Dear Editor,
Last week, our State Sen. Ruth Ward, R-Stoddard, stole Claremont’s Christmas. In a letter to the New Hampshire Waste Management Council, Sen. Ward endorsed a deal Acuity Management Inc. has been trying to put over on Claremont since 2017. Acuity, based in Methuen, Mass., wants to bring as much as 500-600 tons of construction and demolition waste into a residential neighborhood in West Claremont, six days a week, 52 weeks a year. This waste would come from a wide region to be dumped on a small patch of land near our thriving Amtrak station at Claremont Junction. The waste may contain lead, asbestos, mercury, PFAS, and many other toxic materials.
A quick look at the postage stamp-sized parcel of land reveals that nothing other than plowing waste into piles can happen before this waste is transferred to Ohio. In her letter, Ward claims, “The company has shown a willingness to work with the community and the state.” In fact, Acuity is suing Claremont and the Claremont Zoning Board, and appealing the state’s decision to deny permits. Sen. Ward goes on to state that the area has little traffic, when actually hundreds of families live in proximity and the Amtrak station close by has a higher number of passengers every year. Claremont Junction needs a hotel, not a toxic waste dump.
Additionally, our senator states the project “will support jobs,” when no new jobs are required, other than a few equipment operators. She says Acuity “will manage materials responsibly.” How is that possible, when the lot is just over one acre (60 feet by 660 feet), and the materials are impossible to identify and sort without testing. Lastly, she says Acuity will provide “needed services.” Needed services as determined by whom? Certainly not the nearby homeowners, and the staff and students at the schools on Maple Avenue. This is the wrong project in the wrong place.
Acuity needs to walk away. Sen. Ward needs to come to Claremont and meet with residents who would be directly affected by a major toxic waste operation in their neighborhood.
This project will jeopardize property values; threaten the health of our children and residents; destroy our roads; and harm our region by impacting roads, air quality, and our children’s health. How is it possible that Sen. Ward is willing to jeopardize our property values, our children, our health, our roads, our city, and our region? Could this be about greed and money? Everyone who cares and who can should take time to write New Hampshire State Sen. Ward to express their displeasure. Remember her when you vote on Nov. 3, 2026.
Sincerely,
James M. Contois, A Better Claremont
Claremont, N.H.