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The New Bedford Board of Health rejected 2-1 what would have been the state’s largest waste transfer facility at 100 Duchaine Blvd. — a decision that was met with a standing ovation from a crowd of over 120 people.
During their one-hour discussion at the Casimir Pulaski Elementary School, board members cited the risk of fire, odors, rodent infestation, and traffic congestion as their primary reasons for rejecting the controversial proposal.
Board members Alex Weiner and Michele Tsaliagos voted against the proposal, while Dr. Elizabeth Blanchard voted to approve.
The decision ends a six-year bid by Parallel Products (doing business as South Coast Renewables) to convert the company’s current bottle recycling plant in the New Bedford Business Park into a $30 million solid waste transfer station.
For over 40 years, Elizabeth Saulnier has lived in New Bedford’s Pine Hill Acres neighborhood. For over six years, she has fought against the proposal to build a solid waste transfer station a quarter mile from her home. Saulnier worried that traffic to and from the facility would cut off her evacuation route, and dust would coat her home and yard.
“If there was a fire, I’d have nowhere to go,” Saulnier said. “I’d be trapped.”
Tuesday’s decision ended Saulnier’s concerns over fires, congestion, and dust.
“It seems silly, but I’m just happy I can hang my sheets outside,” she said.
In a series of public hearings with the Board of Health this August, South Coast Renewables presented its plans to mitigate noise, odor, fire risk, vermin, and other public health hazards associated with the hauling of trash. Residents represented by the Conservation Law Foundation also shared their concerns about the plans.
If approved, the proposed waste transfer station would have handled up to 1,500 tons of solid waste per day and hosted up to 368 daily one-way truck trips. Board member Alex Weiner worried the facility would overwhelm an already heavily trafficked neighborhood.
The board’s concerns with the proposed station come after another solid waste transfer facility in New Bedford landed in hot water earlier this year. In May, the E.L. Harvey & Sons, Inc., waste transfer station caught fire, leading to a widespread rat infestation — a concern mentioned in Weiner’s introductory statement.
Both fire experts invited to the August public hearings admitted that fires at solid waste facilities are inevitable; lithium ion batteries in particular are prone to catch fire, igniting any flammable material nearby. South Coast Renewables did not invite a pest control expert to speak on the company’s rodent mitigation efforts.
“I thought about whether conditions could solve these issues,” Weiner said. “They can’t…The biggest risks are either unfixable, unenforceable or outside the applicant’s control.”
Blanchard explained her vote at the beginning of the discussion. Her concern, she said, was that if the board rejected South Coast Renewables’ proposal, the company could appeal and take the decision out of the board’s hands.
“My concern here is if that gets overturned in court, that we may have missed a major opportunity to condition this and make it safe in the neighborhood,” Blanchard said.
In an interview after the vote, Weiner did not share Blanchard’s concerns.
“I think if we have a strong enough argument, which we do, and we make our case using the evidence, our decision will be upheld,” Weiner said.
Elaborating on his opening remarks Tuesday evening, Weiner also criticized public hearing processes for privileging technical experts over community voices.
“They’re in many ways designed to leave the community out of it,” Weiner said.
The meeting had been open to the public but closed to public comment. Still, activists and residents made their feelings known with creatively adorned posters and costumes. Several attendees wore neon T-shirts that read, “No Sewage Trucks.” (The project as proposed would only deal with solid waste.)
South Coast Renewables did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Conservation Law Foundation celebrated the decision in a statement.
“Today, the Board of Health chose to protect people over pollution,” said Alex St. Pierre, one of the CLF attorneys that represented New Bedford residents.
Wendy Morrill, president of activist group South Coast Neighbors United, has spoken out against the proposed station since its early stages in 2019. Today’s vote allowed her to breathe, she said.
“The community really rallied to protect their neighbors and themselves and their homes when others couldn’t,” Morrill said. “It’s not a one-person campaign. This was multiple people, lots of lost sleep, a lot of leg work, a lot of door knocking, a lot of doing all the stuff that that company [South Coast Renewables] should have been doing.”
Email Brooke Kushwaha at bkushwaha@newbedfordlight.org.
The New Bedford Light has done a great service to our community by bringing this issue to our attention and allowing us a forum to exchange information and opinions. We also owe our thanks to the people who have worked diligently to gather facts about this proposed project, the people who attended the hearings, and the Board of Health members who wisely voted against it.
Sending thanks to the Health Board, common Sense prevailed, and it was a great night for a lot of concerned residents of New Bedford.
I’m so happy for the City. The North End didn’t deserve this anymore than the people near Shawmut Ave. do right now. Thanks and hats off to the NB BOH!
Thank you New Bedford Light for all of the coverage you gave to this topic. The two board members who voted against this, methodically reviewed every line of the proposal by Southcoast Renewables. It was disappointing that the no vote, was based more on what would happen during an appeal than on all of the evidence supporting a denial vote.
Not enough was said about the effects of diesel oil pollution in the air from close to 400 trucks coming too and fro. This was an area-wide pollution problem in the making. Odors are terrible – but compromised lungs would cause untold damage to current and future generations. Should an appeal be brought forward — this should be a major rallying point for the community.
The above comment should have read, ” a yes vote, was based more on what would happen during an appeal than on all of the evidence supporting a denial vote.
Dr. ELIZABETH BLANCHARD WHO VOTED YES FOR THE PROPOSED TRANSFER STATION TENURE ON THE BOARD OF HEALTH, IS UP IN APRIL. NOT SOON ENOUGH.
Do you think Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard will continue the interest in using New Bedford as a cargo point for their supplies? The return trips look like they’ll be empty now! Pasque Island would make a perfect dump for the region.
Why destroy an island? Try Smokeless Incinerator technology, it’s designed to burn waste materials without producing smoke, reducing environmental Impact(air pollution), and is an effective solution for waste management.
But Jeff, that would be using common sense. They have no common sense. City hall!
A heartfelt thank you to the Board of Health for their decision. It was a heavy burden as Mr Weiner commented. It was apparent that he studied all of the evidence submitted and was aware of gaps in the information. This decision will affect the lives of thousands of residents in a positive way. I hope when you have time to reflect on this decision, you’ll realize it was one of the most important decisions in your life and you have made a tremendous impact on the lives of your fellow citizens. Although Dr Blanchard didn’t see this the way I would have preferred, she has touched so many lives successfully in her work as an oncologist and she deserves credit for her dedication to that profession.
I’d like to address the question about where should our trash go? I have several ideas of how we can try to get to zero waste if we all did a little more. About 20% of our trash is food waste. New Bedford residents could drop off their unpackaged food waste at 1103 Shawmut Ave on Mon Wed, Fri from noon to 5 and Sat from 7:30-3. It accepts bones and seafood shells . Even if you only did when you cleaned out your freezer, it would help. Or if you had a clamboil. The NB food is collected by Recycle Works in RI and is converted into renewable energy. Dartmouth’s food waste can be dropped off on Russells Mills Rd and Black Earth collects that food and turns it into compost. For a charge of $90 for 6 months, Black Earth will collect food waste every 2 weeks in Fairhaven. If enough New Bedford residents signed up, they could also participate in this program for a similar fee.
Prescription bottles are not recyclable in this area but there’s a charity called Matthew 25 Ministries in Blue Ash, Ohio that has a use for those bottles. They ship bulk medicine to 3rd world countries and distribute the bottles to people with their share of the meds. It takes a little work to wash the bottles, remove the labels, sort them by color, package them in plastic bag and mail them to Ohio but you’re keeping them out of the landfill and helping someone at the same time. The bottles must have caps. It costs me just over $10 to mail.
You can buy cans of beverages rather than plastic bottles. Cans are more easily recycled. I buy the largest bottle of laundry detergent. I pour it into a smaller container to make it easier to lift. I’m recycling one bottle of plastic rather than 3 or 4 bottles. White plastic is more recyclable than colored. There are so many more things that can be done. This is a just starting point and a few ideas. Zerowasteusa.org has more ideas to consider
This is and always was about money. The mayor wanted money above people’s health concerns. New Bedford is not attracting the businesses it should people are afraid of going downtown. Homelessness , beggars on every corner. This city has potential but not as the biggest trash dump in the state.
Let’s wait and see what the final cost of this fight will be and the outcome
The Mayor and his legal team said it was better to get a deal they could live with then fight a losing battle that costs taxpayers millions
Let’s wait and see who eventually is correct before declaring victory on either side