Connecticut recycling facility looking to accept C&D faces local pushback

Acuity Management, a Massachusetts-based recycling company, has requested a permit modification to accept up to 500 tons a day of construction and demolition (C&D) debris at its Claremont, New Hampshire, according to the New Hampshire Bulletin.  

The request has faced harsh pushback from local residents, who have concerns about the facility’s proximity to a local elementary school and 400 homes. 

Local residents have expressed fears over heavy metals and PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, leaching into a nearby brook that feeds into the Connecticut River and the effects of traffic and noise pollution on students at Maple Avenue Elementary School, which is less than a mile away. 

Naomi Praul, a civil engineer who presented on behalf of Acuity at a public hearing in early March, said the current permit allows the facility to accept “paper, cardboard, metal, glass, plastics, automotive batteries and tires.” If approved, the permit modification would continue to allow the acceptance of those materials, as well as C&D debris, which may comprise materials such as concrete, drywall, wood and roofing shingles, Praul said.

The company would take out recyclable materials, such as asphalt, wood and metal, which would prevent them from ending up in a landfill, Praul added. Nonrecyclable materials would be transported out of the state to be disposed of.

“To be clear, C&D does not include asbestos or other hazardous waste,” Praul said. This is a point that faced questioning by residents, who feared that such hazardous material would not be discovered until it is sorted through at the Claremont facility, according to the Bulletin.

Francesco Finocchiaro, vice president of Recycling Services Inc., of which Acuity is the parent company, said in an email to the Bulletin that “there are many laws in place that prevent contaminants from entering our waste streams.”

He said that incoming loads would be manually inspected for hazardous materials, and if found, the load would be rejected.

Eric Peabody, a Claremont resident and father of two at the local elementary school, also expressed concern over the permit, citing his experience as a licensed land surveyor. 

He said the 1.5-acre lot was simply too small to handle processing seven times the material it is currently permitted for, drawing a comparison to a facility that does similar work in Epping that operates on 30 acres of a 75-acre property. 
“If an airport doesn't meet the requirements to land a 747, you don't try to land it there anyway,” Peabody said. “You keep flying until a suitable place to land is found. Acuity needs to find a different piece of land that properly meets the requirements for a C&D facility of this magnitude.”