Bestway plan draws opposition at public hearing

Residents of two neighboring communities were the most vocal opponents to a plan to build a solid waste collection, storage and transfer facility in town at a public hearing in the Corner Meeting House Tuesday night.

The visitors were concerned because the new facility will be over the aquifer used by several Lakes Region communities.

“Milford — they lost two well sites because of contamination,” said Helen Hanks, a member of the Northfield Conservation Commission. “It only takes one accident to destroy an aquifer.”

Katherine Dawson, who is a member of the Tilton Board of Selectmen, also opposes the new facility.

“When is someone going to protect our aquifer?” she asked of the state Department of Environmental Services (DES) civil engineers conducting the hearing.

Michael E. Guilfoy and Wayne E. Wheeler, representatives of the DES’s Waste Management Division, held the public hearing to consider the construction of the new three-building facility by Bestway Disposal Services of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. The facility is slated to be built on 3.5 acres of land in an industrial park near the Coca-Cola plant on Route 140, near the Tilton townline. The project already has all its town approvals, so the DES license will be the final step in its application process. Last night’s public hearing was the last one before the DES issues a decision on the application.

Judy Houston of Novis Engineering of Concord, who is working with Bestway on the plan, told the audience that the company’s property is within the town’s aquifer protection district and it contains no wetlands. She reported that Phase I of the project is already underway, and will include the construction of a 180-square-foot office and maintenance garage, two detention ponds and a parking lot for employees.

Phase II will have an area for residents of all three towns to drop-off standard household recyclables and a new 6,400-square-foot building for the demolition of construction materials. “They will just be separating (the materials) there,” Houston said.

There is a possibility for a Phase III, which would be expanding the second building to include another 3,200 square feet of space, enough for two trailers to be pulled in back-to-back to the building, Houston added.

About 30 people attended the meeting, but only about six of them — including Hanks of Northfield, Dawson of Tilton and John Scanlon of Tilton — raised objections to the plan.

Scanlon said that his job involves collecting hazardous waste materials and it’s not uncommon to see the harsh chemicals slipped into the regular trash.

“We have many industries that produce hazardous waste in this area,” he said. “It’s very expensive to get rid of, and the temptation is always there to sneak this into the regular trash, especially for small business that can’t afford the (disposal) costs or who are unaware of the laws.

“If it happens, it’s forever,” Scanlon added. “It’s done... Northfield and Tilton, all those people, will have no drinking water. All it would take is one truck to veer off the road off Route 140 and the people in these two towns will be ruined… This is one of the most important protected aquifers in the state.”

Belmont resident George and Susan Condodemetraky were also among the small group who raised concerns about the new facility.

Mrs. Condodemetraky said state statutes do not allow a solid waste facility to be built over an underground water supply.

“I don’t think the state should allow a solid waste facility to be placed over our aquifer,” she told the DES engineers. “On these grounds, I don’t think the state should even be considering this.”

However Guilfoy of the DES said the statute does did pertain to the aquifer in Belmont, because it is not classified.

“In one way, the whole state of New Hampshire is an aquifer,” he said.

Mr. Condodemetraky said he was concerned about harmful fluids flowing off the trucks and into the groundwater.

“The soil there is sand and gravel. It’s very porous,” he said. “You say there’ll be no trucks outside, but we all know that’s not possible. You’re going to have trucks waiting out there and when it rains, the fluids will seep into the drainage and be absorbed into the soil. Where’s the protection?

“I think this is a very serious matter,” he added. “I have no objection to building a facility in Belmont, but not over the aquifer. If there’s a problem, it would takes years to fix. Bestway would probably go bankrupt because it would be too expensive to fix, so it will be the town’s problem.”

Brian Watterson, chairman of Belmont’s Board of Selectmen, said that the town board supported the construction project.

Town Planner Candace Daigle reported that she’d heard from officials in both Tilton and Northfield officials this week that said their Board of Selectmen also supported the idea.

Belmont Planning Board Chairman Peter Harris commended Bestway for sticking with its plans for two years, and making numerous adjustments to meet the town’s requirements.

Belmont resident Donna Cilley seemed to reproach the Tilton residents for raising objections to the solid waste facility at this point.

“Tilton has expressed no interest in Belmont in regards to the building that’s gone on in the exit 20 area,” she said. “And they have places there that make countertops, construction plants… Things that are a lot more dangerous to the environment than this.”

At the conclusion of the meeting, Guilfoy said his staff would likely have their decision on the project within the next month.