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 As of May 2025, it has been withdrawn.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!
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.
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
https://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/sand-mining_2.jpg9461594Katherine Harrelsonhttps://communitylandandwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FINAL-CLWC-LOGO-no-background-297x300.pngKatherine Harrelson2025-05-07 17:26:392025-11-13 12:51:44Air Pollution from Sand Dust: How to take action
On April 17, 2025, a group of 20 “persons” filed a lawsuit in Plymouth Superior Court against the Town of Plymouth, the Plymouth Foundation and Standish Investments LLC (EJ Pontiff). The lawsuit claims the Select Board and the Plymouth Foundation unlawfully transferred the Cedarville Conservation Area without following Article 97 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution and other laws.
The lawsuit is under the State’s Citizen Suit Law, General Laws Chapter 214, Section 7A. The law gives a group of “at least ten persons” to sue to stop “actual or probable” damage to the environment when the activities violate an environmental law. A corporation, such as CLWC, is considered a “person” under the Citizen Suit Law. CLWC is a member of the “More Than Ten Residents” group.
Goals
The lawsuit asks the Superior Court to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt all activities and declare the sales null and void. It seeks an order requiring the Town to put 135 acres, as promised and as required, into conservation. It also asks for restoration of the Site.
History of the land
The land is the ancestral homelands of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe.
Below: Cedarville Conservation Area, 4/7/2025 after strip mining starts.
1977: Town obtains the property (three separate parcels Lots 22B, 23, and 24 on Assessor’s Map 55) by tax taking. The purpose was to build a landfill. This was never built.
1993: Town Meeting votes to conserve the land. At the April 3, 1993 Town Meeting voters voted to change the purpose of the land from “municipal purposes” to “open space/conservation purposes.” Article 34 passed unanimously. The vote directed Town staff and officials to hold the land under the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission. This dedicated the land to open space and conservation.
1993 to 2025: Town designates “Cedarville Conservation Area” and public use.
1996: Town Open Space Committee, Planning Board include Conservation Area in their plans. The 1996 plan described the area as dedicated for conservation purposes. Plans in 2003, 2010, and 2017 continued to list the Cedarville Conservation Area as open space managed by the Conservation Commission.
2018 Town Meeting vote on Articles 26 and 27 to transfer portions of the land from the Conservation Commission to the Board of Selectmen for general municipal purposes. Article 27 aimed to transfer remaining portions back to the Conservation Commission for conservation purposes. Because the land was protected, the Town had to comply with Article 97.
2022: Select Board sells to Plymouth Foundation for $1.00. After the Town Meeting voted in 2018, the Town and Foundation were required to follow Article 97 and other laws. They did not. They did not put the required 135 acres into conservation.
February 7, 2025: Plymouth Foundation sells to Standish Investment Group, LLC/Eric Pontiff for $3.4 million. The Town/Foundation also gave Pontiff a mortgage for about $350,000 to help pay him buy the land. Read more about the Foundation here.
Plymouth, Massachusetts. On March 25, 2025, a Citizen Group of 24 residents delivered a Notice of Intent to Sue letter to the Select Board of the Town of Plymouth (MA), the Plymouth Regional Economic Development Foundation, Inc. (“Plymouth Foundation”), a private corporation, and Standish Investments LLC concerning a 33-acre sand mining operation underway at 71 Hedges Pond Road.
The Letter asserts the Select Board violated Article 97 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution and three other laws when it took the site, known as the Cedarville Conservation Area, out of conservation and sold it for sand mining. The Select Board took the 40-acre Cedarville Conservation Area from Conservation Commission jurisdiction without authority and sold it to the Plymouth Foundation in July 2022 for $1.00 for the purpose of commercial development. On February 7, 2025, the Plymouth Foundation sold the land to Standish Investments, LLC for $3.4 million. Standish Investments, managed by Eric Pontiff, is a sand and gravel mining company in the region. The sand mining at the site entails industrial scale commercial mining for at least 270,000 cubic yards worth $12 million in revenue. In the last three months, Standish has logged the site and taken marketable timber, dug up stumps and graded the land to prepare for earth removal. This drone video shows the denuded site as of March 24, 2025.
The Town’s Building Inspector granted zoning and building permits under the Zoning Bylaw Earth Removal Regulations on January 16, 2025. The Building Inspector claims that the sand mine, which will extract about $12 million in sand from the 33 acres, is “necessary and incidental” for development of the site. This is being challenged legally. Read more here.
The Citizen Group’s Letter is a Notice of Intent to Sue under the “Citizen Suit Law”, Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 214, Section 7A. This law gives a group of at least ten Massachusetts residents legal standing to sue to prevent actual or probable “Damage to the Environment” when the activities violate an environmental protection law. The Group intends to bring a lawsuit to stop further expansion of the sand mining project. Attorney Margaret Sheehan represents the Group. Sheehan is coordinator of Community Land & Water Coalition (CLWC), a non-profit group whose mission is to protect, preserve, and steward the lands and waters of Southeastern Massachusetts.
Select Board’s Illegal Land Transfer
The Notice of Intent to Sue Letter details the facts and law of the Select Board’s illegal transfer of the 40-acre Cedarville Conservation Area to developers. The Cedarville Conservation Area was created by a Town Meeting vote in 1993. The Town designated the land as open space and put it under the “care and custody” of the Conservation Commission. The public has used Area for recreation, including walking, hiking and nature observation.
Because the area was protected conservation land under the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission, the Select Board was legally required to follow specific procedures before selling it for sand mining and development—but it did not. This was illegal.
First, under Article 97 of the Amendments to Massachusetts Constitution the Select Board was required to obtain a ⅔ supermajority vote of each branch of the State Legislature.
Second, under An Act Preserving Open Space the Select Board was required to obtain an appraisal before selling it and identify equivalent replacement land. While a 2018 Town Meeting vote identified 134 acres that were supposed to be conserved in exchange for the sale of the Cedarville Conservation Area for development, that has never happened. It appears part of the 134 acres is an old Town dump with no conservation value. The Town is now claiming that the Town Meeting vote made the sale legal, but this is inaccurate.
The Select Board violated all four laws. The Notice of Intent to Sue Letter states the Citizen Group will go to court to enforce the laws.
Historic and Ecological Significance of the Cedarville Conservation Area
Historically and as of today, the area is part of the ancient Native American Wampanoag Great Lot. This is an area of land ‘allotted’ to Native Americans. Under the colonial government of Massachusetts, Native American communal lands used for traditional life ways such as hunting, fishing and gathering, were eliminated and Native Americans required to live on the ‘lots’ assigned to them by the government
The Cedarville Conservation Area had high ecological value. It is Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) Priority Habitat #521 for Rare Species. In 2018, following a concocted Town Meeting vote, Town staff arranged for land to be transferred from the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission to the Select Board. This required a Conservation Commission vote that never happened.
Town Zoning Permit challenged, work continues
On January 16, 2025, the Town Building Inspector issued building and zoning permits based on an application by Standish Investments for a 300,000 square foot “unified complex” of warehouses claiming the earth removal operation is “incidental.” The earth removal will dig a 90 foot hole across the 33 acres. On February 14, 2025 and March 3, 2025, two groups of residents filed legal appeals challenging the Town’s permits. Read more here. The public hearing is scheduled for April 7 at 6 p.m. at Plymouth Town Hall.
On February 7, the Foundation gave Pontiff a mortgageto help finance his purchase of theCedarville Conservation Land. Since the Town employees are directors of the Foundation, they have a financial interest in the sand mining profits and development of the land which appears to conflict with their duty to enforce state and local laws that govern conservation, mining, and development.
The Foundation has conducted at least one other sand and gravel mining operation in the Town. At 103 Hedges Pond Road, the Foundation mined sand and gravel for years under permits granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals, generating revenue for the Foundation.
As of 2023, the Foundation had over $2 million in its checkbook. After the sale of the Cedarville Conservation Area to Pontiff, this ballooned to about $5 million.
Sand mining air pollution, threats to drinking water, forests
Sand mining causes emissions of medically harmful, carcinogenic silica dust, excessive truck traffic, noise and vibrations in adjacent homes, loss of real estate value, and threats to underground drinking water. All residents within the 199-square mile Sole Source Aquifer get their water from the same place: wells. The sand filters and protects the underground Aquifer. Sand mining pollutes the air with medically harmful silica sand. The silica particles that have been contained under topsoil for thousands of years become airborne and can be inhaled by humans and animals. Once silica enters the lungs, there is no way for the body to get rid of it. Silica inhalation can lead to health problems including respiratory and cardio-vascular issues, and even lung cancer and throat cancer. The permits issued for the Hedges Pond Road sand mine do not have adequate conditions to protect residents from airborne silica.
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.
