Pepperell Selectmen Hire Special Counsel to Fight Proposed Soil Dump at Nashua Road

PEPPERELL — July 16, 2018 — Pepperell selectmen hire special counsel as soil reclamation fight at 161 Nashua Road escalates. The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously July 16 to retain Maret O'Connell of Worcester, with environmental attorney David McRae as lead counsel, to help the town block a proposal by Tara Environmental to deposit up to 4 million cubic yards of fill at a former gravel pit near the Pepperell Airport under MassDEP's voluntary administrative consent order process. Town Administrator John Moak, who earlier that day met with DEP officials and four department heads, told the board that as long as the town submits legally grounded opposition, the DEP will not issue the administrative consent order — but warned that the landowner could proceed without it, shifting all monitoring costs to the town. Dozens of residents pressed the board on truck traffic routes, potential soil contamination tied to the Wynn Casino project in Everett, and the absence of any zoning language currently barring soil importation to the site. In other action, the board unanimously rejected a trailer-living permit for 19 Jersey Street and denied a pool permit appeal for 144 Lowell Road citing approximately $3,400 in unpaid taxes and a history of broken payment agreements.