Tag Archive for: Wareham

Carver: Meadow Street Sand Mine: Jury Returns Verdict

 

August 11, 2026

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.

Wathc the Drone Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MPSWuw0BDI&t=6s

From complaints to accountability

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!

On December 5, 2022 ten residents sent a Citizens Suit Law demand letter and notice of intent to sue to the Carver Earth Removal Committee and Massachusetts Attorney General over illegal mining. It has been ignored.

 

 

 

 

Wareham: Voters Seek Accountability for AD Makepeace Co. Sand Mining

 

  • Select Board yet to act on 2021, 2023 Town Meeting calls to hold Makepeace accountable

  • Letter says Makepeace deprived the Town of a least $625,000 in earth removal fees

Background

AD Makepeace Co. is based in Wareham MA. It is one of the state’s largest private landowners, with about 12,000 acres in Wareham, Carver and Plymouth. Makepeace owns a large portion of the Town of Wareham and has considerable political clout in the Town. The company regularly donates to charitable causes and hosts recreational events to solidify its power– even “Arbor Day” which some find ironic due to the company’s massive destruction of forests and the environment. The Save the Pine Barrens You Tube channel is documenting Makepeace’s sand mining. 

Makepeace’s core business is selling the sand from its mines via its sister company Read Custom Soils. Makepeace sells to industrial and commercial customers like concrete and asphalt facilities, golf courses, and more.  Sand and gravel sales are highly profitable and prices have gone up 5 times in the last 5 years. Makepeace is also a cranberry grower but that business is  break even business at best. Makepeace is also in the business of residential real estate development and industrial solar installations. 

Read more in Sand Wars In Cranberry Country here.

Cranberry farming gives Makepeace a cover for its sand mining. It claims the sand mining is exempt from laws because it is “farming” and entitled to special protections. Read more about how the cranberry industry evades laws on sand mining in the Sand Wars report here.

Below: 85 acre AD Makepeace sand mine in Carver, MA. Makepeace claims this is cranberry agriculture. It put in a solar project to the left after sand mining and stripping 50 acres of pristine Pine Barrens forest starting in 2016.

Makepeace sand mining in Wareham

Makepeace has been sand mining for commercial sale in Wareham for decades. Residents observe the endless number of trucks leaving loaded with sand. The trucks are a safety hazard on the roads, destroy roads, and operate recklessly. Examples of the excessive truck traffic is on You Tube. 

Makepeace has mined at least 2.5 million cubic yards from Wareham leveling up to 250 acres of forest. More mining is proposed at 140 Tihonet Road and possibly other locations. At today’s prices, the sand is worth up to $40 million.

Below: Google Earth aerial image of some mining sites in Wareham marked with yellow pin. Most are AD Makepeace, but other cranberry companies and sand and gravel companies operate without permits or in violation of permits.

Makepeace often portrays its sand mining as “site preparation” for industrial solar. The state has allowed Makepeace to destroy Priority Habitat for rare and endangered species in Warehan claiming that the sand mining is just site preparation for solar. For example in 2015, the state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program issued a take permit for over 50 acres of Priority Habitat and 12 species at the 160 Tihonet Road mining site that is now solar. Read more here. 

“The site was formerly used for sand mining, which cleared the site of vegetation….Because sand mining is ongoing, site grades fluctuate; final grades will range from 54 ft to 64 ft NAVD.” 

Makepeace mining violates Wareham Earth Removal Bylaw for over a decade

Wareham regulates earth removal.  The Earth Removal Bylaw requires a permit and strict plan conditions to protect the environment and residents, and requires mining companies to pay 25 cents per cubic yard for sand removed. A typical tractor trailer is about 24 cubic yards and would owe a fee of $6.00 — a small amount compared to the value of the sand.

The Town Select Board is responsible for the Earth Removal Bylaw. It must ensure that companies doing mining get permits and comply with them. This includes paying fees.

Below: Excerpt from Town of Wareham General Bylaw, Earth Removal Regulations, Section 4, requiring fees of 25 cents per cubic yard of earth removed.

The Select Board has never applied or enforced the Wareham Earth Removal Bylaw against Makepeace and only rarely against other companies. The chair of the Select Board confirmed this in a 2021 Letter.

By allowing Makepeace to mine without a permit the Select Board deprived  Wareham of up to $625,000 in revenue.

October 2021: voters approve sand mining audit, collection of fees, penalties

In response to growing alarm about the scope and scale of Makepeace’s sand mining and environment destruction, Wareham voters proposed a Town Meeting warrant article.  Article 18 urged the Select Board to audit Makepeace’s mining.  The article passed almost unanimously. Read the Wareham Week story here.

Below: Town of Wareham Town Meeting Warrant Article 18, October, 2021. It requires an audit a four AD Makepeace mining sites, and others.

 

 December 4, 2021: Select Board votes to hire an expert

In response to the Town’s vote to approve Article 18, the audit, the Wareham Select Board met and on December 4, 2021 voted 4-1 to proceed with the audit and collection of fees and penalties.  On January 4, 2022, the Board discussed the topic again. Read the Wareham Week story here.

The story reported a resident said the petitioner was “an unambiguous complaint” to the town about possible earth removal bylaw violations.”

At the January 4, 2022 Select Board meeting member Peter Teitelbaum, a Makepeace supporter, complained that seeking to enforce the bylaw was a “slippery slope”. Barry Cosgrove who proposed the Town Meeting Article in 2021 commented:

“If fulfilling a legal obligation under bylaw and respecting the will of the people is a slippery slope, what is the metaphor for ignoring a legal obligation and ignoring the will of the people?”

November 2022: group requests Town enforce Earth Removal Bylaw

With Makepeace’s sand and gravel mining continuing to ravage Wareham, local advocacy group Save the Pine Barrens sent a demand for enforcement of the Earth Removal Bylaw to the Town. The Town ignored the demand.

See the Enforcement Demand letter here. It documents violations at six locations including 160 Tihonet Road, Farm to Market Road and mining by cranberry companies Sure-Cran, Rounseville Hammond, and Fletcher, and a pit operated by Graziano.

March 2023: Ten Residents Group sends Notice of Intent to Sue 

Still seeking action from the Town on sand mining, on March 17, 2023, a Ten Residents Group invoked the Massachusetts Citizen Suit Law, Chapter 214, 7A. Under this law, they can seek remedies for Damage to the Environment from Makepeace’s sand mining. Read the Wareham Ten Residents Notice Intent to Sue here.  

Notice letter focuses on three Makepeace mining sites in Wareham and estimates the company removed at least 2.5 million cubic yards without permits. This deprived the Town of $625,000 in earth removal fees.  

Read the A.D.Makepeace Reply to Notice of Intent to Sue 2023.04.14 here. Neither the Town nor the Attorney General responded. The matter is pending.

 April 2023: Wareham voters approve funding for sand mining investigation

Over a year passed with no action on the 2021 to audit Makepeace’s sand mining and collect fees and penalties. In April 2023, the voters approved spending $50,000 for a sand mining investigation. Read the Wareham Week story here.

Read the Wicked Local story here: Expert opinion could quell earth removal ‘innuendo’ in Wareham

April 2024: still no action on voter’s call for sand mining investigation

As of April, 2024, the Wareham Select Board was still discussing how to carry out the 2021 voter’s Article 18 for an audit, penalties and fees for sand mining. Read the Wareham Week story here. In the meantime, sand mining continues. 

 

Above: AD Makepeace sand mining, Farm to Market Road, Wareham, 2021. Image shows excavation into side of hill.

Makepeace claims of cranberry farming don’t add up

Makepeace has claimed time and again that earth removed from Wareham is for its “agricultural operations” such as building, refurbishing and winter sanding its own cranberry bogs. 

Makepeace has mined enough sand around the region to fill Gillette Stadium about 2 miles high. The  region-wide math does not add up. Nor do the Makepeace claims that the mining operations are “necessary” to build new agricultural projects. Read more about the laws and how they are evaded in Sand Wars.

Carver: Legal Efforts to Shut Down AD Makepeace Co. Sand Trucking Hub: Read Custom Soils

CLWC takes legal action, demands Carver Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) issue a cease and desist to shut down AD Makepeace Co. Read sand trucking terminal

CLWC responds to Carver ZBA arguments at May 29, 2024 public hearing: You’re Wrong! Read the July 9, 2024 letter here.

Who is Read Custom Soils? Learn more here.

CLWC fights to enforce laws on behalf of residents, environment

CLWC’s lawyers and scientists are working to get justice for residents and stop the environmental destruction by AD Makepeace’s sand mining. This trucking hub is the key to Makepeace’s sand sales. This facility does not have the required zoning permit from the Carver Planning Board.

CLWC is using the zoning laws to shut down Read. Here are the steps:

  • On February 22, 2024, CLWC demanded that the Carver Building Commissioner issue a cease and desist order to stop Read from operating a “Truck and Freight” terminal without the Special Permit. The CLWC demand letter is here.
  • The Building Commissioner refused to issue a cease and desist to Read. CLWC estimates Read generates up to 500 truck trips daily. The Building Commissioner did not investigate the issue of truck traffic volume.
  • On March 12, 2024 CLWC appealed to the ZBA under the state Zoning Law and the Town Zoning Bylaw. See the appeal here.  
  • On May 22, 2024 CLWC requested the ZBA enforce their bylaws and issue a cease and desist at 46 Federal rd. Read the request here. 

The hearing on CLWC’s enforcement request started on May 29, 2024 and continues July 17, 2024.

Carver Officials Ignore Years of Harms Suffered by Local Residents, Damage to Environment

 

Makepeace uses Read as a truck and freight terminal to sell and distribute sand it mines from its surround land. T

Read more about this massive mining site here. 

For a decade or more, Carver residents living near sand mining sites and who are impacted by truck traffic, noise and vibrations from mining operations have written, emails, and called state and local officials. They attend meetings of the Earth Removal Committee, Planning Board, Conservation Commission and Select Board to tell them about harms from  the mining and trucking of sand and gravel abutting their homes.

Below: May, 2024: Massive AD Makepeace Co. 120 acre sand mine abutting Environmental Justice Community on Federal Road in Carver. This mine supplies Read Custom Soils with sand for commercial sale and distribution.

ZBA biased, sides with mining company over its own residents

 During the May 29, 2024 public hearing on whether the ZBA should shut down Read,  the ZBA was more concerned about protecting the interests of AD Makepeace Co., the owner of Read, rather than protecting residents’ health and well being

  • ZBA tried to dismiss the case on legal technicalities; this tactic is commonly used to deter residents from participating in the public process.
  • ZBA prevented Community Land and Water Coalition from presenting its slides, cut off residents as they spoke, and told residents that they had already spoken on this issue when they had not.
  • ZBA delayed its decision on the shut down until July 17, leaving residents to deal with the noise, vibrations and threat to drinking water for two more months.

The state law requires the ZBA to hold a public hearing on a request for enforcement of the zoning law. The ZBA must vote on whether there is a violation. CLWC has asked the ZBA to issue the cease and desist to Read. The first day of the ZBA public hearing was May 29, 2024. Watch the hearing here.

The ZBA chair argued with the lawyer for CLWC claiming the group had no legal right to bring the appeal. In a July 9, 2024 letter CLWC’s lawyer showed this is wrong. Read the letter here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Wareham: WIN! Town Meeting votes hold AD Makepeace Co. responsible for Parker Mills Dam

Makepeace can no longer evade accountability for deadbeat dam that impairs fish passage, threatens safety

Article courtesy of Wareham Week

Town Meeting voted on Tuesday, April 25 to urge the Select Board and Town Counsel Richard Bowen to inquire further into the A.D. Makepeace Company’s ownership of the crumbling Parker Mills Dam.

Resident Barry Cosgrove, who brought the petition to Town Meeting, said the town needs to fight Makepeace on the ownership question so that the cranberry company will help pay for the much-needed removal of the dam. 

The Parker Mills Dam lies largely under Elm Street, which has been closed for almost a decade. In 2014, the state classified it as a High Hazard Potential Dam, which means its failure could result in loss of life and the destruction of homes and businesses. Elm Street has been closed since that time. 

The dam’s legal ownership has been in contention for years. The town filed a suit against A.D. Makepeace in 2018, claiming that the town owns only 25% of the dam. The town dropped the suit in 2019 after entering into negotiations with the company.

A.D. Makepeace Vice President of Marketing and Communications Linda Burke said weeks ago that the company is actively working with Bowen to sort out the dam’s ownership.

Town Meeting voted on the item as a resolution, meaning the vote serves as a recommendation to the Select Board rather than a legal requirement. 

Bowen said the town’s analysis indicates that A.D. Makepeace is the owner of the dam, but that Makepeace has a legal argument on why they do not own the dam. 

[The legal argument] is not one I accept,” Bowen said. 

Select Board member Alan Slavin said he’s been trying to get a straight answer about the ownership of the dam since 2008, and that the Select Board wants to fully remove the dam if funding is available. If full funding is not available, a partial removal plan will be the best option, he said. 

Former Select Board member Peter Teitelbaum agreed that Makepeace owns the dam, but endorsed voting against the resolution because forcing the matter to return to court court would likely delay action on fixing the dam. 

Local resident Cliff Sylvia said that he’s worried about the situation becoming dangerous if the dam one day fails. 

“It’s entirely possible that we could have a catastrophic situation if the dam breaks,” Sylvia said. 

Wareham: 0 Route 25 Proposed Solar Site Threatens Pine Barrens Forest, Drinking Water and Way of Life

 

  • Project threatens 21 acres of rare Pine Barrens forests, and drinking water of downgradient residents
  • Concerned residents’ information submitted to Planning Board asks the Board to deny the Site Plan Review and Special Permit Application – see the Wareham Planning Board file here
  • Fletcher mining operation under the ruse of cranberry agriculture, now solar with Wareham PV LLC exposed
  • Planning Board denies the project due to non-conformance with bylaw

Above: Image courtesy of Google Earth, 2022 The proposed site includes the strip mined area along the cranberry bog on the west side. The trees along the mining site will be cleared.

Updates

December, 2023: The Planning Board denies the project, due to non-conformances with the local solar by-law. The bylaw requires a 75-foot set-back for new solar projects. After the applicant re-submitted the project in April 2023 without a battery energy storage system, they were not willing to re-design the project further to comply with the new bylaw. Accordingly, the project was denied.

Background

An out of state limited liability company, Wareham PV I LLC is proposing to install a 3.5 megawatt solar array just north of Route 25, near Harlow Brook in central Wareham. The project will chop down about 21 acres of forest for the proposed large ground mounted project.

According to the consultant, the southern portion of the site consists of a pine canopy with a dense shrub understory, aka the rare Pine Barrens ecosystem of southeastern Massachusetts. The Pine Barrens are a unique ecoregion found only in Southeastern Massachusetts, Long Island, and New Jersey; the Massachusetts forests support over 200 state and federally listed species. Cutting down another 21 acres of this rare wilderness threatens the viability of the entire ecoregion.

Image of the site courtesy of VHB

According to the consultant, the site soils consist of glacial outwash deposits which consist of loamy sands, and fine sands, and the depth to groundwater 44 to 50 inches at the seasonal high water table in March – April. Site groundwater is recharged by precipitation – rainwater and snowmelt. Therefore, according to the consultant’s own report, this site sits atop the Plymouth-Carver Sole Source aquifer, the only source of drinking water for five towns in southeastern Massachusetts.

Image of the site courtesy of VHB

Wareham has lost over 300 acres of forest to solar development in the last five years. No comprehensive hydraulic study has been conducted for the Town of Wareham on how the removal of up to 300 acres of forest in the Town will affect the Town’s drinking water supply. We cannot have any more threats to the drinking water of Wareham residents and beyond. Residents, particularly downgradient residents who get their drinking water from private wells, are speaking out about how these proposed solar projects are threatening their water supply. 

A citizens’ activist group submitted a Citizens’ Memorandum to the Wareham Planning Board, calling for the Board to oppose the site:

Citizens-MemorandumDownload

This solar site, in addition to three other proposed solar sites currently before the Wareham Planning Board (91 & 101 Fearing Hill Road, 27 Charge Pond Road and 150 Tihonet Road), together threaten 144 acres of rare Pine Barrens forest in Wareham. Forests are a critical part of of our climate solution, and the Pine Barrens give Wareham its unique character. Why should Wareham stand for this?

At the December 12, 2022 public hearing of the Planning Board, the solar developer was faced with questions from the Planning Board. The Board wants more information about the costs of decommissioning of the project, and the location of future disposal of the solar panels. They rejected the application and requested that the decommissioning plans be updated to reflect more realistic costs. During the hearing, expert hydrogeologist Scott Horsley presented the board with his findings of the site, which include the potential for a heat island effect from the solar panels and loss of forest cover, reduction in evapotranspiration, and potential for groundwater mounding. He called for an independent study of the hydrology of the site before the plans were voted on. His testimony was covered by the Wareham Week. The hearing was continued.

At the continued Planning Board public hearing January 9, 2023, the solar developer again faced questions. The Planning Board continued the hearing again deciding there were too many unanswered questions about the project. The Board was not satisfied with the decommissioning proposal – they wanted the applicant to up the bond from $800K to $2.2M. They also stated that construction cannot begin until after the applicant receives an interconnection agreement – which the applicant currently does not have. The Chair also expressed concerns with potential groundwater contamination – from both the panels themselves and the battery storage unit – and stated that monitoring wells would be a requirement for the project.

During the course of the public meeting, it was revealed that the BESS – battery energy storage system – would transfer energy two ways, both transmitting energy from the panels to the grid and receiving energy from the grid. This was a new development, which the Board was not yet aware of. One of the members stated that Wareham did not have the laws in place yet to regulate such a system. The Board also stated that the BESS would be held to the same safety requirements as the proposed BESS at Fearing Hill.

The public hearing was continued on February 13, 2023, at which time the applicant faced more questions from the Board. One of the Board’s primary concerns was the two-way energy transfer system of the BESS. The Board saw a great potential for the BESS to become a profitable energy storage system of its own. According to Mike King, Chair of the Wareham Planning Board, he saw no reason why the owner of the BESS would not “buy low, sell high,” as in, take energy off the grid when it was abundant, and place it back on the grid when it was needed. The applicant could not argue, because that is essentially the goal of grid stabilization. However, the Board was very wary about approving such a system, not knowing the true function and scope of the BESS in the future. BESS, along with solar arrays, are an ever-evolving technology.

The safety of BESS’s also came up during the meeting, at which time it was revealed that Wareham Fire Department’s standard response to a battery storage unit fire was to essentially let it burn. Pouring water on a chemical battery fire creates toxic gas, and therefore the safest thing to do was to let it burn out. However, the BESS will sit directly on top of our aquifer, and the site’s operation and maintenance plan does not have any requirements for thermal monitoring of the unit.

The Board was also very concerned about the applicant’s unwillingness to install monitoring wells around the property, saying that the residents and the Town’s water deserved to be protected. They cited Warren’s recently approved solar bylaw, which requires solar developers to conduct a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) and a Phase II ESA if necessary. A Phase II ESA would require pre-and post- solar development soil and groundwater sampling, to determine if the solar array had any negative impact on the soil or groundwater quality below it. The applicant’s lawyer pushed back against the suggestion, saying that the Massachusetts Attorney General had verbally admonished Warrens for such a strict bylaw, and that the applicant maintained there was no need for groundwater monitoring at the Wareham site. The overall attitude of the applicant’s lawyer seemed to suggest they were not willing to go above and beyond their proposal to add groundwater monitoring at the site, which did not sit well with the Board.

After eighteen months of public hearings, the Wareham Planning Board voted to reject the site plan and special permit application for this approximately 20-acre solar and battery project next to a cranberry bog. On April 27, 2023, the Board met and voted to rescind that vote and reopen the public hearing to obtain more information on impacts to drinking water and the safety of the battery storage system (BESS). The new site plan review, for a project without a BESS, is set to commence September 18, 2023.

Wareham: Two AD Makepeace Solar Proposals Denied Planning Board Special Permit Extension

Area of proposed solar development, 27 Charge Pond Road
Area of proposed solar development, 150 Tihonet Road
  • Citizens’ Groups extensively write to Planning Board to deny the permit extensions and urge Wareham to further study the safety and impacts of extensive solar installations within the Town.
  • Part of vast complex of sand mining and solar complexes throughout Wareham and Carver that have devastated biodiversity, wetlands and forests, AD Makepeace Co’s proposed solar installations at 27 Charge Pond Road and 150 Tihonet Road would have cut down an additional 111 acres of Pine Barrens forest.

June 10, 2024: The Wareham Planning Board denied site plan approval and special permit extensions for two solar proposals, one at 27 Charge Pond Road and the other at 150 Tihonet Road. Although the Board was not required to give a reason, they have previously expressed concerns with the safety of battery energy storage systems on site, the fact that the approvals are four years old already, and the fact that, if the approvals are extended, the Board will not have a chance to review the projects again, even though we are still possibly several years away from a project build-out.

Background – Planning Board and Citizens’ Actions:

January 8, 2024: The Wareham Planning Board contracted with safety expert Milosh Puchovsky to study the hazards associated with battery energy storage systems (BESS) and the applicable safety regulations. However, Mr. Puchovsky was unable to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the applications for solar at 27 Charge Pond Road and 150 Tihonet Road as they were lacking in key information such as equipment specifications. The applicant said that equipment, and associated safety ratings, would not be identified until the projects were closer to implementation, but they would provide that information before breaking ground.

After hearing the results of Mr. Puchovsky’s initial response, and the fact that he was unable to perform a complete review of the projects due to lack of specifications, the Planning Board was unwilling to move forward on the extensions without the safety evaluation in place.

Monday, June 26, 2023: The Wareham Planning Board met on whether to deny the permit extension requests from Borrego Solar for the two destructive ground-mounted solar projects. A Citizens’ Group has submitted a letter to the Planning Board (below), stating all the reasons the permit extensions should be denied.

Citizens-Opposed-to-Extensions-of-27-150Download

Previously the Board requested more information on decommissioning, disposal costs for the solar panels, and the Town’s liability if Borrego/New Leaf walk away at the end of the lease. The Board asked the applicant to up the decommissioning cash bond to $2.2M. In December 2022, the Planning Board also raised serious concerns about the applicant’s irresponsible plans for decommissioning, as covered by the Wareham Week.

We are telling the Planning Board that the extensions should be denied and Borrego (now New Leaf) should reapply for the permits.

So much has changed since the site plans were approved in 2020.

  • Wareham residents voted to change to the Wareham solar siting bylaw to make it more protective of forests, natural resources, and wildlife habitat
  • There have been recent developments regarding state solar policy siting and criteria
  • A new increased awareness of the potential risks associated with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
  • New criteria adopted by the Wareham Fire Department in December 2022 regarding BESS 
  • Awareness of the cumulative impact of all of the deforestation/solar development in Wareham since 2020
  • New information about the costs of decommissioning
Community-Land-and-Water-Coalition-Public-Comment-27-Charge-and-150-TihonetDownload

The Planning Board approvals in 2020 were flawed in numerous ways. They did not adequately address impacts to Wareham’s water quality and wetlands. An expert report by Patrick C. Garner Co., Inc., dated May 8, 2021, identified two major defects in the wetlands applications for the solar arrays at 150 Tihonet Road and 27 Charge Pond Road. The precipitation data submitted to the Wareham Conservation Commission was climatologically obsolete. The applicant used 60-year old climatological data in the calculations of the stormwater retention requirements, rather than real-time precipitation data used by conscientious engineering firms. This means the stormwater systems approved by the Conservation Commission in 2020 are undersized by 20%. The report also documents that potential vernal pools are present on both sites, including four potential vernal pools at 27 Charge Pond Road and one potential vernal pool on 150 Tihonet Road. At least one of the vernal pools was biologically rich enough to certify; however the Wareham Planning Board approved the site plans without an Order of Conditions from the Conservation Commission, so they did not have this information.

Patrick-Garner-ReportDownload

Background – Improperly-Sited Solar’s Impact on the Natural Environment

We need both our forests and renewable energy in order to fight climate change.

The area surrounding the proposed sites has already seen intense solar development.

Wareham has already lost over 300 acres of forest to solar development; it’s time for the Town put a stop to new solar projects that destroy forests in the name of clean energy. Science shows that preserving our forests along with their intact ecosystems and biodiversity are critical to addressing the climate crisis. Forests combat the effects of climate change by providing cooler temperatures, mitigating flooding, and purifying the air. Undeveloped forested land is crucial to sequestering carbon; in fact, according to the Massachusetts Decarbonization Roadmap, forests are the only proven technology that Massachusetts has for sequestering carbon. The pine barrens forests of Wareham must be preserved. Since 2000, it appears that the area has one of the highest rates of forest loss since 2000 in the entire state.

There has been no analysis of the impact on the Plymouth-Carver Sole Source Aquifer resulting from the deforestation from solar arrays in Wareham and Carver. The Plymouth-Carver Sole Source Aquifer is comprised of well-sorted, coarse grained silica sand, and water flows freely through it. There is very little relative attenuation time from when run-off or precipitation penetrates the ground surface to when it reaches the groundwater table. In fact, the water table is visible at the ground surface in Wareham’s ponds and rivers. Therefore, contaminants can be rapidly introduced into the aquifer system from a number of sources.

Watch You Tube videos of the impacts of solar development in Wareham here.

Growing Solar, Protecting Nature, a 2023 joint study by Mass Audubon and Harvard Forest, concludes that by protecting the most valuable natural and working lands from development, such as the forests at 27 Charge Pond Road and 150 Tihonet Road, Massachusetts could produce enough solar energy to meet our greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, while preserving 76% more forest carbon than our current trajectory would predict, and protecting nearly 100% of our remaining essential wildlife habitat and prime farmland.

Growing-Solar-Protecting-NatureDownload

Solar energy is a crucial component of our sustainable energy future. Unfortunately, the financial subsidies for solar have created unfortunate outcomes in land-use planning. Developers are taking the easy route and cutting down forests for solar instead of doing the hard work of planning solar on our built environment. Several groups, including the Wareham Land Trust issued a statement on solar siting in October 2021.

solar-siting-joint-statementDownload

Also, an EPA program called Re-Powering America’s Land aims to provide information and resources to solar developers and municipalities on the benefits of and considerations associated with siting solar development on contaminated land and landfills. The EPA is recognizing the need to conserve open space in the fight against climate change and providing resources to municipalities expedited the process associated with putting solar in previously developed land. It is possible to have solar power generation without cutting down forests, if planned and sited properly.

This is not about renewable energy – it is about saving our forests! State solar subsidies are providing financial incentives for large landowners to clearcut and lease their land, and we have to reverse course before it is too late!

For more information on what you have read, or for a myriad of additional reasons why these projects should not be approved, please contact Community Land and Water Coalition.

Wareham Residents Fight Back: Don’t Kill Fearing Hill!

Solar developer ConEdison proposed to clear-cut Pine Barrens forest, denude land for large ground mounted solar, batteries.

Wareham Residents provided overwhelming evidence of poor project siting.

After a four years of community engagement and public hearings, the Planning Board denied the project. 

Site is located on Weweantic River; ancient Native American trails, wildlife habitat, would have been lost.

Read about the unique natural resources of Wareham’s Fearing Hill here.

Read more about the destructive solar proposal here.

Read and Download the Fact Sheet on Fearing Hill here.

ConEdison proposed a solar project in West Wareham that threatened to clear-cut one of the last remaining intact ancient forests in the lower west-side of the Weweantic River watershed. The Project is at 91 and 101 Fearing Hill Road, directly upgradient of the Weweantic River and residential drinking water wells. The Project would have leveled scenic and historic hillside adjoining Town conservation land, and isolate a continuous wetland on its southern side. The proposed project plans are here. 

However Wareham residents pushed back against this project at the local Planning Board, Conservation Commission, and to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. For over four years, the residents of Wareham have provided evidence of poor project siting, such as the sheer size of deforestation, the threats to private water and sewer systems, loss of wildlife habitat adjacent to conservation area, the siting of the clearcutting and industrial development on a steep hillside, and cumulative impact of multiple solar development projects in the same area. Watch the November 25, 2024 public hearing in which the public states their concerns and reasons for denial. There were no public comments or submittals in favor of this project.

On June 23, 2025, the Wareham Planning Board met to deliberate on the Findings of Fact for the project, which was a compilation and assessment of the entire public record on file, in order to determine by votes in favor or against the findings if the project complied with local Zoning Bylaws. You can read more about the Wareham Planning Board’s Finding of Fact procedure, and how you can participate effectively, on our blog.  After reviewing the information on file, and finding that the project did not adequately protect the public health, safety and welfare, the Board voted 0 – 4 to approve the project, thereby denying it.

Check back here for a complete copy of the decision, once issued!

In 2022 the Wareham Conservation Commission DENIED an order of conditions for this project, stating that the project cannot be conditioned to meet the performance standards set forth in the wetlands regulations. This denial of the order was based on the fact that clearcutting 22 acres of trees would inevitable alter the downgradient wetlands. Read the DENIED order of conditions here.

However, in 2023, ConEdison appealed the Denial of the Order of Conditions to the DEP. In an egregious decision that threatens to strike at the very heart of Wareham’s biodiversity and natural resources, in May 2024 the DEP sided with ConEdison and granted a superseding order of conditions for the project.

However, Wareham residents fought back. A group of 12 Wareham residents appealed the DEP’s decision to the highest environmental court in the state, the MassDEP Office of Appeals and Dispute Resolution. Read the Residents’ appeal of the DEP’s decision here.

Residents continue to fight irresponsible solar at the proposed Fearing Hill Solar site in West Wareham. In late 2024/early 2025, the Town settled with the solar company behind closed doors to issue a local wetlands permit, reversing its denial its original denial in 2022. On March 14, 2025, CLWC provided legal services to three residents abutting the project to file a legal case to reverse the permit. See the lawsuit here. 

We’re at a critical time to stop irresponsibly-sited solar projects before the Energy Facilities Siting Board issues its final Solar Siting Guidelines. It is to the credit of the public who proved that solar does not belong in our forests. Join our coalition at Responsible Solar Massachusetts to join a large network of individuals throughout the Commonwealth who advocate that we need BOTH solar AND our forests.

Community Land and Water Coalition along with many Wareham residents will continue to advocate for responsible solar siting in our communities.

Please continue to turn out to make your voice heard. Local residents’ voices matter when it comes to local decisions. Check our Calendar for upcoming Planning Board meetings. We need solar on our rooftops and in our parking lots, not in our forests!

Protest against AD Makepeace greenwashing

May 4, 2022

Contact:
Linden Jenkins
lindajenkins177@yahoo.com
606-986-8687

BOSTON, MA – Groups gathered outside Boston’s Westin Seaport Hotel today to protest the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) award of “Private Company Board of the Year” to Wareham, MA based mining company, A.D. Makepeace. The company’s mining and sales operations are in the globally rare Pine Barrens forest in Southeastern Massachusetts. Jim Kane, formerly of MassDevelopment, is the company’s President and CEO. The groups protested Makepeace’s destruction of forests, waterways, and Wampanoag Indigenous cultural sites.

Makepeace owns about 7,000 acres in Southeastern Mass, accumulated since the company’s founding in the 1850s. The region is the ancestral home of the Wampanoag Native American people and evidence of Indigenous peoples are present on lands throughout the area. The groups say Mass Historic Commission is not protecting the sites from Makepeace’s mining and extraction. The region is a unique ecosystem with 220 species of plants and animals protected by the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act and state and local officials are not enforcing the law. The region contains unique deposits of “silica” sand, a globally rare commodity.

Makepeace uses “cranberry farming” as a cover for its mining operations. It promotes itself as “sustainable,” citing a recent project with Brightview Landscape to provide “engineered soils” to Harvard’s Science & Engineering Complex – earth materials obtained by destroying biodiversity and Indigenous cultural sites. With Borrego Solar, Makepeace has clear-cut and strip mined over 350 acres for 13 large industrial solar projects. Makepeace plans to use toxic copper chromated arsenic (CCA) treated poles in cranberry bogs for a “dual use” solar panel project under the state’s SMART solar subsidy program.  

“Makepeace is greenwashing. NACD must strip Makepeace of this award and hold the company accountable,” said Linden Jenkins. “The board of directors is violating standards for social and environmental responsibility, and they don’t deserve this.”

GROUPS PARTICIPATING: Mass Peace Action-Indigenous Subgroup, Extinction Rebellion Boston, Save the Pine Barrens/Community Land & Water Coalition

Photos from the May 4th protest against A.D. Makepeace award

April 2022: Massachusetts solar and battery subsidies galvanize opposition to protect forests, water and heritage

Town meeting voters pass zoning changes on solar, battery storage, judge rejects solar developer’s challenge to lawsuit

Citing protection of drinking water, forests and community character, a wide range of groups and individuals are increasing their efforts to prevent harm from the state’s solar subsidy programs. Annual town meetings in the Southeastern Massachusetts towns of Carver and Wareham saw voters overwhelmingly pass moratoriums and a tougher bylaw on siting large ground mounted solar. Carver has 20 and Wareham has 19 large ground mounted projects that have clear-cut 570 acres while the remaining are sited in wetland cranberry bogs. Over 4,000 acres of solar have been lost to solar in Massachusetts already. The state’s climate plan calls for 158,000 acres of forested land to be converted to ground mounted solar by 2030. Groups and municipalities see the problems ahead and are acting.

In Carver, solar article propelled high turnout

On April 12, after three hours of debate, Carver voters passed Article 38 by an 80% margin, imposing a 11 ½ month moratorium on the new use of land for battery storage. A proposal by PowerPlus of Texas to site a 150 megawatt industrial battery storage facility in a residential neighborhood in Carver galvanized voters. The moratorium was endorsed unanimously by the Planning Board.  According to Mary Dormer, spokesperson for Carver Concerned Citizens, “The residents voices were heard loud and clear that these predatory projects are unwelcome in Carver. We have a long fight ahead to stop PowerPlus’ Cranberry Point, but will must protect our drinking water and ensure residents’ safety.”

Carver also passed a one-year moratorium on new or enlarged ground mounted solar projects. The Selectboard proposed the moratorium to provide time to assess the impact of more large ground mounted solar projects, on top of the nineteen large projects already sited in the town. Dual use solar in Carver is controversial. PineGate Renewable’s installation of 3,500 copper chromated arsenic-treated wood poles to mount solar panels in cranberry bogs has raised concerns.  A lawsuit is challenging one of the projects under the Wetlands Protection Act claiming the Carver Conservation Commission violated the law. “We want more information. How much arsenic from the poles is leaching into the groundwater and soil? Are the cranberries grown in the bogs being sold to Ocean Spray?  Are they safe to eat?  Large multinational corporations like PineGate are installing big solar projects and leaving us with big problems,” Dormer said.

Voters also defeated Article 18, Carver’s Town’s Redevelopment Authority’s proposal to weaken laws regulating sand and gravel extraction.  In Southeastern Massachusetts, deposits of valuable silica sand are being mined extensively, often under the ruse of “preparing” land for solar. This denudes the land, removing vegetation and topsoil, levels topography and makes the deforestation and water impacts of large solar worse.

Wareham passes solar bylaw after months of work by volunteer committee

On April 25, 2022, Wareham voters overwhelmingly approved a solar bylaw to further to ensure appropriate siting of large ground mounted solar.

The Town’s solar bylaw committee worked for months on revising the current bylaw to address concerns raised by nineteen projects that have clear-cut 330 acres of forest and impacted wetlands. Another 1,400 acres of solar is proposed, including “dual use” on cranberry bogs. The new bylaw includes a 5 megawatt size limit, prohibition against development in environmentally sensitive areas, including Pine Barrens habitat, and a ban on use of arsenic treated poles for mounting solar panels in cranberry bogs.

At least three large solar sites in Wareham have been strip mined for lucrative sand and gravel by AD Makepeace, which owns about half the town’s land. Makepeace is proposing three more large projects over about 200 acres of forested land on Tihonet Pond and the Wankinko River.

In Wareham, a zoning moratorium on ground mounted solar lost by four votes. Proponents of the article argued it would serve as a backup plan for the revised bylaw.

Wareham resident Barry Cosgrove said, “The state’s supposed “SMART” solar program is incentivizing the creation of solar slum lords. Namely solar hosts who will knock down every tree in sight and then strip mine the sand underneath-which filters and protects our sole source drinking water aquifer – to grab a piece of the “SMART” handouts. And all this under the claim that the solar panels – which cover up this unnecessary destruction – will save the world.”

Under state law, the Attorney General’s Office has to approve all town zoning bylaw changes including the moratoriums.

Judge allows Northfield case against Blue Wave solar to move ahead

In Northfield, Blue Wave’s Motion to Dismiss sought to dismiss only portions of the case on the basis that abutter Chris Kalinowski, who lives across the street from one of the three proposed solar arrays, did not have standing with respect to the other two. And that the other plaintiff, RESTORE: The North Woods, a Massachusetts based non-profit, was not a proper party to the suit at all for a lack of standing.

The Judge denied the Motion to Dismiss, ruling that at this stage in the case Kalinowski had adequately described his possible injuries with respect to the two arrays in question, including a change in character of the neighborhood; and that RESTORE could participate because its members, including Kalinowski own property in the area.

The Judge’s decision allows the plaintiffs to continue their challenges to each of three of the arrays.

State’s two largest private landowners exploiting agriculture, forest and solar subsidies for large projects

W.D. Cowls of Amherst, claiming to be the state’s largest private landowner, and A.D.Makepeace of Wareham claiming to be the largest private landowner in Eastern Massachusetts also both claim they are “green” and “sustainable”. They are being exposed for exploiting state subsidy programs for land protection while at the same time clear-cutting forests for large industrial solar projects.  The two companies were established in the 1700 and 1800s, have vast land holdings, and wield considerable political clout. In Western Massachusetts in Amherst and Shutesbury, Cowls is proposing 500 acres of ground mounted solar. Some will be on a 2,000 acre parcel the state paid Cowls $3.3 million dollars to conserve in 2021.  A.D. Makepeace, which owns about 7,000 acres in Southeastern Massachusetts claims it  is“ inspired by nature” but has clear-cut hundreds of acres for solar.

In both parts of the state, local residents are fighting back, citing the conflict and double-dipping by these companies. Smart Solar Shutesbury is having a march and rally on May 22.  Makepeace’s Wareham projects are stalled due to legal challenges and regulatory flaws. Groups claim Makepeace is greenwashing and oppose the solar projects and mining.

Also in Wareham, a ground mounted dual use solar project by LSE Hydra of Connecticut, is being challenged under the Wetlands Protection Act because the landowner clear cut Riverfront Area without permits to prepare the site for solar.

In Norton, residents challenge a 63-acre dual use project by NextSun that is going to trial in Land Court in May, 2022.  The project is in a wetland and Canoe River Area of Critical Environmental Concern, designated by the state as deserving heightened environmental protection.

Legislation and the climate bill and Supreme Judicial Court appeal

A coalition including the Appalachian Mountain Club is urging passage of House Bill 4331 to restore a municipality’s right to reasonably regulate ground mounted solar under local zoning.

More ground mounted solar that clear-cuts forests is incentivized by the Massachusetts’ Senate’s climate bill, Senate 2819 (An Act driving climate policy forward) (Sections 26, 27 and 51) is moving through the Legislature, raising concerns about loss of forests and inappropriate solar siting.

For Earth Day, in April events highlighted efforts to protect Massachusetts forests from solar and sand mining. Mass Call2Action and the ORMA (Our Revolution Massachusetts) group hosted “Trees for the Public Good” featuring Boston’s Mayors, a Wampanoag speaker, Save the Pine Barrens, and others. Save the Pine Barrens spoke at the Mass Peace Action rally, People, Planet and Peace over Profit.

The opposition to large solar projects, including court cases, led to a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court action, aimed at clarifying the law on how much control municipalities can exert over solar siting. This ruling is expected in June, 2022.

“

“We are seeing solar gone wrong in Massachusetts. For climate mitigation and resiliency, we need forests, soils, and wetlands.  We must honor the Indigenous cultures in our state to ensure climate justice. False solutions like industrial solar that clear-cuts forests and destroys Wampanoag cultural sites is killing the planet in order to save it. The fight for a livable planet for future generations is being fought at the local level right now. We hope our state leaders listen and act.” said Meg Sheehan, volunteer with STPB.

There is a state wide moratorium petition on large solar subsidies.

Community Land and Water Coalition

P.O. Box 1699, Plymouth, MA 02362
Email
Phone: 508-259-9154

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You can sign our Sand Mining Petition to Governor Healy and town Selectboards here

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