Pepperell Conservation Commission closes 1989 Colonial Gas compliance case

PEPPERELL — February 6, 2018 — Pepperell Conservation Commission approves a certificate of compliance for a 1989 Colonial Gas project and hears an update on the Nashua Wild and Scenic River designation. The commission voted unanimously to issue the initial certificate for gas line work on Lowell Road, Groton Street, and Jersey Street — a permit that had sat open for nearly 29 years without a formal closeout. On the Wild and Scenic front, a roughly 200-page stewardship plan covering the Nashua, Nissitissit, and Squannacook rivers has cleared its public comment period, with Pepperell's town meeting set for May 7 and an informational session expected in April; dam owners holding FERC licenses are pushing to exclude the stretch from the hydro dam to Route 119, citing free-flowing-river requirements. A commission member also reported that a mulch-dye discharge on Shawnee Road the previous afternoon required a DEP response lasting until 11 p.m., with the department classifying the event as an industrial discharge because the property owner is a licensed landscaper.