019 Johnson Cranberries mining in the Aquifer
Carver Earth Removal Committee files here
Feb. 2021: Beals+Thomas scam-berry plans for Large Ground Mounted Solar on Van Johnson’s strip mine created just for that – under the false pretense of agriculture
Walpole: Solar threatens iconic farmland
30 acres of farmland at two locations threatened by industrial solar
Suburban town with precious little forest and farmland left targeted by industrial solar
One lawsuit pending – why should local communities have to go to court to protect forests and our state’s environmental heritage?
What is industrial solar doing to the historic and agricultural character of our communities?
Find out to how help
Carver: Still asking for answers on PineGate’s toxic arsenic poles for “dual use” solar on cranberry bogs
On Jan. 11, 2023, Superior Court Judge O’Shea ruled against a citizen case brought to enforce the wetlands bylaw and protect our water
PineGate’s $32 million project, lawyers and experts convince court there can be no harm to the drinking water from CCA poles or the massive solar and battery project 52 feet from a residents
Judge O’Shea ruled with PineGate and the Carver Conservation Commission saying they followed the wetlands law by allowing PineGate to replace the toxic arsenic solar poles with concrete poles without amending the permit.
The Commission cut the public out. It issued an enforcement order telling PineGate to remove the poles and also letting the company replace the poles with concrete. This decision allows solar developers to continue to sidestep our laws, spending huge sums on money on hired gun experts and big law firms. This undermines an open and transparent process when it comes to approving industrial solar in residential area.s
Lawyers for the public interest and the local resident fought as hard as possible against this travesty. We will continue to monitor this debacle of a project — promoted and supported by our Department of Energy Resources and Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. This project is solar gone wrong – threatening our food supply, water and community.
See some of the legal filings and PineGate’s hired gun reports here:
Plaintiff’s request to the court to enter a decision in Plaintiff’s favor
PineGate’s expert affidavit saying there is no risk to water or food
Ocean Spray refuses to accept cranberries from the two Pine Gate toxic pole sites. Yet the state DOER continues to promote “dual use” solar on cranberry bogs.
The Pull the Poles Campaign continues to advocate for transparency and accountability for the Carver arsenic solar poles debacle.
Residents demand answers:
1. What is the status of the Pine Gate 3,500 CCA poles at the two sites in Carver? In the Summer of 2022, during the drought they were being irrigated. Are they harvesting cranberries from the pole sites? Some of the poles were being removed. Rumors are that the plan to replace the CCA poles with concrete has been abandoned. What is the new plan?
Where are the testing results for the soil, groundwater and cranberries at the CCA PineGate sites. Please consider this a public records request.
2. AD Makepeace Swan Holt bog/Renewable Energy Partners 1-mile of CCA poles to mount solar panels on a cranberry bog irrigation canal that is a channelized river and Water of the United States (WOTUS) under the Federal Clean Water Act.
Rumor is that the original CCA poles are being used, and the outside layer of CCA chemicals simply being shaved off. Is this what is happening? We want reports from engineers for the project, Beals + Thomas and Weston Sampson about this decision. For the Carver Conservation Commission, did this require a notice of project change? Where are soil and water testing and all information to justify the decision to simply reuse the 1 mile of toxic solar poles.
What is the cost to taxpayers and ratepayers in dollar amounts of this dual use solar project?
As to the cost of potential damage to our sole source aquifer, do we remediate damage?
August, 2022, during a drought: PineGate Renewables irrigating a cranberry bog under toxic CCA poles, Carver MA. Were these berries harvested for Ocean Spray?
Carver: AD Makepeace/REDP “dual use” solar project using toxic CCA poles
As of October 2022, its been a year since local residents exposed Makepeace’s plan to use cancer-causing copper chromated arsenic poles to mount “dual use” solar panels on a Swan Holt bogs on Pond/Wenham Street
Public, neighbors kept in the dark about plan to drive arsenic poles into water and cranberry bog
This is more Cranberry Country Corruption, closed door deals, cover up, abysmal failure of State’s “dual use” solar program
Project developers Renewable Energy Development Partners (REDP) are former Makepeace executives, responsible for destroying 25-acres of critical ecosystems in Plymouth in 2016 for solar
At this site and others, AD Makepeace uses cranberry agriculture as a ruse to cover up sand and & gravel mining and industrial energy projects
AD Makepeace sand & gravel mining at this site is ruse for preparing the site for solar; clear-cutting forested lands, creating a “farm” for “dual use solar’
Wasting ratepayer and taxpayer money under pretense of agriculture, clean energy – $ 2 million project
Update: October 15, 2022: It appears Makepeace is shaving the CCA fromTime the poles and inserting them in the ground. Is this safe? Who approved this? Read more here.
Timeline
2022: AD Makepeace & REDP installing poles that appear to be modified from original CCA treated
October 14, 2022: AD Makepeace REDP “solar canopy” site, Swan Holt bogs, Carver MA installing shaved poles.
2021: Watchdogs expose arsenic poles, form Pull the Poles Campaign
October 10, 2021: Watchdogs expose Makepeace use of CCA treated poles
October 20, 2021: State, Carver Selectboard, Planning Board, Carver Conservation Commission refuse to address residents’ concerns with the CCA poles at this site striking “0 Pond Street” from its agenda at the last minute.
On Oct. 26, 2021, Carver Building Commissioner Paul Boucher issues Makepeace a Building Permit EVEN THOUGH the public had informed the Town about CCA in the poles at the site. Boucher was Building Inspector in Somerset prior to going to Carver in 2021. He resigned under a cloud and was “neck deep” in the controversy over the scrap metal yard.
2020: Planning Board approval
In 2020, Makepeace and REDP, in concert with the Town, duped the public, hiding the use of CCA poles at this site. Here are key points from the Makepeace-REDP reports from May – September 2019. The Carver Planning Board never asked questions in 2020 and approved this project in October 2020.
Makepeace and REDP duped the Town and failed to disclose use of CCA poles: The companies and their consultants submitted a “Timber Pile Solar Canopy Pile Load Testing Report” and never disclosed the use of CCA. See, page 191 of PDF. There is only a brief mention of “environmental considerations” PDF page 199. The term CCA does not seem to appear anywhere. Why did the former Planning Board chair Bruce Maki go along with this?
Makepeace and REDP knew the arsenic poles would be put into the groundwater. Their report saysthe depth to groundwater at the site is 5.3 to 14.7 feet. PDF page 33. The poles will be embedded from 11- 16 feet into the ground – well into the groundwater that starts at 5.3 feet. PDF page 216.
This is a significant archeological site. Makepeace continues to do destructive earth removal here.
The decommissioning bond is about $190,000. The Makepeace-REDP plan calls for cutting them off below grade and disposing of the above ground portion of the poles. Planning Board Files, PDF page 21, Weston & Sampson Report, 9/23/21. This is like using the bogs as a toxic waste dump!
