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A Wareham-based cranberry grower is under legal scrutiny for allegedly dumping sand into the Buzzards Bay watershed.
The Conservation Law Foundation sent a notice to file suit against A.D. Makepeace earlier this month for allegedly dredging and infilling sand into Southeastern Massachusetts wetlands without a permit, violating the federal Clean Water Act. The intent to sue comes after years of activism and a recent New Bedford Light investigation into the company’s extensive sand excavation operations.
Heather Govern, CLF’s vice president for clean air and water, said the activity is unpermitted. She said it’s a result of Makepeace shifting its business model away from cranberries and towards sand and other construction materials that fetch a much better price.
“You’ve got waterways and ecosystems that for hundreds of years did their job protecting communities from flooding, ensuring clean water,” Govern told The Light. “Now those wetlands are being filled in, because that’s what needs to be done in order for them to operate sand mining.”
The CLF’s notice argues that sand and other construction materials qualify as pollutants under the Clean Water Act and that the company should have sought a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before filling its wetlands, and by extension the area’s waterways, with sand during construction. The letter also argues that Makepeace’s operations at four excavation sites “permanently and drastically altered the shape and topography of the wetlands and impacted hundreds of linear feet of perennial streams.”
Cranberry bogs allegedly out of compliance
- Smith-Hammond Bogs — 24 Federal Road/ 0 Golden Pond Road, Carver
- Wankinko Bogs — 46 Federal Road, Carver
- White Island Bogs — Wareham Road, Plymouth
- Canning Bogs — 0 Wihonet (Off East Head Wihonet and Tihonet Road), Plymouth
A.D. Makepeace has until Aug. 21 to comply or CLF will formally file suit.
Makepeace’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications Linda Burke disputed the foundation’s claims.
“Baseless attacks on the cranberry industry like this have been going on for more than five years and not once has any court, state agency, or local board found any impropriety,” Burke said in an emailed statement.
Govern clarified that if Makepeace does receive a federal permit, it could continue operations more or less unimpeded.
But the reason Makepeace’s activity is a concern, Govern said, is because Massachusetts’ wetlands play an important role in mitigating flooding along the coasts, which will become more frequent with the increase of heavy rainstorms and sea level rise.
“You don’t want to fill in wetlands, because then you’re basically removing that sponge that is going to protect against flooding waters flowing into towns and affecting people’s homes,” Govern said.
The Community Land and Water Coalition, an activist group based in Wareham, has opposed cranberry companies’ land use practices for years. In January, after repeated pressure from coalition activists, the Carver Conservation Commission issued a cease and desist order against Makepeace for its excavation practices at Smith-Hammonds Bogs at 24 Federal Road. Smith-Hammonds Bogs is one of the sites included in the CLF notice letter.
Coalition co-founder Meg Sheehan said the lawsuit is a major step to protect the “overlooked” waterways of Southeastern Massachusetts.
“These rivers, the Weweantic River, the Nemasket River, they never had the attention that the Charles River and the Taunton River had,” Sheehan said. “It’s really time to take a closer look at what’s happening in these watersheds with cranberry agriculture.”
Email Brooke Kushwaha at bkushwaha@newbedfordlight.org.
