Dear Editor,
Claremont residents have a long history of fighting pollution, protecting the health of our most vulnerable neighbors, and fighting for the thriving economy we all deserve. We are concerned to see an out-of-state company bulldozing ahead with a dangerous proposal to build an industrial-scale waste transfer station in a city still recovering from the Wheelabrator incinerator’s toxic legacy.
For the past five years, Acuity Management Inc. has been pushing a proposal to build one of the largest construction and demolition (C&D) facilities in New England near a residential neighborhood and an elementary school on Maple Avenue.
The company’s own estimate says the facility will receive nearly 80 trucks a day loaded with up to 500 tons of mixed C&D waste, which contains lead, mercury, and PFAS.
Acuity’s operation would truck 130,000 tons of potentially dangerous waste through the city annually, putting strain on our region’s roads and releasing harmful particulate matter into the surrounding air and water. The majority of this toxic waste will not be recycled at all, but rather sent by rail for disposal in other communities targeted by the waste industry.
Early in Acuity’s application process, the Claremont planning director determined that local land-use regulations prohibited a proposal for a major change of use at the proposed site. In August 2022, the zoning board of adjustment (ZBA) upheld the decision. A subsequent bipartisan letter of support from Claremont’s state representatives helped bolster the ZBA’s position.
Rather than respecting local land-use regulation, Acuity has decided to take the city to court for the zoning board’s decision. The threat of legal action continues to hang over our community. Furthermore, despite overwhelming rejections at a local level, Acuity has aggressively pursued their state-level permit applications to the Department of Environmental Services (DES).
The clear threat this proposal represents to the region’s public health, infrastructure, and economic development obliges DES to respect land-use regulation and deny the siting of another major waste facility in Claremont. Though the out-of-state company would like to keep this intimidation behind closed doors, we encourage residents to stay updated on the process, express their appreciation for the city’s stance, and call on the DES to deny any forthcoming proposals. We know the agency has a statutory responsibility to weigh local land-use regulations before signing off on permits, and it is clear that Acuity’s intended use is prohibited under the City Code.
Sincerely,
Jim Contois, Reb MacKenzie, Nelia Sargent, and Judith Koester of A Better Claremont
Hayley Jones, Vermont and New Hampshire state director of Slingshot