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A Suffolk County Superior Court judge is set to decide on whether a controversial waste transfer station proposal at 100 Duchaine Blvd. will go through after seven years of reviews and legal challenges.
Attorneys representing South Coast Renewables, the company proposing the transfer station, and Board of Health attorney Adam Brodsky argued for over an hour before the Hon. Jackie Cowin in Boston Thursday afternoon. Attorneys from the Conservation Law Foundation also intervened on behalf of a group of New Bedford residents in support of the Board of Health.
The Board of Health denied South Coast Renewables’ proposal last September citing concerns about the project’s impacts on traffic, vermin, air quality, and fire safety. South Coast Renewables appealed the decision in October.
Depending on the judge’s ruling, South Coast Renewables will either be allowed to go through with the waste transfer station without the Board of Health’s input, or the Board of Health’s decision will stand. The Board of Health also has the option to appeal the Superior Court decision.
At the Sept. 3 hearing, attorneys’ arguments hinged on whether the Board of Health had the right to base its decision on environmental justice principles — the idea that lower-income communities already overburdened with environmental pollution should not take on additional risk. In 2021, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts designated 2,604 environmental justice neighborhoods. Most neighborhoods in New Bedford are environmental justice neighborhoods.
South Coast Renewables attorney Peter Durning argued that in last summer’s hearings, environmental justice was used as a “trump card” to ignore the facts of the project, which multiple expert witnesses said would comply with federal air quality and noise pollution standards. Durning also argued that because environmental justice policies were originally written with state agencies in mind, local entities with no similar laws of their own had no right to use them.
“The board was adopting that mantra as a seemingly unassailable justification,” Durning said. “The board simply says at the end, ‘Well, because of environmental justice considerations we are against this.’”
Board of Health attorney Brodsky, along with CLF attorneys Suhasini Ghosh and Jillian Aicher, argued the board was well within its jurisdiction.
“What’s the point of advocating for environmental justice principles if, at the end of the day, the burdened community can’t consider those in their own site suitability criteria?” Brodsky said.
Judge Cowin is expected to release a written decision in the coming weeks.
Outside the courthouse, New Bedford City Councilor Leo Choquette, former councilor Linda Morad, and nearly two dozen activists — many of whom had fought against the proposed waste facility since its inception — gathered to reflect on the multi-year saga. Tracy Wallace, vice president of the advocacy group South Coast Neighbors United, recalled her childhood growing up near a landfill in Connecticut, finding rats in her backyard and smelling the compacted trash on her way to the grocery store.
“When we got notification of [the proposed transfer station] in 2019, all of my alarms went off,” Wallace said.
Wallace and South Coast Neighbors United President Wendy Morrill said they are prepared to appeal the Superior Court judge’s decision if necessary.
“The first campaign we fought, we fought for five years, and with this one we’re going on seven years,” Morrill said. “So if they think they’re going to just come into our community and exploit and pollute and do whatever they want and they’re not going to be met with resistance, they really need to do their homework.”
South Coast Renewables also does business as Parallel Products, which operates a bottle recycling facility in New Bedford.
Email Brooke Kushwaha at bkushwaha@newbedfordlight.org.
Mayor Mitchell wins again and Ian Abreu is on record as Council President endorsing this project. Under this Mayor and City Council the city of New Bedford is a complete mess. How can you close Fire Station 9 when you intend to put a major trash plant facility in the Industrial Park. How will any resident or neighboring business feel safe? Tax Bills are going up, Sewer and Water Bills are going up, Gas and Electric Bills are going up, and our City Services are going down. Time for new leadership in our city and state.
The fact that these trucks have spells, and the bio waste dries up and turns to dust with the wind taking the dust to home’s and the adjacent elementary school there should be no judge in his right mind that should allow this to happen. Unless there is something in it for him.
The Big Flock Camera Smoke Screen / Diversion. New Bedford residents are getting played, it’s look over here while we shutdown Fire Station No. 9, and build a hazardous waste transfer station in the industrial park. New Bedford is in deep trouble and needs new leadership in city hall.
People are saying we need new leadership well lets do something with the Mayor being a 4 year term lets go back to a 2 year term. Of course the voters voted for a 4 year term can’t this be changed and go back to the voters and hopefully the voters will votes for a 2 year term.
Where is my comment