TAKE ACTION AGAINST SAND MINING!

ATTEND THE CARVER ERC MEETING!  

3 sand mines expanding! All disguised as “cranberry agriculture!” 

SAND MINING HARMS HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT, AND DRINKING WATER 

WHO: The Carver Earth Removal Committee (ERC) is meeting to decide on TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLAR$ in sand mining permits! No environmental studies done! Permits are illegal!

ERC is responsible for regulating and permitting sand and gravel mining in Caraver. 5 of its 6 members are in the cranberry, trucking and sand mining business. Here is their website: www.carverma.gov/earth-removal-committee 

WHAT: Make your voice heard! Come to speak & support for residents fighting to stop sand mining!

EJ Pontiff: 104 Tremont St.: Over 103 acres of Coastal Pine Barrens forest mined at this site alone – expanding by 47 acres claiming to build cranberry bogs. 1.5 million cubic yards worth over $15 million. Read more here. 

Pontiff is also strip mining priority Coastal Pine Barrens forest at 71 Hedges Pond Road, Plymouth. 

AD Makepeace: 46 Federal Road:  Over 1,000 acres mined throughout the region – expanding by 60 acres claiming to build cranberry bogs and a pond. 1.4 million cubic yards of sand worth about $15 million. Read more here. 

ERC Conflicts of interest? Hannula, ERC Chair makes money trucking sand for Makepeace; John Mason works for Makepeace; Richard Ward buys sand from Makepeace; Roger Shores, Jr. recently did a land deal with Makepeace. Read more here and here.  

Fruit D’Or/Scott Hannula, ERC Chair proposing a new project:  Many acres mined throughout the region – expanding by 10.5 acres at 0 Mayflower Road, claiming to build a cranberry pond. About 650,000 cubic yards of sand worth about $6 million. Read more here. 

EJ PONTIFF, AD MAKEPEACE MINES: DO NOT GRANT EXTENSION UNDER BYLAW! MUST BE SHUT DOWN!

• These two mines got expansion permits in 2024. Under the Bylaw the ERC must do a one year review in March 2025. Neither one meets the requirements for an extension! 
• Pontiff & Makepeace both misrepresented the size of the sand mine in 2024 when they applied for the permits:
  • Pontiff said the mining was for 18 acres of bogs: it is over 2x the size at 47 acres
  • Makepeace said the mining was for 32 acres of bogs: the mining is about 2x the size at 60 acres!
  • Many more permit defects, no testing for health impacts of sand dust, no hydrology study of drinking water well impacts, no study of biodiversity, forest impacts.

Above: 104 Tremont Street, March 2025

Above: 46 Federal Road, Septmeber 2024

Fruit d’Or: This is a new permit to expand for a 10 acre pond.  The operator is Scott Hannula who is the Chair of the ERC! Hannula and Ryco Excavating already mined a pond at this site in 2016 for at least $2,435,500 in sand and gravel. This new pond threatens the aquifer, no hydrology study by qualified, independent hydrologists. 

IMPACTS OF SAND MINING

SAND MINING EMITS SILICA DUST: CARCINOGENIC

• These are open pit mines: dust blows on people, homes, the sand has never been tested to see if residents are at risk of cancer, lung disease from exposure to the sand, Sand contains Respirable Crystalline Silica – carcinogenic according to the U.S. Department of Labor  https://www.msha.gov/regulations/rulemaking/silica

SOLE SOURCE AQUIFER

• Mining permanently removes sand and gravel that filters and protects the underground Plymouth-Carver Sole Source Aquifer, only drinking water for Carver and 200,000 residents of the region

TRUCK TRAFFIC

• Each site has at least 100 truck trips a day on Carver’s local roads: 0ver 300 trucks 6 days a week. No traffic study has been done. Many other mines are already operating in Carver! Hundreds of trucks are already on local roads!

BIODIVERSITY & NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY

• EJ Pontiff’s mining: In Priority Habitat for endangered Red Bellied Turtle; borders Myles Standish State Forest; destroying 47 acres of pine barrens; no archeological study.
• AD Makepeace’s mining: Destroyed 25+ acres of Priority Habitat for Eastern Box Turtle; destroyed a Wampanoag site eligible for National Register.
• Fruit d’Or’s mine: Near Dunham Pond (NHESP habitat); hydrologically connected via underground aquifer; no hydrology study.

MASSIVE CUMULATIVE IMPACT: These are some of the 110 sand mines documented in SandWars.org. 75% claim they are cranberry agriculture.