BOARD OF HEALTH HEARINGS Hearings restarted March 27th, 2008 Click on some meeting dates below for more information or to see newspaper articles and summaries from each hearing March 27th - Meeting kicked off with a rally, moved to Wells, and continued with over 200 in attendance. See footage, photos, summaries, and newspaper articles. April 3rd - Citizens began the meeting with their heartfelt testimony. Casella’s traffic expert was cross-examined. See newspaper articles, relevant information, and summaries. April 10th - Representatives from the 10-citizen groups wrapped up cross examination of the traffic expert. Ms. Pecci cross-examined Bonnett, who oversees the construction and design of the new landfill cell, and focused on the possible and eminent degradation of the landfill liners. He admitted to the safety hazards of a landfill and even that ‘All Liners Leak’ and if they do, they are not replaceable. April 15th - Party representatives from the 10-citizen groups, as well as the Board of Health and attorneys from the municipalities, finished questioning Bonnett, the landfill engineer. Ms. Pecci began questioning Mr. Farese, the landfill manager, regarding birds, rats, odor, and other landfill nuisances. Mr. Farese claimed that good management practices would control any nuisances as they arose. Ms. Pecci then produced evidence of severe odor problems in Hardwick, a closed landfill that Mr. Farese managed for 5 years. Mr. Farese confirmed that the problems she questioned him about were during his tenure at the landfill. Ms. Pecci also presented film of the Hardwick landfill with flocks of seagulls flying around the landfill. Mr. Farese initially confirmed that it was the Hardwick landfill, then contradicted himself. Furthermore, he said he did not know if that kind of seagull activity would present a danger to the Southbridge airport. April 17th - Ms. Pecci finished questioning Mr. Farese, landfill manager. He confirmed that in December 2007 there was a landslide from a closed cell that deposited sand and soil into an adjacent landfill. He also confirmed DEP citations for inappropriate handling of surface water, and for the contamination of the adjacent wetlands. Mr. Farese also acknowledged that the first cap on the landfill was found insufficient due to the number of holes in it, and that a new one would be installed over it this summer in Hardwick. The other Party Representatives finished questioning Mr. Farese, as did the Board of Health and municipal attorneys. The Board had many questions and concerns regarding recycling, traffic, and leachate. The cross-examination of Mr. Lannan, Casella's air expert, began. While the answer he gave most often was "it depends", he did acknowledge that there is no way to measure the amount of gas emitted from a landfill, and that therefore there was no way to know how much is collected by the gas collection system. He also acknowledged that gas therefore escapes into the air and into the surface and ground water. He stated that increases in air pollution would be offset by other changes in air quality, though he could not reference reductions that had been made in the area that would offset the air pollution this landfill would cause. Mr. Gatti, a party representative, then questioned Mr. Lannan about his previous experience at other Casella landfills. The other Party Representatives, as well as the Board of Health and other municipal attorneys will finish questioning Mr. Lannan on April 29th. Motion to Dismiss - According to Attorneys Pecci and Simonelli, the SDR Processing Facility on Barefoot Road is operating illegally without the required Site Assignment from the Southbridge Board of Health. April 30th - Frustrating and not much happened. Finished Lannan and began Schwalbe. May 1st - Another frustrating night, but we're making progress. Finally the cross examination is over! Mr. Schwalbe was very willing to lie through and teeth, and basically wouldn't talk about any of the topics he'd already testified to. (He said that Hardwick didn't have a plastic liner, that the gas to energy engines don't need 50% methane to run, that the 1999 site assignment site assigned the whole parcel - the list went on and on). We still managed to get some good stuff in that resonated with the Board. Then Javier made a brief statement with a video presentation - again I think that it was a great effort. May 7th - What a night! It went as well as it possibly could! Jim S. submitted a motion to include all the emails as part of the record. The fact that Dr. O said "what emails" gives you a sense of how out of the loop the board has been kept. Then, Nancy granted my motion to extend, for exactly the legal argument we presented, i.e. she has the right to extend, subject to the MGL, it says "shall" re: the 45 day limit, but shall doesn't always mean shall. The real question is what you're trying to accomplish, which here is a fair hearing, not a quick hearing. As long as she polices this, he won't win an appeal on this issue. Lynne Simonds and all three witnesses were great. Veronica Eady was so nice to come down - she added real weight and the moral high ground to the argument. Expanding this facility just when MA should be moving toward Zero Waste alternatives takes the pressure off our government to deal with waste without poisoning our populations (more on Environmental Justice). The opening statement went really well. It was important that the Board understand the site assignment. Finally, Dr. Carpenter - what can we even say? It’s not overstating it to say that one could literally deny this on his evidence. He is so knowledgeable and handled them so adroitly - what an amazing human being. His testimony can literally be used to stop landfills across the state. Dr. David Carpenter testified before the BOH with powerful results. A Harvard medical grad, author of over 300 papers involving health risks around landfill sites, and professor of Environmental Health Sciences, his testimony was powerfully credible and relevant to the decision before the Board of Health. The Tri-community area was forced to face that living near a waste site leads to increased exposure to toxins and increased disease. Statistics signify regions surrounding landfills had increased hospitalizations for asthma, infectious respiratory disease, diabetes, Cardiovascular disease, hypothyroid syndrome and genital disease in women. Dr. Carpenter clearly explained how the inhalation of toxins in the air and known carcinogens leaching into the water were his primary concerns. He was especially concerned about children because of their sensitivity to toxins during development. He cited research results of higher rates of birth defects and hormonal disruption of babies born of women living in areas surrounding landfills. Dr. Carpenter made it clear that increased amounts of waste would lead to higher levels of toxins in at least a 3-mile perimeter of the landfill. The higher the levels of toxins like VOCs, lead, and arsenic, to name a few, the higher the risk will be for residents' health. May 12th - As we had hoped, we got Gen Fraser's very descriptive and beautifully written landfill monitor journal in. Board member Bernadone was especially interested in it, and wanted more "references," which Casella promised to get him. Ms. Fraser stuck to her guns when Kirsch tried to shake her up, displaying a lot of courage and honesty. Mr. Zinni, former landfill oversight committee member in Hardwick, was very honest and precise, and I think made it clear that there were a lot of complaints and problems with the landfill right up until it was closed. The Board asked him for numbers regarding how much MSW to C&D waste the Hardwick landfill took in, if anyone had any ill health effects due to the landfill and for the air testing results. Bill is going to get that information to the Board. The participants were great, again. May 20th - Wow! What a night! After a lengthy delay (one of the board members had car trouble) of about an hour and a half, we put on some fantastic witnesses. Ron Merritt could not have been better - he stated repeatedly that no matter what is done to mitigate this, this kind of an increase in putrescible waste right next to an airport will cause danger. Considering that Casella has presented almost no evidence regarding this issue, and the fact that Ron discredited the evidence they did produce, this is a winner for us. Tom Ballestero was also stupendous. He displayed great expertise and a sharp intellect. He made it very clear that this is going to leak and it's impossible to tell where it will go. His discussion of the waste water treatment plant issues and the lack of information presented here was also great. Piotr Parasiewicz did an incredible job. Not only was he able to illuminate an area (the environment) that has been wholly ignored by the applicant, but he he is obviously brilliant (if he's that great in English, I can only imagine how eloquent he is in his native tongue). We then questioned the Board's witnesses - Johnson on traffic (who said that any increase would increase an already dangerous situation), Hibbard on air (who acknowledged that her numbers did not include anything 15 years beyond closure) and Haskell on general criteria (who said he doesn't think birds will be a problem, even after hearing Ron's testimony). Then the hearing was closed at almost 1:00 in the morning. May 23rd - Proposed findings and closing arguments were due. Read what the landfill opponents submitted: Proposed Decision.doc Read what Casella submitted Casella's Submission.pdf May 28th - Deliberations begin. The board began going over Casella’s proposed list of conditions. By the end of the night, the board took a tentative ‘No’ vote based on the discussion of the conditions as they stood that night. June 2nd - Deliberations continued at Wells Middle school - The atmosphere was tense. Signs were confiscated from audience members, the audience was told not to clap, the board continued to work through Casella’s list of conditions. Attorney Scott revised his list of conditions to completely disallow dumping leachate into the public sewer treatment facility. This seemed to shore up Tremblay’s vote. June 4th - The board voted 3-2 to accept the site assignment with the 50+ conditions decided upon during deliberations. Rinaldo Bernadone consistently tried to go over the site assignment criteria, as is required and expected during deliberations, but was shut down numerous times. Rinaldo Bernadone and Judy Zaido both voted no and gave heartfelt and well though out reasons for saying no. It was an incredibly emotional night. A disappointing end to months of hard work. The fight is hardly over, however. There are certainly grounds for appeal. .  March_27th.htmlAPRIL_3rd.htmlMotion_to_Dismiss.htmlCasella_defends_its_safety_record.htmlCasella_tries_to_bar_testimony.htmlCasella_opponents_hir_experts_in_environmental_health,_justice.htmlCasella_offers_to_extend_hearings.htmlEnvironmental_Justice.htmlHardwick_landfill_monitor_testifies_-_Odor,_sea_gull_problems_are_outlined.htmlExpert_weighs_in_on_sea_gulls_Casella_testimony_turns_to_pests_at_landfill.htmlDecision_time_has_arrived_Hearings_over,_landfill_issue_up_to_board_of_health.htmlDecision_time_has_arrived_Hearings_over,_landfill_issue_up_to_board_of_health.htmlThe_Hearing_Process_files/Proposed%20Decision.docThe_Hearing_Process_files/Casella%27s%20Submission%20BOS1979H_Exchange_05232008-052529.pdfBoard_of_Health_leaning_to_No_-_Most_members_initial_thoughts_go_against_Casella.htmlDeliberations_on_landfill_to_begin_tonight.htmlBoard_of_Health_leaning_to_No_-_Most_members_initial_thoughts_go_against_Casella.htmlBoard_of_Health_considers_Casella_solid_waste_request.htmlBoard_of_Health_considers_Casella_solid_waste_request.htmlGrounds_for_appeal.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19