DALTON, Mass. — Several hundred residents have petitioned the Planning Board and Board of Health to take action regarding complaints surrounding Berkshire Concrete Corp. 

 

On Wednesday, the Planning Board will be providing an update on the organization's dust mitigation plan and the petrographic test results expected to determine the dust's composition. The meeting will take place at the Senior Center starting at 7 p.m.

 

During an update on the situation at a February Select Board meeting, the Board of Health said it is actively working with the state Department of Environmental Protection on air sampling from the sand dust to understand its contents.

 

In February, the town ordered Berkshire Concrete to stop work because of a "clerical error" that resulted in abutters being improperly notified.

 

Although work has stopped, residents say sand and dust is still blowing into the neighborhood. 

A neighborhood petition gathered 357 signatures to urge the boards to take strict action on the situation. 

 

The petition urges the following steps be taken: the town cease approval of all future permits to Berkshire Concrete Corp. parcel 105-16; zone the parcel to protect it from all commercial purposes in perpetuity; and enforce strict reclaiming of the parcel to include but not be limited to regrading steep slopes, mulching mats to protect seed, and reforestation;

 

It also requests that all work at the entire mine site be stopped until corrective action has been taken and approved by governing authorities; that the town enforce permit conditions in a timely manner; and continually monitor air quality at the site and in the neighborhood. 

 

It stipulates that if the corrective actions do not prevent dust from leaving the Berkshire Concrete property line within 24 hours of implementation of the permits then it requests all mining operations be permanently barred for parcels 217-3, 106-55.1, 106-56, 106-63, 105-12, 105-16, and 101-25. 

 

"You have an understanding of the health dangers we have been exposed to. You understand that we have been denied due process of law since 2022 when the special permit was issued for earth removal behind our homes," the petition says. 

 

"We do not want to have to pursue our legal options because of this negligence, but we are prepared to do so if needed."

 

The petition argues using, newspaper clippings dating back to 1976, that Berkshire Concrete has "shown a generational disregard for the citizens of Dalton." 

 

"Why are we still enduring this? We are here now to say enough. This is where it ends. The only mitigation plan we need is their plan to stop the dust permanently and to stop it now. There is no need for another permit with special conditions," the petition says. 

 

"Berkshire Concrete has proven over and over again that they have no intentions of following any conditions and the town has not enforced those conditions anyways. We are here today to present the town with our petition." 

 

More than 50 people attended Monday's Select Board meeting in person and online.

 

The Select Board explained that the situation surrounding the permit is not in its jurisdiction and falls to the Planning Board's purview. 

 

"The Select Board is obviously going to be involved, but ultimately, it's the planning board that governs the special permit, and the zoning enforcement officer enforces that permit," Vice Chair Dan Esko said.

 

The board, however, voted to issue a request that the zoning enforcement officer attend the Planning Board meeting on Wednesday. 

 

"I did meet with representatives of Berkshire Concrete, and I believe they do have a heightened awareness of the problem. They looked at it. They see what's going on even when it's not operating, and they know they have to come up with a strong implementation plan," Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said. 

 

"So I can just say that's the state of my knowledge at this point, but that's what we're waiting for, is the implementation plan. Then we have to see if it's any good, then we have to hold them to it when it's implemented." 

 

During a previous meeting, the Select Board sent a letter to the Planning Board urging it to impose special permit conditions to fully address and mitigate the dust issues caused by Berkshire Concrete's operations. 

 

Select Board member John Boyle will attend the Planning Board meeting on Wednesday to present the letter. 

 

The letter requests that Berkshire Concrete provide a technical plan for dust mitigation that can be reviewed by the town, including hiring an independent air quality monitor.

 

There is a cease-and-desist order currently in place on Berkshire Concrete, but even without active operations, the open areas on the site continue to erode in the wind, spreading substantial material into neighboring properties, say abutters.

 

"There's no remediation attempt at all from one shovel to the next shovel. You do this work. You remediate it so that it's not sitting there open to the winds so that these particles can move throughout the town," resident Ronald Griffin said. 

 

Griffin said he had conversations with engineering firms that emphasized the importance of working and remediating the site properly. 

 

"I think there's a lot of people here who would acknowledge that it has not been touched after they put a shovel to it, not been touched. That, from a town perspective, is borderline irresponsible," he said. 

 

"Lynne and I had conversations with the building inspector about just that, and he raises up his arms and says, not my job. Well, who the hell would we go to to get the answers to that problem? Because I don't think we would have this problem as bad as it is right now if they, in fact, follow some routine to avoid a situation where all of this product is just left wide open, and the wind is accessible to it, and the neighborhoods are getting hit." 

 

That is the kind of comment that the planning board needs to hear to refine its order of conditions to be more specific, Hutcheson said. 

 

"Because I think one of the problems we're dealing with is [the permit is] overly broad, and that is a very specific condition that the planning board could put into an order of conditions that would help."