Tag Archive for: Zoning Board of Appeals

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.

 

 

 

 

A.D. Makepeace Co.’s Land Use Model: Cranberries, Sand, Solar, Residential/Commercial Development

Who is A.D. Makepeace Company?

A.D. Makepeace is one of the largest private landowners in Massachusetts, with extensive
holdings primarily in Plymouth, Carver, and Wareham, and Rochester. It owns about 12,000 acres. Historically, the company’s business was cranberry agriculture. Since the 1990s, Makepeace has expanded and operates across multiple industries, including:

  • Cranberry Production
  • Engineered Soil Products– Read Custom Soils (RCS)
  • Sand and Gravel Extraction
  • Large-scale Solar Development
  • Residential Development– Redbrook project in Plymouth (about 1,200 homes) and
    Rosebrook business park in Wareham
  • Motto: “Inspired by Nature”

This combination of land ownership and vertically integrated operations positions Makepeace to
control the full lifecycle of land use—from clearing to extraction to redevelopment.

A.D. Makepeace’s operations represent a significant transformation of Southeastern Massachusetts landscapes.

The rapid land use changes — from agriculture and forestry to industrial scale sand and gravel extraction, vast solar facilities and development raises significcant questions for the community:

  • How should cumulative impacts be evaluated?
  • Is the current use consistent with the intent of the Tihonet Mixed Use Development (TMUD) plan from 2005 — a promise of smart growth, open space protection and village centers?
  • What level of oversight is appropriate for projects of this scale? Where is the oversight? Who is in charge?

These issues continue to be debated in courts, town boards, and communities across the region.

Cranberries: The Historical Core — No Longer the Profit Driver

A.D. Makepeace is still:

  • the largest cranberry grower in the world
  • farming about 1,750 acres of bogs across southeastern Massachusetts according to its
    website

However, the economics of cranberry farming have changed dramatically in the last 30 years:

  • The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture has described cranberry farming as a
    “beleaguered industry”
  • Prices have declined significantly in recent years while costs have risen
  • Industry-wide, cranberry growing is often:
    • low-margin or break-even
    • dependent on subsidies and market volatility
    • every fall, excess production and low prices results in dumping a percent of the harvest

Even regional officials acknowledge cranberry growing “isn’t a booming industry.”

The Shift: From Farming to Resource Extraction

Because cranberry farming alone is no longer highly profitable:

Makepeace has shifted toward resource extraction of timber, soils and sand off its land, and
commercial and residential development:

  • Tens of millions of cubic yards of sand have been removed across hundreds of acres of its lands and
  • Sand mining continues today
  • The company now generates significant revenue from sand sales through its
    subsidiary, Read Custom Soils
  • Extraction of timber and topsoils is used to blend with the sand for commercial sale
  • Makepeace now derives at least 70% of its revenue from non-cranberry activities and all its profits, according to public sources

The Integrated Revenue Model

Step 1: Cranberry Agriculture (Entry Point)

  • Land is classified as:
    • Agricultural
  • This classification can:
    • Enable earth removal permits  — commerical sand mining is often permitted as “bog construction”
      or “reservoir creation” or claimed to be for sanding the bogs
    • Reduce regulatory scrutiny under the Wetlands Protection Act, municipal wetland bylaws, the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act, and historic preservation laws
    • Reduce real estate taxes: agricultural or forestry land has a lower tax rate allowing Makepeace to pay minimal real estate taxes

Step 2: Sand Mining (Primary Profit Engine)

  • Sand removal has surged in the last 10 years.
  • Multiple operations centered in south Carver and Wareham generate 100s hundreds of truckloads per day with multi-year excavation permits
  • Rising sand prices and demand make extraction far more profitable than farming
  • Dozens of permits in the last 30 years, hundreds of acres
  • Looking ahead:
    • In September 2024, ADM Cranberry filed a Carver Earth Removal Application for Map 131 Lots 1-2 and 1-3, west of Federal Road, seeking removal of 1,776,200 cubic yards over 3 years plus 1 year renewal. The application is on hold but likely will be reactivated. Read more on the ERC Site.
    • In April 2026, ADM Cranberry filed new plans for continued expansion of the 85 acre “bog construction” and sand mining project at 59 Federal Road in Carver
    • The “Farm of the Future” earth removal permit at Frogfoot in Plymouth is on hold, only about 25% complete but certainly Makepeace has plans to generate revenue here. Read more here:

Step 3: Read Custom Soils (Value-Added Processing)

Makepeace does not just sell raw sand.
Through its subsidiary Read Custom Soils (RCS):

  • Sand arrives from nearby deposits or quarry
  • Screening / sorting
    • separates sizes (fine, medium, coarse)
  • Stockpiling
    • large sand piles staged on site
  • Soil “blending and manufacturing: Sand, topsoils, and wood products from AD Makepeace’s land clearing are,
    • screened
    • blended
    • engineered

Products include:

  • golf course materials
  • construction aggregates
  • stormwater and structural soils

This converts raw sand and topsoils into higher-margin specialty products — Makepeace claims this is an “agricultural blending facility”

RCS acts as:

  • a regional distribution hub and trucking terminal to weigh and transship sand, aggregates and its soil products
  • fed by Makepeace land clearing/logging and mining sites around the region

Step 4: Trucking and Distribution

  • Hundreds of trucks move material daily from Makepeace’s lands and directly to customers or through Read
  • Sand and “soil products” shipped across New England

This represents a continuous cash flow from extracted materials

Step 5: Solar Development (Second Revenue Layer)

After trees and topsoil are removed and the land stripped to bare sand:

  • Land is flattened and cleared
  • Then leased for:
    • large-scale solar installations (~20-year leases)

Solar companies override local control: Makepeace has built at least 12 large ground mounted solar projects in the area already

  • In 2023, the Wareham Planning Board denied Makepeace and Borrego Solar extensions
    for the 3 new projects, based on the public health, safety and welfare, including the
    cumulative impact. Makepeace through the solar company sued the Town of Wareham to force them to issue the permits. Then, the Town and the solar company settled behind closed doors and permits were issued in 2025
  • The 3 new solar projects are:
    • 27 Charge Pond Road — Case 7-20, decision dated October 20, 2020
    • 150 Tihonet Road — Case 9-20, decision dated December 28, 2020
    • 140 Tihonet Road — Case 8-20, decision dated March 8, 2021.
      Official Wareham records also show that by 2025 the Town was still in litigation over some of
      these projects. The joint Select Board / Planning Board executive-session agenda for October 8,
      2025 lists litigation involving 27 CPR Solar1, LLC, New Leaf Energy, Inc., Wareham PV1,
      LLC, and Wareham MA 3 LLC. A later Planning Board executive-session agenda on
      December 10, 2025 lists PV1, LLC v. Town of Wareham Planning Board and MA 3 LLC, et
      al v. Town of Wareham Planning Board.
  • Looking ahead:
    • Makepeace conducting aggressive land clearing and sand mining at 0 Maple Springs Road in Wareham: Proposing a solar project under the shell name “OMSR Wareham Solar 1, LLC .” There are active Conservation/ZBA solar + battery filings in 2025.
    • Makepeace seeking permits for a large solar project at 0 Wareham Road, Carver – will clear cut 27 acres of forest. Project is in project in Riverfront Area, wetland buffer zone, and that will clear-cut 27 acres of forest. Appeal process at MassDEP/
    • Wihonet Road, Plymouth, Frogfoot Brook and trails area: CLWC appeals
      Makepeace plan to install solar project on about 40 acres of illegally filled
      wetlands. The location is also called the Canning Bogs.
    • O Golden Pond Road: sand mining, wetlands filling without permits, Carver
      issues Cease and Desist
    • North Wareham Solar: Makepeace and its affiliate REDP seeking to clear-cut 50 acres for a large ground-mounted solar project along Tihonet Road, north of the 160 Tihonet Road solar project

This land use model with solar creates:

  • long-term, steady income
  • on land already monetized through logging and mining
  • does not generate power that helps local rate payers, but rather produces energy that is
    sold throughout New England while local communities bear the burden of deforestation
    and risks to drinking water supply

Step 6: Final Development — Land Sales:, Redbrook and Beyond

After logging, sand mining extraction and sales, comes solar development or done in parallel, Makepeace develops residential and commercial projects

  • Example: Redbrook (Plymouth, MA) Master-planned village developed by Makepeace
    • Includes:
    • housing
    • commercial space
    • infrastructure

The TMUD Connection

The Tihonet Mixed Use Development (TMUD):

  • ~6,500-acre master plan from the early 2000s
  • Spans Plymouth, Carver, Wareham
  • Does not include Redbrook which is under a different MEPA review
  • Originally intended for:
    • smart growth
    • mixed-use development
    • conservation
    • approved through a special MEPA (state environmental) review process

The TMUD framework:

  • allowed large-scale land conversion
  • reduced environmental review requirements — “MEPA Light”
  • Where TMUD failed:
    • ignored sand extraction
    • did not require full “EIR”; review for 12 solar projects from 2014 to present long-term buildout
    • a “ bait and switch ” from the original TMUD plan — MEPA let Makepeace out of the MEPA review process in 2022
    • 12 solar projects covered in the TMUD, ADM released from MEPA 2022:
      • 9 complete, 3 underway

Solar and sand mining projects not covered by TMUD MEPA Certificate or any MEPA review:

  • Maple Springs Solar, Wareham
  • Cranebrook Solar, Cranberry Road, Carver
  • 0 Wareham St. Solar, Carver
  • Canning Solar, Plymouth (Frogfoot area)
  • All sand mining projects in Carver, Plymouth and Wareham are not covered by ANY MEPA REVIEW

Why This Model Is So Powerful

  • Same land generates revenue multiple times
  • Lands are stripped of all value, leaving barren wastelands
  • Land acquisition cost = zero (already owned)
  • Vertical integration = maximum control

Result:

  • Continuous, compounding income stream at the expense of biodiversity, habitat, cooling
    shade, clean air, clean water

Oversight Concerns

  1. Agricultural exemptions exploited:
    1. Mining permitted under “cranberry agriculture”
    2. Wetlands Protection Act exemptions for “Normal Improvement of Land in Agricultural Use” to evade permits
    3. Tax preferences for agriculural land exploited
  2. Fragmented permitting:
    1. Mining, solar, development reviewed separately
    2. No cumulative review
    3. Impacts not assessed as one system
    4. Environmental risks
  3. Threats to:
    1. Plymouth-Carver aquifer
    2. Pine Barrens ecosystems
    3. Community health from emissions of sand dust

Conclusion

A.D. Makepeace’s operations are no longer just agriculture — despite its image.
They represent a fully integrated land monetization system where:

  • Cranberry farming provides the legal and historical foundation
  • Sand extraction generates immediate profits
  • Read Custom Soils adds value and scale
  • Solar leases provide steady income
  • Sevelopments like Redbrook deliver long-term returns
  • The public: left with a denuded wasteland — sand mines are barren lands where “nothing much will grow in human time” and no upside from solar, rapid development that strains infrastructure, undermines rural Southeatsern Massachusettts character

The result is a multi-layered, continuous revenue model built on the same land base.

Sign at the entrance announces "Pit 40" and that the Site is regulated as a mine by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration

Plymouth: Sand Mine at 71 Hedges Pond Rd. Destroys Environment, Native American Site

Above: Dec. 3, 2025:  Sand mining destroying Cedarville Conservation Area and Native American Site at 71 Hedges Pond Road, Plymouth MA

Above: October 15, 2025: Sand mining destroying Cedarville Conservation Area and Native American Site at 71 Hedges Pond Road, Plymouth MA. Drone videos available on YouTube here.

 

Background

Updated November, 2025

A vast tract of land known as the Cedarville Conservation Area and the Native American Wampanoag Great Lot at 71 Hedges Pond Road in Plymouth, Massachusetts is being strip mined for valuable sand and gravel. The Site is shown above in the aerial photo as of October, 2025. A private “non-profit” and regional sand mining company started clearing the land in January, 2025. The Town Select Board sold this public land to a private entity, the Plymouth Foundation, for $1.00 in 2022.

The current owner, a shell corporation named Standish Investment Group, LLC, is excavating and selling sand and gravel, starting at the top of the 150-foot hill and excavating down 90 feet deep across the Site. The sand and gravel is estimated to have a value of $12 million according to sources.

The land sale and sand mining permitting by the Town of Plymouth happened behind closed doors in secret deals involving the Select Board, Town Manager, and Town Planner. Despite the sale of this public land, the public was not made aware of the sand mining plan until late 2024 when the then owner, Plymouth Economic Development Foundation and future owner, Standish, started applying for permits. In applying for municipal permits, Standish and the Foundation claimed this was merely a plan for a “unified complex” of warehouse style buildings. It just so happened that these plans required leveling the 33 acre site and digging a 90′ hole to extract a massive volume of sand and gravel.

Against the backdrop of the extensive ongoing and historic sand mining devastating the region, the public saw through this scheme immediately. They started demanding answers.

Since late 2024, multi-pronged advocacy efforts to challenge and halt the sand mining, focusing on environmental protection, historic preservation, and procedural violations of state and municipal laws, has been underway. These efforts have resulted in extensive community mobilization and generated important court rulings. In Plymouth, they have resulted in a call to review the Town’s sand and gravel mining permit scheme. Some are calling for a complete prohibition on sand mining, as allowed under state law.

The Town refuses to shut down the mine and it is business as usual with this sand mine and others or demand an accurate independent assessment of the real volume of sand and gravel being mined and its value.

This Blog summarizes the public advocacy, issues, lawsuits,  who is involved, and future efforts to stop the destruction.

Key Facts

Background and Land Sale for Sand Mining

The land is located in the southeast part of Plymouth known as Cedarville Village. This is public land owned by Plymouth residents.  Yet, in a bait and switch, the Select Board sold the land to a private non-profit, the Plymouth Foundation for $1.00. The Foundation, using public resources and taxpayer money, subdivided the land. It then sold one of the lots to EJ Pontiff, a sand mine operator, for $3.4 million in early 2025. Read more about the Plymouth Foundation here.

This area of Plymouth has some of the last remaining areas of valuable silica sand and the surrounding sand and gravel aggregate. Decades of sand and gravel mining has leveled the topography of the Town. This mining is ongoing, as the sand and gravel industry tries to extract every shovelful for sale.

This sand mine, like others, was approved by the Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals, who claims it is merely “necessary and incidental” to normal land development.

The groundbreaking report, Sand Wars in Cranberry Country: The Money, Politics and Corrupution Behind the Silent Environmental Crisis in Southeastern Massachusetts documents approximately 41 sand mines in Plymouth alone. Some of the sand mines involve the same entities mining at 71 Hedges Pond Road — the Plymouth Foundation and E.J. Pontiff.

The 19-acre site off Route 3 in Plymouth — a “unified complex” of commercial buildings — is also a ruse for a sand mine. Four years later the Route 3 “unified complex” is a wasteland and barren sand pit. See the drone video here.

About the Hedges Pond Road Site

The Hedges Pond Road sand mine is an egregious example of the abuse of sand mining laws. The land is or was important for the following reasons:

  • Designated on official Town and state maps as the Cedarville Conservation Area — open space for recreation, hiking and wildlife habitat.
  • 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 were required to live on the ‘lots’ assigned to them by the government.
  •  Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) Priority Habitat #521 for Rare Species.
  • Globally Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens forest.
  • Abutting residential neighborhoods.

Destruction of Native American Great Lot

Perhaps the most egregious aspect of this land destruction is that the Town and state allowed it to proceed without an archeological study. They rejected requests from the Wampanoag Tribes.

The Native American tribes,  Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe have ancestral lands that encompass the Site. The Tribes have spoken directly to Town and State officials seeking protection of this land.

“We oppose this project and the development of this area on Hedges Pond Road,” said Melissa Ferretti, Chairwoman of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe based in Plymouth, which was called Patuxet by Indigenous People. “This location is an integral part of our original reservation lands known to us as the “Great Lot.” This project threatens to irreversibly damage our ancestral homelands, the heart of our existence and heritage here in Plymouth. The Great Lot holds immense cultural and historic significance for  our community and any development would not only harm the land but also disrupt our deep-rooted connection to it. Honoring the sacredness of these grounds is fundamental to our community and culture,” Ferretti stated. In November 2024, Governor Healy issued an Executive Order granting the Tribe state recognition, a major accomplishment.

 

Speaking at the February 11, 2025 Town of Plymouth Select Board meeting, Indigenous youth urged the Town to, “At least consider and possibly even invite people from her tribe and other neighboring sister tribes to have discussions about these matters and include them in them.”

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chief Brian Weeden testified at the April 7, 2025 public hearing to the Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals:

“This is happening right in our own backyard. And it is our duty to speak on behalf of our sister tribes. And it’s—it’s not appropriate because, you know, you all have been robbing graves for the past 400 years since you stepped off that boat”…“But enough is enough. If somebody was digging up your grandparents and your great ancestors, what would you do?”.

 

 

April 7, 2025 Plymouth Town Hall: Mashpee Wampanoag Chairman Brian Weeden addresess Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals. Available on You Tube at 1:16:05. 

A February 13, 2025 letter in the Plymouth Independent describes how the project tramples Indigenous rights.

Advocacy & Lawsuits

Overview

Months of grassroots advocacy at all levels of government did not stop the illegal sale of the Conservation Area to Standish Investment by the Foundation. It did not stop the Town of Plymouth from issuing permits. Land clearing and logging started in early 2025.

The Town refused to issue a cease and desist for a pause for an archeological study to be conducted and to have questions answered.

With no option but the courts, residents and the grassroots group Community Land & Water Coalition filed lawsuits to obtain justice for the community and the environment.

A writer to the Plymouth Independent says the Plymouth Foundation, not taxpayers, should pay the legal fees of these challenges.

As of November 2025, three major legal challenges are pending. These are summarized below.

Below: Logging Cedarville Conservation Area, Feb. 2025. 

Damage to the Environment Lawsuit

Lawsuit filed April, 2025

On April 17, 2025, a Group of More than Ten Residents filed a lawsuit in Superior Court under the state’s Citizen Suit Law for Damage to the Environment in violation of environmental protection laws. See the complaint here: More Than Ten Residents v Town of Plymouth and Others. The lawsuit followed a  Notice of Intent to Sue issued to Standish, the Foundation, Town and Attorney General on March 28, 2025. The notice letter was ignored by all of them. CLWC’s March 28, 2025 Press Release here describes the Citizen Suit law and the claims in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges the Select Board, Town Manager and Town Planner failed to follow the steps for selling conservation land according to the lawsuit. It seeks to halt all activity, void the land sale, and compel restoration of the site or mitigation.

Court denies injunction, June, 2025

In late April, 2025, the Group’s lawyers asked the Court for an injunction to shut down the mine pending the outcome of the lawsuit.  April 29, 2025, the Group submitted its Memorandum supporting the request for an injunction here.

The  Group also submitted three affidavits about the values of the Conservation Area and how the public used it for open space and recreation and its importance to the Wampanoag people. The affidavits testified that residents used the Cedarville Conservation Area for hiking and recreation during the 21 years since it was established in 1993. This established its status as conservation land that could not be sold without a 2/3 vote of the state Legislature and other steps.

The Town, Standish, and the Foundation hit back with an Emergency Motion to Continue (here) and their Memo in Support of the Motion to Continue (here).

On May 2, 2025, the Court held a hearing on the injunction. The court room was filled to capacity with concerned residents. Attorney Caroline Smith from the Boston environmental law firm of McGregor, Legere and Stevens argued for the Group that the injunction is urgently needed to prevent further damage to the environment by the sand mining operation.

The Town, Foundation and Standish challenged the Group’s standing and timeliness, while the Town argued the land was not protected open space. Lawyer Geoffrey Raux of the Boston law firm of Foley argued for Pontiff. Plymouth Town Counsel Kate McKay argued that the land was never in open space and recreation and therefore never protected. Attorney Smith countered with maps and the Town’s Open Space and Recreation plans listing the 40 acres as a permanently protected conservation area.

Before the hearing, residents and supporters held signs outside the courthouse and expressed their concern about sand mining in general throughout the region and the lack of accountability for this tragic destruction of forests and a Native American cultural site.

On June 18, 2025, Judge Glenny denied the injunction, allowing mining to proceed during litigation. This ruling meant ongoing environmental destruction was not halted by the court, exacerbating harm to the native ecosystem and cultural heritage. The denial did not stop the Group from pursuing the lawsuit.

Court sides with Group, denies motion to dismiss, November 2025

The Town, Foundation and Standish challenged the Group’s Damage to the Environment lawsuit with a “motion to dismiss.” Following a court hearing, on November 24, 2025, Judge Leighton ruled in favor of the Residents Group on three key points: standing, timeliness and the purpose of Article 97.

This is a major victory and allows the case  continue toward trial. Read the Decision here: Nov. 26, 2025 Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss

Read our press release here: 2025.12.01 Press Release

Zoning Violations Lawsuit

Background on Municipal Regulation of Sand Mining

Sand mining is regulated in the first instance at the municipal level in Massachusetts. This means local land use laws, either zoning or general bylaws, may control, limit or prohibit sand mining. Plymouth’s Zoning Bylaws have “Earth Removal Regulations” requiring different levels of permits depending on the size and purpose of the earth removal. This requires community engagement to ensure proper enforcement and administration of sand mining laws. The community engaged in months of efforts to stop the Hedges Pond Road sand mine.

Community advocacy included:

  • Public comments to the Planning Board;
  • A petition to the Select Board, Planning Board and Building Inspector to deny or require a special permit;
  • An appeal to the Building Inspector to issue a cease and desist once the clear cutting started, which was denied; and
  • An appeal to the ZBA and public hearings on the Building Inspector’s refusal to enforce the Zoning Law.

Read the CLWC Feb. 14, 2025  Press Release here on the Zoning Appeals

Town issues Zoning and Building Permit, January 2025

On January 16, 2025, the Town Building Inspector issued building and zoning permits to Standish Investments for a 300,000 square foot “unified complex” of warehouses, asserting that the earth removal (sand mining) was “necessary and incidental” “site preparation” for the massive warehouse style buildings. The buildings just happen to cooincide with the size of the lot — almost 33 acres. The Foundation and Pontiff immediately started sand mining in January 2025 once the permits were issued. These were issued behind closed doors — with no public notice.

The Permits did not include sufficient conditions to mitigate airborne silica dust, a known carcinogen, endangering public health and drinking water supplies for the entire area. The permits were issued despite the community’s request that the Town’s land use officials deny the sand mining as not allowed in the zoning district, or at least require a “special permit” — the highest level of protection. The commencement of the mining operation led to clear-cutting of ancient trees and major landscape disruption before the legal appeal period had expired. This prompted an emergency cease-and-desist demand. The ZBA and Building Inspector denied the cease and desist. Despite these appeals and public outcry, work continued.

Community seeks zoning enforcement, Town denies demand

In February 2025, CLWC’s legal staff and volunteers brought legal appeals at the Town level that demanded demand to halt operations were filed after the start of tree clearing. CLWC and residents argued that the project was proceeding without archaeological or environmental studies and in violation of state and federal protections for burial and historic sites. The appeal demanded a public hearing and challenged the town’s reliance on the “unified complex” pretext to avoid stricter special permitting and public scrutiny. See the 2/14/25 Notice of Appeal and  the 3/3/25 Appeal of Refusal to Issue Cease and Desist

See the Plymouth Independent March 1, 2025 story on the appeal here.

The Zoning Board of Appeals was required to hold hearings on whether to uphold the Zoning Permit. The ZBA process was criticized due to potential conflicts of interest; two ZBA members held director positions with the Plymouth Foundation, the original recipient of the land and permit.

The Plymouth Independent story on March 13, 2025 “Recusals Delay Appeal” described the conflicts of interest.

The appeal highlighted the project’s use of the “unified complex” designation to bypass stricter controls, and underscored deficiencies in transparency and public participation.

 

Above: May, 2025. Public packs the Plymouth Town Hall for a public hearing by the Zoning Board of Appeals for a cease and desist of the sand mining at 71 Hedges Pond Road and demands a permit revocation.

Site Plans used to obtain permits

The site plans the Building Inspector relied on to issue the permits are defective, as shown below.  See the Pontiff/Standish’s permit submittals to the Town here:

Standish Investments 5/21/24 Submittal Letter 

Standish Investments 11/24 Revised Grading Plans 

Standish Investments 11/24 Flaherty & Stefani  Revised Plans Letter

Zoning Lawsuit filed 

 When the ZBA refused to enforce the Bylaw after the public hearings, CLWC and volunteers are representing neighbors harmed by the sand mining. They have brought a lawsuit challenging the ZBA Decision to allow the project without complying with the Bylaw. The case asserts:

  • The project is prohibited and violates the Zoning Bylaw because it is industrial use prohibited in the zoning district;
  • Alternatively, the ZBA should have required a Special Permit under the Earth Removal Regulation because the mining is not “necessary and incidental” to an end use that has all its permits;
  • The plans do not meet the Natural Features Conservation regulations of the Zoning Bylaw – for example it does not retain topography to maximum extent possible, allows destruction of historical lands of Native American Wampanoag people, has insufficient conditions to mitigate airborne silica dust, a known carcinogen, and is endangering public health and drinking water supplies for the entire area.

See the Zoning Lawsuit here.Chelsey Adams et al v Plymouth ZBA et al Complaint w Exhibits

The Town, Standish and the Foundation have moved to dismiss the lawsuit for lack of legal standing. They say the plaintiffs who live next to the mine cannot show any “harm.” The neighbors have submitted sworn court testimony of noise, dust and vibration being caused by the mining operation. Scott Hersey, PhD has submitted an affidavit stating that the sand is believed to be carcinogenic silica dust and the neighbors, if exposed, would suffer life long health impacts.

The case is scheduled for a hearing.

 Building Permit Appeal

In March, 2025, CLWC appealed the Town Building Inspector’s Building Permit under the Building Code to the Building Code Appeals Board (BCAB).

In expert testimony and legal arguments, CLWC identified major Massachusetts Building Code violations in the Town’s Building Permit. These include missing construction documents, inadequate fire safety plans, no geotechnical invesetigation and missing specifications for energy compliance.

Read more here about CLWC’s appeal:

Demanding Accountability

Plymouth Select Board

The Town’s Select Board is ultimately responsible for this unlawful and unnecessary environmental and cultural destruction of Plymouth’s landscape.   

The Select Board:

  • Sold the land to the Plymouth Foundation for $1.00;
  • Has consistently rejected public calls for accountability and transparency about the sale and sand mining, even treating Indigenous Youth and others with disrepect during a public hearing;
  • Went along with the Zoning Board of Appeals that refused to use its power to enforce the Earth Removal Regulation of the Zoning Bylaw;
  • Is responsible to ensure that the Building Inspector follows the Building Code: he did not;
  • Holds a director position on the Plymouth Foundation; and
  • Allows Town employees to serve on the Plymouth Foundation while working on the sand mining deal behind closed doors — the Town Manager, Town Planner, and members of boards and committees are on the Foundation.

The permits were issued despite the community’s request that the Town’s land use officials deny the sand mining as not allowed in the zoning district, or at least require a “special permit” — the highest level of protection.

 Plymouth Foundation

The Plymouth Foundation claims it is a private non profit and does not comply with the Open Meeting Law — yet it collects money from the sale of public lands. This is a shadow government, made up of developers that has been getting sand mining permits from the Town’s ZBA for decades — and collecting revenue from the sales.

CLWC published an expose report, Shining the Light on the Plymouth Foundation May 2025 

Plymouth Planning Board 

This is an elected board of the Town responsible for overseeing these projects. It went along with the scheme and issued a Recommendation that the project be approved in December 2024. The Board ignored the letter from the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe for an archeological study. See the 12/24 Herring Pond Letter here. It ignored the recommedation of the Cedarville Steering Committee to reject the project.

Plymouth Director of Inspectional Services

The director  issued zoning and building permits. 

The public sent over 1,000 letters demanding that the Director (Building Inspector) require a special permit under the Town’s Zoning Bylaw. This was ignored. The permits were issued without notifying the public.

Plymouth Conservation Commission

It approved a permit to destroy wetland with plan for “replication” — and based on material misrepresentations by the Foundation and Standish that “150 acres” had been permanently protected as conservation land as mitigation for the 33 acres of destruction – when this was not true. The Commission asked no questions. See the Commission’s documents:

Standish 6/24 NOI 

Commission 7/16/24 Meeting Minutes 

Commission 8/5/24 Order of Conditions 

E.J. Pontiff and companies

Pontiff has operated sand and gravel mines throughout the area for decades, including at 140 Firehouse Road in Plymouth. Currently, the company is expanding a 50-acre mine in Carver.

Timeline

Date Description
1977 The Town of Plymouth obtains the Cedarville Conservation Area property (Lots 22B, 23, and 24) by tax taking for the purpose of building a landfill, which is never built.
1993 – 2025 The Town designates the Cedarville Conservation Area for public use as open space and conservation land.
April 3, 1993 Town Meeting votes unanimously to change the purpose of the Cedarville Conservation Area land from municipal to open space/conservation purposes, dedicating it to conservation under the Conservation Commission.
1996 – 2017 Town Open Space Committee and Planning Board include the Conservation Area in their plans as dedicated for conservation purposes.
2018 Town Meeting votes on Articles 26 and 27 to transfer portions of the land between the Conservation Commission and the Board of Selectmen, requiring compliance with Article 97.
July 2022 The Select Board sells the Cedarville Conservation Area to the Plymouth Foundation for $1.00 without following Article 97 and other legal requirements.
January 16, 2025 The Town’s Building Inspector issues zoning and building permits to Standish Investments for a 300,000 square foot complex, including sand mining, at 71 Hedges Pond Road.
February 7, 2025 The Plymouth Foundation sells the Cedarville Conservation Area to Standish Investments LLC/Eric Pontiff for $3.4 million and provides a $350,000 mortgage to Pontiff.
February 11, 2025 Indigenous youth speak at the Select Board meeting, urging inclusion of tribes in discussions about the sand mining project.
February 14, 2025 Seven Wampanoag Nation members and six Plymouth residents file legal appeals challenging the Town’s permits for the sand mine and development at 71 Hedges Pond Road, and CLWC files a demand for a cease and desist after confirming that work began before the legal appeal period expired.
February 14, 2025 Tree clearing begins at 71 Hedges Pond Road, cutting down ancient trees on Wampanoag lands.
February 16, 2025 7:00 PM CLWC holds its second public forum on sand and gravel mining in Plymouth.
March 3, 2025 Second day of Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing on a proposal by PA Landers to expand a nearby sand and gravel mine, adjacent to 71 Hedges Pond Road.
March 24, 2025 Drone video shows the denuded Cedarville Conservation Area site after logging, stump removal, and grading by Standish Investments.
March 25, 2025 A Citizen Group of 24 residents delivers a Notice of Intent to Sue to the Select Board, Plymouth Foundation, and Standish Investments regarding the sand mining operation at 71 Hedges Pond Road.
March 28, 2025 Press release issued announcing the legal challenge to the sand mine under the Citizen Suit Law.
April 7, 2025 Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chief Brian Weeden speaks at a public hearing, condemning the sand mining project and its impact on Native American graves and heritage.
April 7, 2025 6:00 PM Public hearing scheduled at Plymouth Town Hall regarding the zoning and building permits for the sand mining project.
April 17, 2025 After over seven months of advocacy, a group of More than Ten Residents files a lawsuit in Superior Court challenging the sand mining project.
April 19, 2025 Blog post or report date summarizing the lawsuit against the Town, Foundation, and Standish.
April 29, 2025 The Ten Residents submit a Memorandum of Law and three affidavits supporting their request for an injunction to halt the sand mining project.
May 2, 2025 Court hearing held on the Residents Group’s request for an injunction to stop the sand mining project, with arguments presented by both sides.
June 18, 2025 Judge Glenny denies the Group’s request for an injunction to stop the sand mining pending the outcome of the case.
November 25, 2025 Judge Leighton rules for the Group and against the Town, allowing the case to proceed to trial.

Find Out More

Press and Media

 

Cape Cod Times

March, 2025

 April 15, 2025

Plymouth Independent

February 12, 2025: Permit should not have been issued: Letter to the Editor

April 10, 2025: ZBA Votes

April 19, 2025 Opponents Sue

November 13, 2025: What is the Plymouth Foudation About?

 

Stay involved! Don’t let this happen again!

 

CLWC will continue to pursue accountability and appropriate mitigation for the tragic loss of the Cedarville Conservation Area and the Herring Pond Wampanoag Great Lot.

The Foundation, the Town, and EJ Pontiff claim this is a “unified complex” for a hockey rink, warehouse, and two lumber yards. The site is listed for sale. Are the new owners committed to these uses? Or was this “complex” concocted to obtain as much sand and gravel as possible?

 

Plymouth: North Plymouth Pulte Homes Project

Pulte Homes of New England, LLC 40B development of 163 units in North Plymouth raises concerns about water, sewer, traffic, safety, overdevelopment and more

Nov. 2, 2025: Breaking news:

CLWC demands Plymouth Conservation Commission shut down its proceedings on Pulte’s wetlands permit until Zoning Board of Appeals makes its decision on the project — as required by law

Read CLWC’s demand letter here:  Nov. 2, 2025 Letter to Plymouth Conservation Commission Pulte Homes

  • Conservation Commission must cancel its Nov. 4, 2025 public hearing on Pulte’s wetlands application or be in violation of the Wetlands Protection Act

  • Next ZBA hearing scheduled for Nov. 10, 2025

Background

One of the largest homebuilders in the U.S., Pulte Homes, proposes a 40B 163-unit development in North Plymouth along the Rail Trail at the end of Hedge Road and Prince Street.  Pulte has two proposals: one with 63 residential units and one with 100 units. According to the Town, “For both projects, 25% of the proposed homeownership units will be deed-restricted as affordable housing for households earning up to 80% of the Area Median Income.”

CLWC encourages the public to attend all public hearings and to raise their concerns. CLWC submitted comments to the ZBA and is demanding that the Conservation Commission terminate its proceedings on Pulte’s project until Pulte gets zoning approval, as required by law.

Find out more here on the Town of Plymouth ZBA website.

See the basic Pulte Homes Application to ZBA as of 9.2025

Below: map of the Pulte Homes proposal. Cape Cod Bay lies to the east. To the west is Route 3A, Court Street. The site is south of Cordage Park.

 

CLWC’s Advocacy to ZBA, Conservation Commission 

On October 10, 2025, CLWC’s expert engineers from Fuss and O’Neill submitted comments to the Zoning Board of Appeals. See the comments CLWC Comments to ZBA on Pulte Homes.

Plymouth: Press Release: 3/28/25 Notice of Intent to Sue 71 Hedges Pond Road Strip Mine

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 28, 2025

Legal Challenge to Sand Mine on Cedarville Conservation Area in Plymouth MA 

Citizen Suit Law Notice of Intent

Says Select Board Violated Article 97 of State Constitution by Selling Conservation Land for Sand Mining

Contact:

Meg Sheehan, 508-259-9154

Coordinator, Community Land & Water Coalition

environmentwatchsoutheasternma@gmail.com  

 

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. 

Third, the 1998 Article 97 Land Disposition Policy for no net loss of conservation land was required to be followed.

Fourth and finally, conversion of the Cedarville Conservation Area to development use required an environmental review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA).

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.

The Plymouth Foundation, a “non-profit”

The Plymouth Foundation is a private corporation that claims non-profit status. It operates as an arm of the Town Government. In a separate legal challenge, CLWC asserts the Foundation is a government body that violates the Open Meeting Law. Seven of the eleven Plymouth Foundation directors are municipal employees under the law, including the Select Board Chair Richard Quintal, Jr., the Town Manager Derek Brindisi, and Planning Director Lee Hartmann. They have divided loyalties working for the Foundation that has profited from the sale of the land and as representatives of the Town’s taxpayers who own the Cedarville Conservation Area. Since 2014 the Town taxpayers have paid the Foundation almost $2 million for “services” under a Memorandum of Understanding that was renewed in February 2025.

On February 7, the Foundation gave Pontiff a mortgage to help finance his purchase of the Cedarville 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. 

 

More Information

www.sandwars.org 

www.Herringpondtribe.org

www.communitylandandwater.org

https://www.stopthedesecration.org/

Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe Letter to the Town 

Letters from the Narragansett Indian Tribe on archeological concerns 

Letter to Governor Healey

Two bills have been filed in the Massachusetts Legislature to address sand mining pollution, including a moratorium and establishing a commission to look at the need for new laws.

Listen to the Podcast Here: https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/xShffZBK6Rb

 

 

 

Plymouth: 71 Hedges Pond Rd. Sand Mine & Native American History

  • Land clearing starts in early 2025, destroying ancient forest on sacred Wampanoag Lands 

  • Wampanoag Great Lot and Native People’s habitation dates back millennia

  • Timeline of Sale to Sand Mining Company in 2025

 

Photos: February 14th 2025, work has started at 71 Hedges Pond Road, Cedarville. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History of the Native American
Wampanoag Great Lot, Plymouth MA 

1800s: First “Indian Reservation” in the USA 

The Plymouth Foundation and EJ Pontiff sand mining operation is proposed for land that is part of one of the most significant Native American archeological areas in the United States. This is the site of the first government established “Indian Reservation” in the United States, known as the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe’s “Great Lot”. Read more here.

The Town of Plymouth ended up owning much of the land, likely due to tax takings, taking the land from the Native American people.  The map below shows the “Herring Pond Reservation” and the location of the sand mine at the red bubble. The mine is in the area marked “Ancient Indian Plantation.”  There has been no archeological study.

Above: 2024 Current Google Map overlaid with Herring Pond Wampanoag Historical Reservation map. Pink shading indicated the Reservation, and the red pin indicates where the proposed project is. The proposed project at 71 Hedges Pond Road falls within the area known as the Great Lot.

 

1977: Town acquires 175 acres for future landfill, abandons landfill plan in 1980s

1993 Plymouth Town Meeting votes to put land in custody of Conservation Commission as “Cedarville Conservation Area”

In 1993, a citizen petition placed ARTICLE 34 on the Town Meeting Warrant. It was a vote to create the “Cedarville Conservation Area” on what was then Map 55, Lots 22B, 23, and 23.  ARTICLE 34 passed unanimously.   See ARTICLE 34 below. 

Despite this unanimous vote, the Conservation Commission, Town Selectboard and staff never did what the Town Meeting directed them to do – protect this land. In 2018, the Selectboard, with Chair Cavacco and other Town officials, moved part of the 175 acres, Lot 24-1 land from the control of the Conservation Commission to the Selectboard. Then the Selectboard sold it to the “Plymouth Economic Development Foundation.” Now  a sand mining operator, EJ Pontiff, is said to have a purchase and sale agreement for the land. 

Below: 1993 Town Report with Article 34 and record of unanimous vote to create the Cedarville Conservation Area. The land was to be moved from municipal use to the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission.

 

Above: Article 34 passes unanimously. 

 

2018: Selectboard sells 71 Hedge’s Pond Road (Lot 24-1) mining site to Plymouth Foundation for a $1.00

For 25 years, the Town staff did nothing and left the land in limbo, never taking steps to permanently protect it as was the intent of the Town Meeting unanimous vote in 1993. 

In 2018, the Town Director of Planning and Development, Mr. Hartmann, facilitated the transfer of the proposed mining site by shepherding it through Town Meeting and into the hands of to the Plymouth Regional Economic Development Foundation, Inc (PREDF) (now the “Plymouth Foundation”) for $1.00.

The 2018 Town Meeting Warrant Articles 25, 26, and 27 are  here.

The Town Meeting vote required the Town to put 134 acres into conservation in exchange for the Selectboard selling the huge hill of sand (Lot 24-1) for $1.00.

The Plymouth Foundation’s Board of Directors includes:

  • Rick Vayo, developer
  • Dee Wallace Spencer (daughter of developer Tom Wallace)
  • Plymouth Town Manager (Derek Brindisi)
  • Selectboard Chair (Richard Quintal),
  • Director of Planning and Development (Lee Hartmann),
  • State representative Matthew Muratore and others. 

The land has sand and gravel estimated to generated at least $5 million. After mining,   Pontiff can sell the building lots for millions more based on going rates. 

See relevant portions of the deed below conveying Lot 24-1 of the Cedarville Conservation Area to the Foundation which is now selling it or sold it to Pontiff for mining and development. 

DEED FROM SELECTBOARD TO FOUNDATION: signed by Betty Cavacco, Chair, Richard Quintal and others.

 

 

2024: Plymouth Foundation enters into sale agreement with mining company, EJ Pontiff

In July, 2024, hiding behind a shell corporation, “Standish Investment” Pontiff, his lawyer and engineers filed a permit application to mine about $5 million in sand cloaking it as a “unified complex” of 4 commercial buildings. What is the role of the Plymouth Foundation in this mining operation?

Pontiff is using a zoning classification as “unified complex.” There is no known definition of a “unified complex” — it opens the door for developers to destroy land with sand mining.

Pontiff claims that to build on the land it just happens to be necessary to do a years long sand and gravel mining operation to excavate and truck off site 350,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel operation. With one truck able to transport approximately 22 cubic yards of sand, there will be over 15,000 truck trips to transport sand from this site. How will this impact traffic and road safety in Cedarville?

In 2020, Scott Spencer, another developer and sand and gravel operator, used the same ruse of a “unified complex” to get a Planning Board permit for the 10+ acre massive years long strip mine happening now on Route 3 South. Watch the drone video here.

Below is the EJ Pontiff/Standish Investment Group “Site Plan” submitted to the Town.  Pontiff and his engineers claim the “commercial park” requires removing 350,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel. This will strip the site bare — just like the “Plymouth Foundation” strip mined the adjacent land at Cantor Court starting in 2008. Read more below. See the complete Site Plans and Town’s file for the 71 Hedge’s Pond “Commercial Park” here in a Google Driver Folder.

Below is the letter to the Town on behalf of Pontiff saying to build the commercial park they have to remove 350,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel.

December 2024: Plymouth Planning Board approves project despite wide community opposition, and request from the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe to conduct an archeological study. See their recommendation here.

They also ignored the Cedarville Steering Committees recommendation, and over 1,000 letters sent by residents asking them to deny the project.

January 2025: Plymouth Building Inspector issues building permit

May 2025: Town admits land was put into the control of the Conservation Commission

                See March 6, 2026 court filings here: Ten Residents Group asks court to allow amendment to complaint. 2026.03.06 Pltfs’ Motion to Amend Verified Complaint 2026.03.06 Memo ISO Pltfs’ Motion to Amend Verified Complaint

More Background:

Plymouth “Industrial Park” is also being strip mined for “commercial development”

This is the “commercial development” off Route 3 South in Plymouth. The Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals approved this massive years long mine as just “commercial development” in the “Industrial Park.” This was a ruse and pretense for mining. This is the same ruse being used by the Town in Cedarville.

Below: Route 3/10 Collins Ave. in the Plymouth Industrial Park. Sand and gravel mining operation started by Scott Spencer and G. Lopes Construction in 2021. They have excavated so much sand they have dug into the Sole Source Drinking Water Aquifer.

Spencer, apparently connected to Plymouth Foundation’s Dee Wallace Spencer, has been mining the site in violation of numerous laws. Dee Spencer states that she is a small business owner of Scott Spencers, Scobee Spencer Corporation.

As of July 2024, the “earth removal permit” for the Spencer mine above expired. The Planning Board Chair claims to know nothing about the expired permit (conversation with CLWC Meg Sheehan, Spring 2024). 

Learn more about Spencer’s 10 Collins ave project off Route 3 in Plymouth here.

Wetlands

In July 2024, Pontiff apparently sidestepped the state Wetlands Protection Act claiming there is no jurisdiction over the project. Plymouth Conservation Commission goes along. This is still under investigation. See Pontiff’s Notice of Intent under the Wetlands Protection Act and Town Bylaw. The Commission voted on July 16, 2024 to grant Pontiff a variance to let the operation destroy a protected wetland area in exchange for a vague promise of “replication” of wetlands under the Bylaw. View the NOI here. CLWC is still waiting for the Commission to provide their official decision pursuant to a Public Records Request. See the July 16th minutes here. 

Forests, wildlife

Pontiff tries to rely on 2018 “No Take” approval from state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. See the correspondence below from Pontiff’s lawyer, D’Ambruoso

 

 

 

 

The site is categorized as an NHESP Priority Habitat for rare species and contains globally rare Pine Barrens Forest. Pontiff is evading the state law for an environmental study – MEPA. 

Map below showing NHESP Priority Habitat in yellow border, and Pine Barrens forest in green shading.

 

 CLWC  Sept. 9, 2024 Info Session recorded here. 

Pontiff’s history of sand and gravel mining in Plymouth and Carver

Is EJ Pontiff is acting as a front for the sand mining industry in applying for the Cedarville Conservation Area permit?

Read more about Pontiff’s mining operations:

Off Black Cat Road, Plymouth, MA

 140 Firehouse Road, Plymouth, MA.

Active 50 acre mine at 104 Tremont St, Carver, MA

0 Ward St, Carver, MA

TOTAL ESTIMATED VOLUME OF SAND AND GRAVEL: 5,168,515 cubic yards 
TOTAL ESTIMATED ACRES DESTROYED BY PONTIFF’S MINING: 163 acres 

 

 

 

Plymouth: Cherry Street: Another Gas Station in Aquifer Zone

 

Protecting Plymouth’s Sole Source Aquifer: ZBA Hearing May 18, 2026

For years, the intersection of Route 44 and Cherry Street, now Colony Place,  Plymouth has been a hub of heavy industrial activity and sand and gravel mining and processing by PA Landers and TL Edwards. 

See the Site Plans here.222-101 Site Plan R3 222-101 Site Plan

The Site & TL Edwards Request to the ZBA

TL Edwards, Inc. submitted a project application on December 2, 2025, seeking a Special Permit from the Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals pursuant to Section 205-16 and the use table of the Plymouth Zoning Bylaw to allow an automobile filling station and convenience retail uses in the MC District.

The project is on about 38 acres within the Mixed Commerce (MC) Zoning District.

It is a sand and gravel pit with associated dirt travel ways, stockpiles, and a bituminous concrete parking area. Since at least 1995, the site has been extensively excavated, with satellite imagery showing multiple ponds and significant topographic changes within the Plymouth-Carver Sole Source Aquifer. The site also serves as overflow vehicle storage for the Plymouth Hyundai dealership located at 299 Cherry Street.

It was rezoned from Light Industrial (LI) in 2025 through a citizen’s petition led by the Plymouth Foundation. A portion of the property is located within a MassDEP Zone II Wellhead Protection Area and the Town of Plymouth’s Aquifer Protection Overlay District (APOD), established based on a 1987 hydrogeologic analysis for two Town of Kingston public water-supply wells located north of the site.

The proposal is to build an approximately 6,000-square-foot convenience store with a drive-through and an accompanying six-pump, twelve-position gasoline filling station, replacing a portion of the existing material storage yard. The lot will be subdivided by an Approval Not Required (ANR) Plan, and a portion of the resource recovery operation will remain after construction.

Concerns for the aquifer

Significant opposition has been raised by abutters, community organizations, and their retained experts. Attorney Daniel J. Goodrich of Murphy & King, representing ten concerned citizens, submitted a report by Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. on April 17, 2026. Geosyntec concluded that the stormwater management system fails to provide adequate protection for the Zone II, does not satisfy key Massachusetts Stormwater Standards, and is inconsistent with the Town’s APOD regulations. Specific deficiencies include: the fueling area canopy (required by code to be metal) discharges to infiltration without adequate pretreatment for metals; the First Defense hydrodynamic separator cannot remove dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons; and the Applicant incorrectly indicated that Stormwater Standards 5 (LUHPPLs) and 6 (Critical Areas) do not apply. Geosyntec also identified a discrepancy in the APOD boundary, finding it misaligned by approximately 10 feet relative to the MassDEP-approved Zone II and the Town’s GIS data.

Energy North Incorporated submitted peer review reports from Nitsch Engineering and Haley & Aldrich. Haley & Aldrich conducted a hydrogeologic peer review using the regional USGS groundwater model and concluded that, under an updated Zone II analysis applying the MassDEP-approved methodology, the APOD would cover the entire site — including the proposed fueling area — under two of three modeled scenarios, meaning the service station would be prohibited under the Plymouth Zoning Bylaws. Haley & Aldrich further noted that the Applicant’s plans do not include groundwater monitoring wells or a monitoring plan as required by Bylaw Section 206.1.H.4.b.

Nitsch Engineering’s traffic peer review identified multiple safety concerns, including that the Stopping Sight Distance at the Commerce Way driveway assumes a 20-mph speed limit despite a posted limit of 30 mph and 85th percentile speed of 38 mph, the TIA uses an incorrect use code for the drive-through (undercounting traffic), and the plans do not comply with bylaw requirements for entrance and exit driveways. Nitsch recommended the Petitioner remove, redesign, or restrict site access due to potential negative safety and capacity impacts.

See the reviews here. Geosyntec Consultants Cherry St Plymouth Third Party Review

Haley Aldrich/Nitsch Engineering

CLWC’s letter dated April 20, 2026 urges denial, contending that the project fails to demonstrate compliance with critical stormwater and aquifer protection requirements.

 

What TL Edwards Engineers’ Say

McKenzie Engineering Group, Inc. (MEG), prepared site development plans, a Drainage Calculations and Stormwater Management Plan, and a Traffic Impact Assessment. MEG’s plans, originally dated November 24, 2025, were revised on February 13, 2026, in response to a peer review letter from the Plymouth Department of Public Works (DPW) Engineering Division.

In its February 18, 2026 response, MEG addressed general, drainage, transportation, and water and sewer comments. Key general revisions included adding an Emergency Vehicle Access Plan, paving the first 20 feet of the construction entrance, adding a second temporary sedimentation basin, and committing to monthly erosion control reports stamped by a Registered Professional Engineer.

Regarding drainage, MEG added a drainage manhole (DMH #4) with a Fontaine Aquanox flap gate to allow the closed-drainage system to be shut down and isolated from subsurface infiltration in the event of a spill. MEG specified asphalt shingles rather than metal roofing to avoid special treatment requirements under Massachusetts Stormwater Regulations. MEG reported that the project would reduce 100-year storm peak runoff by 78.6% at Cherry Street, 87.9% at Commerce Way, and 37.8% at the rear property line.

For water and sewer, MEG noted that underground storage tanks were located outside the APOD and Zone II, positioned to maximize distance from the boundary, and committed to finalizing groundwater monitoring well locations with the DPW Water Division prior to building permit issuance. The majority of DPW’s original comments were marked “Comment Satisfied” in the DPW’s second review, with certain items deferred to be satisfied prior to construction or occupancy.

It’s all connected!

SLT Construction Co. has a 40 acre sand mine and proposed residential housing project along the same Route 44 corridor.

Expert hydrologist Scott Horsley, hired by the Town of Plympton Board of Health, testified at a Plympton ZBA hearing in April, 2026 that SLT’s proposal will negatively impact the Aquifer. This groundwater is all connected! Read more here.

Tell the Plymouth ZBA: Aquifer Protection Is Non-Negotiable

Plymouth relies on its Sole Source Aquifer—there is no substitute. TL Edward’s location within overlapping Zone II wellhead protection areas elevates the risk: contaminants reaching the ground here migrate to municipal wells . When fuel handling, metals-laden runoff from metal roofs, and expansive pavement intersect with direct infiltration in Zone II, the margin for error disappears. Independent reviewers urged the Zoning Board of Appeals to continue the application so these deficiencies can be addressed . Strict application of the APOD and stormwater standards is not bureaucracy; it is our community’s firewall.

Below: MassMapper GIS (state map) showing MassDEP designated well protection zone of Plymouth wells and the gas station. 

A Record That Demands Scrutiny

For decades, the Town of Plymouth Building Inspector, Planning Department and ZBA have turned a blind eye to the PA Landers and TL Edwards operation. In February, 2023, CLWC filed an enforcement request. The Town did NOTHING! See the CLWC letter below. 
 
The environmental destruction of the past at this site underscores why vigilance is essential now. Public records show decades of excavation on the aquifer with no earth removal permits of record and operations inconsistent with past special permits . Documented fugitive dust and the absence of required air quality monitoring reports further illustrate long-running compliance gaps . That history makes rigorous, transparent review of any new high-risk use imperative.

Your Voice Is Needed

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS: May 18, 2026

6 PM Town Hall

1820 Court Room, 2d Floor, 26 Court Street

Our aquifer is Plymouth’s lifeblood. Development must follow the law—and the science—to keep it clean.

Background: Lack of Zoning Enforcement

February 22, 2023: CLWC files request for enforcement of Zoning Bylaw.

2023.02.21_TL.EdwardsPlymouthRequestEnforcement-2Download
 

Plymouth: AD Makepeace mining operation under the ruse of cranberry agriculture exposed

AD Makepeace blatantly abuses the process for obtaining permits under the Mass Endangered Species Act

State officials look the other way, pretend Plymouth mining operations are “cranberry agriculture”

Hundreds of acres of Priority Habitat for rare and endangered Pine Barrens plants and animals being obliterated

Above: Location of AD Makepeace 217-acre strip mine. The company is trying to claim this is a “agriculture project” to build 136 acres of cranberry bogs and reservoirs, pumps and canals. Below: strip mine will destroy globally rare habitat designated for conservation by the state.

Priority Habitat being for rare and endangered species being destroyed by AD Makepeace strip mine, State DFG goes along

AD Makepeace 140 acre mining project in Priority Habitat 507 and adjacent to Priority Habitat 601 Source: MassMapper https://maps.massgis.digital.mass.gov/MassMapper/MassMapper.html

The state’s top environmental official, Secretary of Energy & Environmental Affairs, continues to cover up for AD Makepeace, pretending this is “agriculture.” The state ignores the hundreds of trucks a day hauling sand and gravel illegally mined to supply Makepeace’s Read Custom Soils aggregate processing and sales facility. As shown on the map below, Makepeace’s Read Custom Soils is abutting the 2014- acre Plymouth strip mine where the company is mining at least 7.2 million cubic yards according to its Town permit application.

AD Makepeace’s Read Custom Soils, less than 1/2 mile from the 140 acre Plymouth mining site

Makepeace brags it is strip mining its “enormous reserves” of sand and gravel in Plymouth and Carver:

From AD Makepeace Read Custom Soils: www.readcustomsoils.com

Within a one mile radius ADM Makepeace is strip mining at least 14 million cubic yards of sand and gravel according to permits in Carver and Wareham. More is being mined without permits under the pretense that the sand and gravel is being used to maintain and restore Makepeace’s 1,700 acres of bogs.

AD Makepeace has at least 4 large mining sites within about a 1 mile radius in Plymouth and Carver. Source: Mass Mapper. Yellow is Priority Habitat under Mass. Endangered Species Act.

AD Makepeace mining locations: south Plymouth & Carver’s Read Custom Soils

Some AD Makepeace mining and solar sites surrounding Read Custom Soils, Carver, Plymouth, Wareham MA. 2022.
List of sites corresponding to numbers in map above.

Plymouth: AD Makepeace Cranberry Co. 214-acre Sand Mine

BREAKING NEWS: Conservation Law Foundation announces intent to sue AD Makepeace Co. for wetlands violations in Plymouth and Carver. Read CLF’s letter here.

Background

 In 2021, CLWC exposed Plymouth was allowing AD Makepeace to mine at the Wankinko Bog area with an expired permit, 72 missing inspection reports

CLWC brought zoning enforcement action,  Makepeace suspends mining operation but watchdog efforts continue to prevent more mining

About 32 acres of 214 acre mine has been stripped so far, photos document AD Makepeace mining in the Aquifer

 

In 2014, Town grants largest sand mine permit in state history

In 2014, the Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals granted AD Makepeace a “Special Permit”  for a 214-acre sand and gravel mine to extract 7.2 million cubic yards of earth. This sand is worth about $56 million.  The location is known as 0 Tihonet Road or 0 Federal Road in Plymouth. It abuts Frogfoot River to the east and the Wankinko River to the west. It is in South Plymouth.  See the permit here: 2014 Plymouth Permit to Makepeace 

AD Makepeace claimed was “necessary and incidental” to build cranberry bogs. The Town went along with this ruse to evade the Town bylaw and granted the permit.

Below: AD Makepeace map showing the location of the mine and portraying it as a “cranberry bog” project.

After 2014, AD Makepeace started the mining operation. The Town let Makepeace keep mining with an expired permit and never required the inspection reports mandated under the permit. 

Below: Drone video showing about 32 acres of the 214 mining operation under way. Image by licensed drone pilot.

Below: Google Earth aerial map showing 214 acre mining site outlined in red. The lower right shows the area already mined as of 2022. 

 

Sand mining at Frogfoot River, Plymouth and CLWC’s enforcement action

 

See drone video here. At about 34 seconds you start to see the 35+ acres of mining. 

 

In 2021, CLWC steps in to enforce the law

Town can’t account for missing sand

During the public hearing on  December 7, 2022 on CLWC’s request for enforcement of the Bylaw,  ZBA Chair Main stated: 

“I don’t know where the sand went”

“I don’t know how much” they excavated and shipped from the site.

Under the 2014 ZBA permit, Makepeace was supposed to donate 300 acres of land to conservation to Plymouth as mitigation. CLWC exposed that Makepeace had NOT donated the land but started mining anyway. The Town could not account for the land. Through two public hearings, Makepeace tried to convince the ZBA it had already donated the land. This turned out to be untrue.  At the last minute at the December 7, 2022 hearing Makepeace did an about face, saying the land was not yet in conservation but would be soon. As of 2024, it is not clear Makepeace has donated the 300 acres.

Mining on hold — for now

CLWC continues to monitor the situation

Finally, after listening to CLWC’s evidence at the public hearings in 2021 and 2022, the ZBA agreed Makepeace’s permit expired and the reports were missing — but they denied the request for enforcement anyway. Makepeace’s lawyer told the ZBA said they had “no current plans” to continue the mining operation. In 2023, the Town allowed Makepeace to take about 20,000 cubic yards off the site for “agriculture.” Records available on request. 

Location of 200 acre sand and gravel mining operation where AD Makepeace claims the removal of about $56 million in sand and gravel is “necessary and incidental” to agriculture.

 

COMMUNITY LAND & WATER COALITION

PRESS RELEASE
APRIL 2022

MAKEPEACE BOG PROJECT AT FROGFOOT BROOK IN PLYMOUTH
A RUSE FOR 7.2 MILLION CUBIC YARD MINING OPERATION

• Plymouth “earth removal” permit expired in 2020, Makepeace continues strip mining in endangered species habitat
• Building Commissioner tells ZBA permit conditions for quarterly inspections are “discretionary”
• In over eight years, no mandatory inspections done
• Makepeace “double dips” cannot document compliance with condition to conserve 300 acres as required by the permit

Save the Pine Barrens (STPB) appeared before the Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday April 20, 2022 for a public hearing challenging the refusal by the Building Commissioner to enforce a 2014 earth removal permit issued to AD Makepeace (Makepeace). The Building Commissioner claimed the permit conditions requiring quarterly inspections of the project were “discretionary.”

In 2014, the Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals issued a 2 year earth removal permit to AD Makepeace to extract 7.2 million cubic yards of sand and gravel from 309 acres of globally rare endangered species habitat in south Plymouth. Makepeace claims the massive sand and gravel operation is solely necessary to build a 136-acre cranberry bog project. 

To date, only 11% of the bogs have been built but vast quantities of sand and gravel have been removed. The Building Commissioner produced no records to show the volume of earth removed or whether it was used for cranberry bogs as AD Makepeace claims. At the hearing, STPB told the Board that Makepeace used this same claim about building bogs in permit applications to the Town of Carver in order to get at least four earth removal permits since 2011 but has not built the cranberry bogs. Makepeace operates an industrial aggregate processing facility in Carver at its Read Custom Soils site.

The Board renewed the expired 2014 permit three times without requiring evidence of the inspection reports, volumes of earth removed, documentation of truck routes, or payment of earth removal fees. The permit expired in March 2020. Makepeace is continuing to work at the site.

The Town could not explain why the permit was allowed to expire in 2020, why conditions protecting groundwater were ignored, why there were no inspections, and why Makepeace had not provided satisfactory records to show they met the permit condition of conserving 300 acres of land. STPB’s attorney told the Town that Makepeace is “double dipping” by trying to use land sold to the state for conservation to satisfy the obligation to Plymouth to conserve 300 acres of land and this was not what the permit required. The Board asked Makepeace to provide further evidence that the 300 acres are conserved by the next meeting.

Building Commissioner Mayo recommended that the Town hire the engineering firm of Beal+Thomas to investigate whether AD Makepeace is violating the 2014 permit. STPB objected on the grounds that AD Makepeace is a major client of Beals+Thomas and there is an obvious conflict of interest.

“The Building Commissioner’s claim that permit compliance is ‘discretionary’ is like saying people driving in Plymouth don’t have to obey the speed limit because it is just a “recommendation” said Meg Sheehan, volunteer with Save the Pine Barrens. “On top of that, Makepeace is operating without a permit. That’s like saying it’s OK to drive without a permit in Plymouth.”

Sheehan told the Board a special permit under zoning laws is a privilege not a right, and the Board owes the public the highest level of due diligence in making sure companies that get permits comply with them. The permit the Board granted to Makepeace in 2014 has specific protective conditions to protect the Plymouth Carver Sole Source Aquifer. STPB presented satellite images to show Makepeace appears to be excavating in the groundwater and may have unlawfully disposed of solid waste on a portion of the site. It appeared that cranberry bogs were built over the disposal site.

The Board will continue the public hearing on Wednesday May 18, 2022 at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall at Plymouth Town Hall on Court Street.  

The site is a 136-acre parcel in south Plymouth near the Wareham border off Tihonet Road on Makepeace’s vast landholdings near Myles Standish State Forest. The land is globally rare pine barrens forest with the state’s highest ranking for endangered plants and animals. The area was targeted by MassWildlife in 2009 for protection but the agency has reneged on its statutory duty to protect forests and species under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. The forests and sand and gravel Makepeace is stripping off filter the Plymouth Carver Sole Source Aquifer that is very vulnerable to contamination. The 199 square mile Aquifer is the sole source of drinking water for seven towns, including Plymouth. In some areas, the Aquifer is already polluted with industrial wastes.

 

 

Plymouth: Pyramid/Independence Mall, Aquifer Protection District threatened by 200-lot car dealership, automotive service center, car wash

Site of Independence Mall/Rountree, 299 Cherry St. Plymouth MA with well zones

Another case of Bylaws or Why Laws? So many zoning waivers why have Bylaws at all?

Plymouth Planning Board releases developer, Pyramid Mall, from protective covenant; allows 5 acres of protected land to be deforested, mined for 200-lot car dealership

Pyramid/Independence Mall required MEPA review – where is the proof this complies with MEPA?

This area was slated for “retail” — now a bait and switch?

Land swamp of 5 contiguous acres for two 2.5 acre strip along the road is not a 1:1 swap

Map showing well areas around Independence Mall development
What’s all this strip mining around the Independence Mall/Rountree Site? What is it doing to the water?
Planning-Board-Agenda-072722Download
Site-and-Protective-CovenantDownload
MEPA-Project-Details-MEPA-6600-1Download
MEPA-Project-Details-MEPA-6600Download

August 15, 2022: Community Land & Water Coalition Comments to the Plymouth ZBA on Independence Mall/Rountree car dealership

Dear Chairman Main,  

Please include this as public comments on the above ZBA matter for 8/17 for Independence Mall. 

Unless there is a MEPA Advisory Opinion or a reason why one is not required the Planning Board vote to release the covenant on this site violates the state MEPA certificate. 

The Planning Board has not responded to request for proof that the project is in compliance with the state environmental impact review certificate.  

As such the ZBA should not approve this permit application until that matter is addressed. 

MEPA has not responded one way or another  to the request for proof of the advisory opinion. 

Is this another case of a bait and switch and missing compliance documents?

This is another project in and near drinking water protection zones. All of the land use alterations in this area have changed groundwater flow direction. There is no indication that the developers have taken this into account. Why should the covenant whose purpose is to protect drinking water be released? The ZBA should ask the Planning Board to address this. 

We are working with a hydrogeologist to review drinking water impacts. 

Thank you. 

Meg Sheehan, Attorney

Community Land & Water Coalition 

August 2022 Request to state MEPA office for confirmation on Independence Mall drinking water protective covenant

Hello MEPA

Has MEPA issued an Advisory Opinion recently for EEA # 6600? (See attached MEPA list)

We can’t find one on your site.

We ask because a covenant with the Town of Plymouth Planning Board limits expansion of the MEPA EEA ENF 6600 area without an opinion from MEPA on whether an ENF is required for the expansion.

The proponent, Independence Mall is proposing a new 200 lot car dealership, car wash and car service facility in the area covered by MEPA Certificate 6600.  The MEPA Certificate for 6600 was classified as “retail” for this location. The car dealership is not “retail” so was never reviewed by MEPA under 6600.

Thank you. 
Meg Sheehan

Community Land & Water Coalition

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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