[Music] okay folks we'd like to get things going for this evening um if we could all have you please sit down and as I said earlier there's a signin sheet so if you didn't sign in could you do please do so before the end
of the evening yeah okay we're going to get things going here if I could um first I'll introduce who's sitting here uh my name is Robert Oliva I'm the city engineer for the city of Garder next to me is director uh DPW director Dane Arnold uh
next to him at the end of the table is Chris Coughlin he is the DPW business manager and tonight making our presentation is Megan gado um project manager for us for Woodard and Curran um they're working on all the the permitting and the design of the Sledge
landfill um so with that thanks Rob can everyone hear me okay A little okay all right let me know and I'll adjust uh hello and welcome uh today's meeting is about the gardener Sledge
landfill Expansion Project this is the public information meeting associated with the projects Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act or meep draft environmental impact report or deir um it's currently available on the
city's website for public review so we're going to start a 30 minute presentation and then transition to a public hearing format so that we may hear those that wish to make comments tonight my name is Megan G I'm with Woodard and Karen and I'm in aicp
planner with over 10 years of experience in the fields of planning and environmental review uh more specifically I work on Water and Sewer infrastructure and resiliency related projects uh and I'm the project manager for this Project's environmental
review today we will cover how wastewater treatment service works in the city the process of disposing Wastewater residuals which are also known as biosolids or sludge the Massachusetts Environmental
Policy Act or meepa environmental review process and its Rel ated public involvement plan or pip and the city that the city is undertaking for this project uh we'll also do a description of the project the Alternatives analyzed
in the draft environmental impact report or deir and then we will finish with an opportunity for public comment as well as instructions on how to continue to send comments as you review the environmental documents so wastewater treatment
service how does it work so when you flush the toilet at or take a shower wash dishes or do the laundry the water goes down the drain at your home and to the wastewater treatment plant the wastewater treatment plant treats that water to regulatory standard levels and
discharges the clean water into the otter river through the process there is a solid Left Behind called biosolids or sludge which is a nutrient-rich natural byproduct of the wastewater treatment process that requires
disposal in Garder Sledge is trucked from the wastewater treatment facility to the local Sledge landfill which is a line facility that's been operating since 1990 nearly 34 years and is now almost at capacity now the landfill is designed in
such a way that lee8 is collected and sent back to the wastewater treatment facility for treatment now lee8 from uh from bios solids consists of latent moisture that remains after the city's wastewater treatment plant mechanically
dewaters it to the extent possible um and some precipitation that filters through the landfill next slide so Wastewater residual disposal what is the issue again Wastewater residuals are known as
bio solids or Sledge it is currently projected that the existing Sledge landfill will reach Capac capacity between 2027 and 2030 this lifespan projection is based on the latest annual operations report capacity
will be reached based on existing us usage expansion is not needed because of added demand of service due to population growth or new development so what do we do with our biosolids once we reach capacity well the city needs an option
to continue its Wastewater services without interruption that is feasible permittable and cost effective and the city has been exploring various options since 2016 Additionally the city seeks to provide the service of managing the
city's Wastewater in a manner that works to maintain a reasonable cost to sewer rate payers prevent raw sewage from contaminating local Waters and Implement a solution that meets 2027 disposal needs we also want to avoid the
importation of sledge from other sources and converting the city of gardener wastewater treatment facility into a regional receiving facility the Sledge landfill expansion as proposed would meet all of these objectives and would fulfill the purpose and need of
the project um if capacity is not expanded at the Sledge lill one of the Alternatives would be to contract with an off-site hauler and Sewer rate payers could see a doubling of their current sewer rates later in the presentation we
will will touch upon Alternatives analyzed in the draft environmental impact report and review other environmental implications in addition to the cost of service of the project and the project Alternatives the biosolids market is interconnected and sledge generated in
one state are frequently disposed of in another thus is it important to view the regional market as a whole rather than considering state byst state or location by location conditions the state recently looked at this issue for the greater New England area and the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recently released a study on the current and near-term destinations for Massachusetts sludge the report noted challenges and potential disruptions in each method of disposal particularly particularly with
evolving regulations and capacity limitations it notes the op options for managing sludge in the region are shrinking the Challen challenges faced here in Gardner are seen through this report as representative of the region as a whole where there's an increase in
disposal fees and a volatility to those disposal fees and sledge waste being hauled to greater and greater distances in this Mass d report landfills are credited as providing an important option to the event that other
disposal methods run into issues and when landfills close Market demands lead to increased disposal fees and sledge wases ha to greater and greater distances in 2023 Sledge was hauled from 1 to 424 miles for further processing or
disposal with an average hauling distance of 96 miles this Mass D study was reviewed in the development of the Project's draft environmental impact report in summary the state plan informed the analysis of the deir and
are aligned with its conclusions next now we will take a look at the Massachusetts Environmental Protection act or meepa the state's environmental review process and where we are in that process as well as the Project's public involvement plan or pip next
slide this slide shows the timeline of the project from when planning and Analysis began to when the Sledge landfill is projected to reach capacity the planning and Analysis for this project began in 2015 and various project Alternatives were analyzed this
work was refined over a 7 18month period and presented to city council at a public Hearing in September of 2016 efforts then began on the Sledge landfill expansion projects design permitting an environmental review an an
environmental notification form or enf was submitted to meepa in December of 2022 public comments were received by meepa on that enf and meepa issued a certificate requiring the preparation of a draft environmental impact report
since then the city has been working to develop the report and its analyses as you can see we are here tonight at the Project's public information meeting we anticipate hearing public comments tonight updating the deir as necessary and submitting it to meepa at the end of
the month the state agencies and the public will then have a formal 30-day review and public comment period before issuing a meepa certificate on the deir as I said the de IR is already on
the city's website for public review so Contin so consider tonight a sneak peek before the formal process starts we anticipate meepa certificate on the deir when issued to explain next steps and what would be required for a final impact report or an
feir that work would happen concurrent with any necessary project design revisions permit applications for approval to construct and followed by project implementation it is important to note that the project has been refined through the environmental review process to date for
example early on in the process nearby Wetlands were identified during the Conservation Commission process and the footprint of the landfill expansion was reduced this is what the process is for to ensure that the project considers its environmental impacts to the maximum extent practicable the impacts found
through the deir analysis are disclosed in the deir and measures have been Pro and measures have been proposed to mitigate those impacts if you're interested in seeing those I encourage you to review chapter 10 of the deir
which is on page 125 of the PDF if you navigate to the report from online from the city's website furthermore the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection through permitting will scrutinize the project and ensure before approval all
environmental impacts have been considered and mitigated in summary there has been a lot of work completed to date and it's important to stick to the schedule so that the facility can be structed constructed before the existing landfill reaches capacity next
slide so now the draft environmental impact report is a closer look at the Project's potential environmental impacts it is used as a tool to understand the potential impacts of a project and to convey to the public what those potential impacts are so what is
in the deir this slide provides the outline of the report it follows the scope of the meepa issued certificate so you have project description and permitting which is a detailed project description and any of
the necessary required permits the project uh may may need an Alternatives analysis that looks at the project landfill closure and off-site Hauling and hydro hydrothermal carbonization
technology it also has a chapter on environmental justice um which has the public involvement plan as an appendices uh and I will go into more detail on the public involvement plan on later slides uh you also have various chapters
that go into more detail on each aspect of the project and its potential environmental impacts and those mitigation measures so you have landfill design and construction what a single construction event versus a phase construction event would look like
groundwater storm water air quality climate change and construction period impacts then there chapter 10 is the mitigation chapter so it's a summary of all of the former chapters that have uh
a concise description of the impacts and the mitigation measures so that's a good summary chapter uh and then response to comments so that would be anyone that made a comment in 2021 2022 they have been
cataloged and addressed in that chapter and followed by uh a circulation list so everyone that will receive not notification um of this project and um when this draft document is submitted to
meepa uh list of preparers so you know who uh has been working on the document and followed by appendices that have project drawing the public involvement plan and the output from resilient Mass next
slide uh I would also like to mention that hard copies of the draft environmental impact report are available at City Hall city clerk's City Clerk's Office room 121 the Levi Haywood Memorial Library and the Department of Public
Works so the concerns addressed in the deir so some of you this evening may have submitted public comments ments on the environmental notification form in 2021 2022 those concerns were reviewed cataloged and addressed in this draft
environmental impact report that catalog of comments and responses can be found in chapter 11 of the deir which starts on page 134 of the PDF if you're navigating it electronically from the city's website all comments are addressed but
the most common themes found were on the topics of Alternatives analysis trails and Recreation air quality and odor the concerns over groundwater contamination and concerns regarding impacts to environmental justice populations commenting on the enf in
2021 2022 was just the first opportunity through the environmental review process to make a public comment at the end of this presentation I will review the additional opportunities you will have to comment on the project then once the deir is submitted to meepa there is a
formal 30-day period where you can submit a comment on the deir and then there will be further opportunity to comment on uh through the FEI process next slide so now the public involvement plan
so as required by the meeper certificate issued on the deir a public involvement plan was developed and it is appendix B of the deir it is also a standalone PDF on the city's website the team consulted the
meepa public involvement protocol for environmental justice populations to develop this plan and met with the meepa office on multiple occasions the PIP follows the meepa public involvement protocol and includes the table of contents you see on this
slide um it is a condensed version of the deir um the deir chapters of the project description environmental justice and mitigation measures um followed by the public involvement history and
measures to enhance public involvement so I just want to be clear here that we're seeking your comment not just on the deir tonight but this pip as well so this draft pip is intended to be a living document meaning that it may be revised as necessary during the course
of the project if revisions are proposed the city will add the proposed changes to the online reposit atory and will send notice of the availability of recommended changes to the email list the draft pip will be appended to
the deir when filed with meepa however will continue to be utilized and updated through the environmental review and permit process next slide so this is where you can see you can access the public involvement plan paper copies will be available upon
request and we're seeking feedback tonight on the PIP if you do not wish to speak tonight you can also email the team at slf gardner. goov don't worry if you don't get this information down now I will have it repeated on the last side or I
can leave that up during the public Hearing Pro portion of tonight's meeting so now a little more detail on the project for context here's an aerial view of the location of the sludge landfill Expansion Project as it relates
to where we are meeting tonight the black outline shows not just the proposed disposal area but also the footprint of the access road and the storm water best practice management features or bmps also also represented
here is the one mile radius from the project site that's in pink next slide so the project would construct an 8.75 acre expansion to the city's existing Sledge landfill located at 850
West Street immediately west of the existing landfill it would increase the disposal capacity by approximately 2765 cubic yard yards which is conservatively projected to accommodate the city's Sledge production for at
least 17 years or until 2044 the project would allow for continued sludge landfill operations as an extension of the western face there'd be no change in operation meaning no additional sludge than what is currently being handled would be added the project
is being designed to meet epa's resource conservation and Recovery Act standards and mass DP residual and biosolids pro program designed standards and requirements which references solid waste facility regulations and would ultimately be approved by those agencies
if if all requirements are met construction of the project involves the REM removal of vegetation and forested area then removing up to 20 ft of soil and regrading the project site to establish a subbase the subbase will be minimum of 4T above seasonal High
groundwater elevation the project would leave the remaining 100 102.2 acres on the project area undeveloped the project area is 850 West Street tax lot which is denoted by the red line in summary the project
would meet the city's objectives provide a reasonable cost to sewer rate payers and meet 2027 disposal needs next slide so some of the features of the project to protect human health in the environment include a groundwater
protection system that would consist of five impermeable layers which would introduce redundancy into the system for enhanced protection there would also be a leak deten detection system and a leee collection and conveyance system which
will take water from the landfill back to the wastewater treatment facility for treatment next Slide the primary environmental concern for any landfill is contam mination of leachate lee8 for biosolids consist consists of Laten moisture that remains
after the city's rainwater treatment plant mechanically dewaters it to the extent possible and some rain that filters through the landfill regular inspections and contracted environmental monitoring are included in the landfills operation landfills operation and maintenance plan
to monitor the performance of the groundwater protection system this includes daily weekly monthly and quarter L exp in inspection tasks next slide so now I will talk about the
alternatives to the project under the landfill closure and off-site Hauling alternative the remaining capacity of the existing Sledge landfill would be used until 2030 the landfill would not be expanded and a landfill closure plan would be developed
and executed the city would then contract with a private hauler to haul Sledge from the city's Wastewater Treatment Facility in Templeton to another receiving facility outside Garder hauling sludge to another receiving facility would require consideration of the following factors
Logistics of Contracting with a private hauler which involves variable contract limit term limits and stringent hauling requirements disposal fees location of receiving facilities which involves driving distances driving time Associated vehicle and greenhouse gas
emissions drivers pay and Hauling routes potentially through State designated environmental justice communities and available capacity of nearby receiving facilities so how much capacity do those have and for how long the benefits of this alternative
include limited additional Capital cost to the city additional additionally with the closure of the existing landfill in 2030 this alternative would result in a reduction in localized odors associated with operations odors associated with the transport of sledge would still
occur under this alternative the disadvantages of this alternative include significant cost uncertainties associated with the waste hauling Market the city would be subject to Contracting with a private hauler and thus Contracting ter rates and terms
current trends in the sludge disposal H Market have introduced substantially upward trending instability in disposal fees as confirmed by mass dp's study additionally there is significant uncertainty about the future of the Sledge Market the closure the closure of
one disposal location is likely to increase hauling prices across the market as Regional disposal capacity is further restricted the image on the slide shows the potential truck routes from the city's Wastewater Treatment Facility in Templeton it would be
difficult to assume what role W what route a hauler would take although using information from Mass dp's recent study it's likely that a hauler would go North to Canada which may seem even see even more volatility given the current geopolitical
climate South to Rhode Island which is currently seeing pressure to close facilities or west to New York or Pennsylvania which are increasingly running out of capacity in summary this alternative would eliminate the need for expanding the landfill however come at a cost to
sewer rap payers of the city and ultimately this alternative is not considered to be an economically or environmentally resilient choice for the community next slide so the pitchburg biosolids Management Facility or
BMF uh this alternative considers the use of planned fit Fitchburg BMF as the specific off-site disposal location for Gardener sludge this project is intended to be a public private partnership however a private partner has not been
identified Fitchburg project if constructed would reuse the site of the City of Fitchburg wastewater treatment facility former West plant to become a regional biosolids facility the Fitchburg project it funded permitted and built could receive sludge
generated at the city of Gardner for further treatment and Disposal currently the project is in its infancy with significant uncertainty about the project moving forward in 2023 the plan Fitchburg project had a projected schedule of 3 years that
included environmental review permitting design and construction with the intent of being operational by 2027 however currently environmental review has not commenced if a private partner was identified and environmental review commenced this year the facility might
be operational in 2028 at the earliest if contracts are in place to accept Gardener Sledge prior to operation this alternative might conceivably be available before the existing landfill reaches capacity however lacking Financial backing there is uncertainty around this project uncertainty around
this Project's advancement there is also uncertainty around the time frame of environmental review and permit permitting process which could take longer than anticipated this High degree of uncertainty surrounding the Fitchburg project makes this a high-risk alternative and therefore infeasible for
Sledge disposal for the gardener for the city of Gardner to meet its 2027 disposal needs Excuse excuse me sorry sorry under this alternative modifications would be made to The
Gardener's wastewater treatment facility sorry one second okay that should be enough coughing um so under this alternative modifications would be made to the Gardner wastewater treatment facility to process sludge and other organic
materials such as food waste or septic waste using hydrothermal carbonization technology and facilitate a regional bio solids facility in the city of Garder it is assumed that hydrothermal carbonization would require
approximately 5 acres and that and that this could be accommodated at the gardener excuse me it is assumed that the that the hydrothermal carbonization would require approximately 5 acres and that this could be accommodated at the gardener wastewater treatment
facility however this alternative still produces a byproduct that requires sale if there's a market a waste energy system that connects to the electrical gas or grit gas or electrical G or disposal the somac study estimated the cost of hydrothermal carbonization
system to be approximately 9.9 million however it appears that this cost estimate did not include other components that would be necessary to implement this alternative such as a receiving facility and potentially also did not consider additional conveyance infrastructure Odor Control Systems gas
treatment system a generator to turn the S Gast into energy and Associated infrastructure to connect the delivery of the energy to the electrical or gas grid this figure illustrates the schematic components both included and excluded from the sex cost estimate
there would also be costs associated with the operational shift to hydral carbonization such as staff and training the cost of Energy Engineering required to design the upgrade permitting the cost to construct the system all of which were not included in sex's
study due to the significant planning and design as well as the identification of funding sources that remain to be developed for hydrothermal carbonization this alternative is likely not feas is not a feasible option to meet Gardner's 2027 disposal needs however
given the desire for a regional facility efforts and collaboration with the state should continue to be explored for a longer term solution to the city and the Region's Sledge disposal needs and electri electricity generation goals nonetheless this alternative was conceptually evaluated in the
Alternatives analysis of the deir for its potential environmental impacts in comparison to the project sorry so how do the Alternatives stack up to one another with respect to environmental impacts I know this is a difficult slide to read here but I
encourage you to review it either electronically on the city's website or via hard copy at City Hall public works or the library it's uh page 73 of the PDF the bright green boxes or the double plus signs
denote a positive impact the bright red or double negative denote uh a a negative impact the light green and plus one sign denote no impact light orange or minus
one sign only means that it may have been comparatively higher negative than the project and the gray means that there is not enough information to determine an impact this is the most succinct way to review the Alternatives analysis chapter if anyone was interested in streamlining
their review so opportunities for public comment again the deir and pip are available for review at the city's website now which is ahead of the standard meepa review period which we anticipate beginning March 1st if you
filed a comment on the enf or environmental notification form please find it in chapter 11 of the deir alternatively you can email slf gardner. goov until February 15th and as an alternative to email you
can call the Department of Public Works to ask questions or give comments at 978 630 8195 we anticipate filing the deir and Pip with meba on February 28th if it is deemed complete by meepa it
will be published in the environmental monitor which will start the formal 30-day public comment period on the deir so consider it's a sneak peek of the documents with added review time for the public once again once filed with meepa
at the end of the month that's the link to make a formal public comment and the documents are available on this on that City Link uh right now so now for the public comment period uh the logistics for tonight's
public comment I'd ask that everyone please be respectful so that we may allow everyone to speak please limit your comments to 3 minutes um please try not to repeat what's been said or submitted so that we may hear from for more
folks um and we're here to listen tonight uh so comments will be recorded and addressed in the deir and pip if there are a lot of process related questions we'll try to address those tonight or in an FAQ on the city's website uh following this this meeting
um if you do not wish to speak today please provide written comments to slf Gardner ma.gov um you can now start to line up at the podium for for comment period thank you that's a great question yes you um
feel free to comment here and also submit a written comment comment on the through the email address when when you line up at the podium to make a comment if you could please identify yourself um and before you start a comment thank you
[Music] good evening can anyone hear me is anybody out there okay testing closer oh okay um good evening my name is
good evening my name is Mary E Marsh I live at 1 15 Acadia Road here in Garder and I'm here tonight to voice my opposition to the city of Gardener's
proposed expansion of the sludge landfill I'm sorry I'll yell is there I didn't take acting in school I don't know how to project oh thank you um
that's what I get for going first okay how's this okay I'm here tonight to voice my opposition to the city of gardener proposed expansion to the Sledge
landfill my concern concerns are many including about the high cost for a project that is only going to be a temporary solution to a longterm issue of disposal of the sewage sludge that we will continue to generate long after the
17-year life of the new expansion and also about the destruction of nearly 9 acres of forested land and pollution of water and air I wish to address the issue of air qual quality which has been diminished by each of the
dumps and landfills on West Street the current Sledge landfill emits a stench for 9 months out of the Year along with the nauseous odor of the sewage sludge itself as it is trucked and dumped in the site and sits under the hot sun
until the smell is overwhelming there are gases emitted which are not harmless the gases like hydrogen sulfide the gas that smells like rotten eggs and methane which is odorless but deadly are
released as the organic matter in the Sledge decomposes the stench emitted by the current Sledge landfill is so overwhelming at times for those of us who have our loved ones buried at St John's and notredam cemeteries as well
as the other two cemeteries the smell emitted by the Sledge landfill can be very overwhelming from my own experience I can affirm that the smell and whatever gases are blown by the breeze over these
two cemeteries have caused me to cut short visits to my families and friends Graves as I experienced headaches and nausea within the span of 15 minutes I have not only taken care of the graves of my loved ones but also have made an
effort each year to Edge the footstones of all the veterans whose graves are in the section with my parents' Graves as the stone crop and weed seek to obliterate them I am unable effectively to do this when I'm feeling ill from breathing in
the foul Breeze that comes from the Sledge landfill expansion with another seven story pile of human waste is not going to make the air any cleaner beyond the noxious odor at the cemeteries the bre carries the smell of sewage throughout
the nearby neighborhoods including mine many times during the summer months I'm unable to sit in my backyard or even to keep the windows on the western side of my house open due to this odor do we not have the right to quiet enjoyment of the
property which we pay high taxes for although the city states there is a way to complain about the odor it is neither obvious nor easy we were told to notify the Board of Health on one occasion the woman I spoke with informed me that they
do not take complaints I was directed to notify the company that we apparently pay to manage the landfill none of my efforts to reach a person at violis were successful if the city says that they have received no complaints perhaps this
is why considering that there are options available that literally won't be a money pit along with the sludge pit and that are less expensive and more environmentally viable we should be pursuing options that will last longer
than 17 years thank you for your time [Applause] [Music] good evening Jeff lro uh resident 59 uh
Fernwood Drive uh here representing myself as a resident uh thank you for the presentation um I just uh would like to say that the the smell that emanates from the sludge landfill has gotten better over the years and everybody
knows that to changes in management but uh even as recently as the last couple of years I live a mile away and you can smell it where I am at my house once in a while um it's it's very uh seldom now it used to be M much more frequent um
but I wonder if the the site were to be expanded would that be worse uh the other thing I think is with all the great things that Gardener's doing over the last few years uh the city's really starting to gain a reputation of a place that people want to be again and a place that the people that live here can be
really proud of and in particular all the improvements with the downtown a lot of people are coming to Garder as a destination now and wanting to be here and visit it and are impressed with all of those things I can't help but wonder if uh with a larger sludge landfill just down the road if if that smell is to
emanate if that might have some you know negative impl implications on all the positive things that have happened in recent years that are a real benefit to the city um other than that the only thing I can say is that I encourage the city to
look at every alternative I won't oppose one or the other or advocate for one or the other because I'm not an expert on any of them however what I do know is that landfilling sludge is one of the most primitive of the methods and that very few communities are doing that now
Statewide or Nationwide they're looking at other alternativ so when when there's an alternative to potentially produce clean energy which then provid you with another resource from what's left of a resource that we're using right uh I
think that trying to produce clean energy is a wise thing right because that makes things more affordable and more sustainable for the environment and there's nothing more important than the Clean Air clean water uh that that we drink um and our soils are a big part of
that in our groundwater the only question I had with the presentation the the site that was shown is that the the existing or former sludge landfill or water treatment facility I should say that was in West
fitzburg where where the paper mills used to send all of their Wastewater and sludge in Fitchburg yeah okay right I thought so so there seemed to be a lot of uncertainty or a lack of
confidence in that site because there are some unknowns associated with the only thing that I thought of when looking at that is that that particular site was built uh to handle the waste water of all of the paper mills in West Fitchburg and sludge from those
facilities right and there was probably a lot of uncertainty when that was built around whether or not it could make any difference because if anybody here knows or remembers at that time you could smell the nashille river before you saw it and on some days you could probably
smell it from up here and Gardener and when you could see it it ran in several different colors kind of like the colors that were on the big graph that you put up the the rusty Browns and the yellows and the greens and even deep Reds so the Nashville River was a horrible
environmental catastrophe full of sludge That Was Then treated by that same site that you showed a different treatment plant but that treatment plant then for many many years treated the waste water that came out of those uh paper mills many of them High concentration of paper
mills and release for many years clean water to the nashille river now the nashille river runs clean so I would give some thought to having a little more confidence in the ability of the City of Fitchburg in their project to
take on the next level of technology for water treatment because they've proven themselves in the past by doing it once before and that's really all I have to say so I encourage the city to to look at all of these alternatives make good decisions thank you so much have a great
[Applause] evening my name is Susan Russo I reside at 211 Betty Spring Road in Gardner I'm also a I'm also an AB butter to the sludge landfill I am against this proposed
landfill expansion last year the Civil environmental Consultants the CC did two water tests on our Pro Pond they found that 14 dioxine was detected a pond that my grandchildren enjoy fishing
and catching frogs and turtles my grandchildren 14 dioxine is a solvent in manufactur chemicals from items such as Cosmetics detergents and shampoos one4 dioxine can cause problems to the Li Li kidneys as well as some
cancers the city needs to hire a licens sight professional to find out where this is coming from we need to find out now if there is a leak coming from the sludge landfill or the capped solid Wasteland fell liner more monitoring and
testing needs to be done before it gets worse a solution and it needs to be fixed thank you [Applause]
um well I was gonna oh I'm Deb Aly and um I was going to be speaking about the couldn't hear
usually everybody has time to shut up yes I'm Deborah Ally and um I was going to speak of the problem that she was speak that Sue was speak that Sue was speaking of as far as
the poison going into their land into to their two small ponds and I just wanted to add what some of the other the health effects is terrible irritation of eyes
um nose throat and skin organ damage cancer coughing headaches nausea and vomiting um vertigo loss of coordination and the long and the longterm affects
liver and kidney damage and death the US EPA lists the problems with it with cancer just plain and simple cancer the um
um I can't read my own my own writing um another one likely cancer and in children which really this this really was scary to read and children um they
can get cancer from the moment they're conceived if the mother is drinking this water so my main concern is the poison that's getting in there and uh having some good
testing done by professionals hello I am Vicki hydorn I live in Gardner about a mile and a half from the landfill and I use speak louder that's
better thank you I use the a wildlife conservation area for my Recreation and it is dangerously close to the current sludge landfill and
expanding in that direction will tear out pristine forestry that is uh supports the wildlife I am um uh also aware that the Miller River
Watershed is below this area and any leaks that could possibly happen will affect the water supply not only of Templeton but also any one fed by the
Miller River Watershed I oppose the expansion of the current sludge landfill thank [Applause] you thank you can everybody hear me can wow this is
bad can can everybody hear me all right we're going to start real loud thank you my name is Alan Russo 211 Betty Spring Road Gardener Mass my property at 500 Notre Dame Road
AB buts the sludge landfill site I am opposed to the proposed sludge landfill Expansion Project for a number of reasons this is not the best or even an acceptable solution for Garder at this this
time the sludge landfill expansion is a poor financial choice for the city it is all cost and no Revenue the sludge landfill is a money pit the sludge landfill is a liability for us and for
future Gardener Generations we need a solution that will generate some revenue or at least not create another liability for the city we need another Revenue source to counter the impact of rising Municipal Water and
Wastewater infrastructure costs without another source of Revenue ratee payers will will be the source of uh well I'm sorry without another source of Revenue rate payers will bear the full
burden of the cost to maintain our water and wastewater infrastructure rate payers are guiding of residents and businesses the sludge landfill expansion plan is an all at once buildout rather than a
phased manner the sludge landfill expansion will require substantial capital investment that will lock the city into a non-revenue generating sludge man management solution for 17 years till the year
2044 after 24 44 there will be closure capping costs after closure there will be post closure monitoring and maintenance costs forever then in 2044 Garder will need another investment
for another sludge solution hopefully a sustainable and environmental friendly sludge solution at that time we don't need to wait till 2044 we have recently seen the high cost of the maintenance occurred at our now
closed municip ipal Solid Waste landfill off West Street the city this year will be spending a total of $814,000 per two City contracts for repairs due to erosion in storm water swailes
damaged monitoring Welles and a failing lee8 pumps future sludge landfill infrastructure infrastructure failures and potential offsite contamination are a liability to the
city alternatives are currently being utilized or planned by other communities for example Boston's Deer Island and great allence Sanitary District glsd are large scale facilities that process sludge in anerobic
digestors that generate biogas for electricity there are no sludge landfills for Boston sludge none according to the recent mass dpas and residuals management study there is significant interest in advanced
biosolid processing Technologies and there is reason to be optimistic that a number of projects will advance in Massachusetts and elsewhere in the 5 to 10 year window Garder Sledge landfill will reach
capacity in 2 to 5 years an interim short-term hallway solution must be utilized for the next few years as sustainable better opportunities are available for Gardener rather than locking Garder into
a 17-year money pit we need to focus on solutions that will generate revenue and at least not generate long-term liability for the city of Garder we've seen two SL such uh Alternatives presented
tonight in March of 2023 got received a study from somac circular Solutions headquartered in Pennsylvania the study was for a small Regional hydrothermal carbonization facility that would reeven that would generate Revenue through tipping fees
and generation of electricity the financial model projected a positive 7.7 million positive 7.7 million in 17 years and 10.9 million in 20 years
the City of Fitchburg is planning an advanced biosolid management energy facility this is a regional sludge Management Facility that will generate revenue and benefit the City of Fitchburg the facility will provide competitive rates for other communities
especially nearby communities like Garder guer can and must utilize resue generating solution and not create another long-term liability for the city the city must not commit to a 17-year sludge landfill Money Pit let's work
together towards the best economic and environmental solution for Gardner and lastly I would like to thank the Massachusetts meepa environmental justice offic Office officials for acquiring this public informational meeting without their support we would
not have received the 14-day advance notice for this meeting and we would not have received meeting materials in advance of the meeting thank you I'm not sure is it on hello can you hear
me what what every other speaker said I agree I don't uh oh sorry yeah I had everything written down but I'm out of respect for your time and your wishes I'm not going to repeat what uh the
previous speakers uh made that I agree with what the previous speakers said I'm just going to say it my name is Teresa griffi Terry griffi I'm a resident of Templeton Mass and currently serve as a member on its select board yeah so again
I uh concur with the first second and third four fourth speakers um they all speak to me but I'm here uh specifically to I'm going to the end so forgive me as a state of the art as
state of the art as your expansion plans might be consider what is happening at your current location to which there are no specific answers currently there are two monitoring Wells up for repair currently there are 33 exceedances according to State Standards currently
there is no plan in place to make Temple and aware of these or future problems to my knowledge the expansion comes within 48 miles of our otter river which has two Zone 2 public Wells and several private Wells myself and a host of
Templeton residents want to know should our wells get contaminated now or in the future is Garder going to pay to replace them is Garner going to prepare is Garner prepared for a class action lawsuit should the sludge landfill um be
found responsible for River contamination problems going west your proposal is all well and good but the proof is in the pudding with two broken monitoring Wells and 33 State exceedances this expansion is sure to follow suit please heed the mass d as
they um have found that this is definitely a problem throughout the state by seeking an alternative sustainable solution I'm against against this plan and this expansion thank you Paul De Mayo Gardener
residents I am in opposition to the Garden of sludge landfill expansion and these are the reasons why the present sludge landfill has been a disaster and not properly monitored
and managed there have been two Conservation Commission enforcement orders after two catastrophic releases of contaminated Leia into a joining
Wetlands these Wetlands flow directly into the otter River the storm water management plan managed by the EPA and D has
failed D has investigated twice but has taken very little action in protecting Public Health EPA has investigated once and found the city of Gardner to be lacking
a permit which they graciously allowed them to correct without any [Music] finds upon the uh sludge landfill um expansion in
height a pond was created around 2020 and in the fall of 2024 there was a breach of this Earth and Dam and leech it here again released
in into the adjoining wetlands and pond of alen Russo the storm water management plan is 41 years old and dates back to
1984 it is time for it to be Revisited 14 dioxan has leached from the closed landfill and most probably the sludge landfill though Gardner's DPW
director Dane Arnold won't admit to it or test for it the suspected carsen has po poisoned the wetlands and pond of alen Russo and ab budding
property owner three generations of the Russo family have now been exposed to what is believed hazardous carcinogens 14
dioxine is above D safe drinking water levels and yet to be addressed by the de and Gardener Board of Health The
Gardener Board of Health has been very LAX in protecting the public health and that of the Russo family it is proven all subsurface
Waters of the landfill and sludge landfill flow Northwest toward the town of Templeton Hil Pond is now polluted Templeton relies on public
public and private Wells for the drinking water Templeton residents health and well-being are in jeopardy with the present sludge landfill and the proposed
expansion Gardner's 73% environmental justice Community will be affected by the sludge landfill expansion they have not been properly
notified and engaged according to environmental justice guidelines they have been ignored Bailey Brook is not shown on any
of the proom proponent Maps as shown here tonight and is directly to the northwest of the present and proposed sludge landfill
expansion Bary Brook is Gardener's only Coldwater native troutbrook and is in Jeopardy p in one4 dioxine
releases are the biggest concerns here tonight it is just a matter of time before templeton's drinking water supplies are contaminated we all saw what happened in
Westminster with pasas and the contamination of over 125 Private Wells property values were affected by this pollution do we learn from our
mistakes or do we keep making them fitchburg's anerobic digestor is in the planning stage and the perfect solution to Garder sludge
disposal we need to focus on a regional solution to the uh disposal of sludge and before with thinking the timing is right and I've been in contact with uh
the fitzburg mayor she does inform me that the process of developing this um facility is moving forward now I'm going to ask that um
that does something come out of this meeting tonight and it will be a request uh TOA that a site visit be um included for the public to include
flagging of the expanded um sludge um facility proposal now I'm happy to see that we have four City councilors here tonight May Nicholson is
absent there is no Board of Health members or Conservation Commission members here what a shame we have a mayor that doesn't care about his community thank you
[Applause] can everyone hear me okay all right uh my name is James Russo I'm a resident of 415 Williamsville Road phillipston I'm in opposition to this Sledge landfill expansion uh for many reasons but I'm
joined tonight uh with some of those reasons and I have my three of four children here tonight and uh they actually wanted to say something hi my name is Jimmy Russo I don't want any more Sledge landfill
expansion what did you say again my name is Rachel and I don't want the Sledge a big Sledge landfill Joseph thanks Joseph uh my kids are holding some photos of our camp that abuts the landfill
presently uh they enjoy camping hiking swimming Fishing and More here just as I did growing up as well as my father and so on Generations hopefully will'll be able to enjoy it as well the Sledge landfill risk their safe enjoyment of
this land and area around like the Cummings Conservation Area Gardner recently detected Di in the groundwater test Wells as well as one of our ponds that our children had previously enjoyed
using an environmental disaster isn't just possible it is already happening as we speak the expansion is shortsighted Gardener is historically known as The Chair City here was where bright Minds built Enterprise and
Innovation this the opportunity to show that Gardener still Harbors these qualities is right here with us with this crucial problem sludge has and will be a challenge for Garder there is the time this is the time to address the
long-term problem with the long-term solution the technology and knoow is here now not someday solutions that will not add to the troubled and permanently destroyed area landfills are man-made
nothing man-made lasts forever both both landfills will need to be maintained forever and sadly the city is already dropping the ball and failures are spreading throughout both landfills bigger landfills equal bigger problems
my children and their children will be forced to reckon with thank [Applause] youbody coming up hi without uh David Peabody 3 Jackson
Park David Peabody 3 Jackson Park Gardener Mass um a couple observations uh come to mind first of all the Alternatives in your chart I believe you've given them
short shrift negatively waiting them financially and otherwise whereas you've overestimated the savings or the economics in a sludge landfill both now sure shortterm first 3 four years but a
decade from now it's going to be very much different and at the end of the process 17 years from now or 17 years from the end of opening the expanded section you're going to have to close it and with all
those expenses um mixing mixing sludge with sand only expands the volume makes it harder to bury it all uh so let's see get my notes back up
here phone shut off itself mid piles or dung piles have been generally located downwind not upwind from civilization when they were built throughout all of history and as
they built miden piles they would build in the other direction their communities uh Babylon did slightly better they would collect all their refu their sewage and pipe it out into the
desert where it could dry up and be gone they didn't dump it back into the Euphrates or in our case overages go back into the otter River no matter what we do I understand the containment will be good but why are we still
pursuing with respect a ancient technology solution when we have other Technical Solutions available to us I realize they may be a little bit more expensive but again I
think your analysis far uh advantages the sludge dump and does not give proper weight to the technological solutions thank [Applause]
you hello my name is Phil Brer live at 182 Willis rhen Gardner I've been a gardner resident all my life and I grew up in the area just west in the West End in close proximity to the area we're talking about here tonight uh for the
record I am in opposition of expanding the Sledge landfill my concerns are basically environmental and water water quality concerns I won't go into all the details uh I agree with a lot of the comments that were made here tonight by all these folks that showed up on this
cold night but you know that whole area um there's a lot of Brooks and rivers that run through that area there's the considerations of garders residence Wells and what is the impact of the town of Temple 's primary public well that's
a very short distance from the proposed expansion uh the other item is the odor from the sludge that is artery a chronic issue I know I experience this when I go to the cemetery to do maintenance I know from the presentation
that was given here tonight uh there are some Alternatives um I agree that we should really look at all those uh right now I believe that the um the Alternatives um need to be uh due
diligence needs to be put to them but overall I think the city Desiring to go with the Sledge landfill is just a an easy way out and I feel the city is just kicking the can down the road and this will only need to be addressed in the
future I only ask that you do what is best for the community and its residents thank you [Applause] my name is David antea and I live at 444
Stone Street in Garder I am not in favor of the proposed sludge landfill extension when reviewing the alternative chart slide 24 tonight how did you make the decision that the hydrothermal
carbonization oper was not feasible when you have sections that state more information needed to determine impact two of those sections on the alternative chart that I would
like to comment are first the wetlands waterways and Tide lands and secondly Transportation under Wetlands waterways and tidal land for the sludge landfill extension
you have mitigation measures proposed for hydrothermal carbonization you state more need information is needed how can you make a comparison and a decision about the impact on Wetlands waterways
and TI lands on the Alternatives without data especially when you are completing an environmental impact study also having attended two of the viewings of the sludge lamill expansion it was
mentioned that the eser was going to be the side boundary for the 70 foot high sludge landfill expansion on page eight of the public involvement plan it states
the eser within the project site will be removed what is going to be the environmental impact to the pools and the wetlands when you excavate the esker secondly
Transportation under transportation for both the sludge lamill expansion and the hydrothermal carbonization alternative it states impacts to Transportation are not expected to occur for the Sledge
landfill expansion you Mark A Plus and for the hydrothermal carbonization you Market a negative with the comment comparatively more traffic effects than the project specifically what are the
more traffic effects that you are anticipating when comparing the project to the hydrothermal carbonization alternative it seems that you do not have complete data to base your decision
on whether or not the hydrothermal carbonization would be a better long-term solution for handling our sludge than the short-term proposed sludge landfill expansion I would suggest that more data
be collected about the hydrothermal carbonization alternative so a valid comparison and decision can made can be made between the propos landfill extension and the Alternatives
thank [Applause] you hello everybody Scott Graves 69 Lake View Drive Garden of Massachusetts I feel like I'm having Deja Vu right now because none of us
would be here right now if it wasn't for 2015 now in 2015 I was on the city council and the executive department which you see before you right now all these people work for the executive department they came to the city council and they said we're in
trouble the the sludge landfill we're at capacity we only have a a little bit more time we've got to expand uh 2015 Dan you're going to correct me if I'm wrong because maybe I get some facts wrong it wouldn't be the first time so
this was 2015 I was one of the idiots on the city council that voted okay let's do the expansion because we got the same song and dance you're seeing now money money money now the executive these guys work for the mayor the mayor's not going to do anything that's going to be more
expensive because that's going to threaten his chances of getting reelected it's just politics now in a situation like this you hear from one side only there's not there's not another side there's no pros and cons like if you you go to court you get a plaintiff and you get a defendant they
each in an adversarial process they each say their piece here you you're only going to get one side of the story so they're going to give you a presentation as they did in 2015 to make you believe that there's only one viable solution to the problem and it's money money money and
they're going to make somebody one of the some of the other people uh picked up on this they're going to make all the other possible solutions undoable and unviable because of money because let's face it if if
this wasn't the easy way to to go MoneyWise we wouldn't be doing this it's it's a stupid idea and it's it's ridiculous I mean if this was Lexington or conquer or Dover or or or whan they'd be saying what what what idea you what what idea are you coming up with this is
crazy so anyways in 2015 we heard that the sludge landfill was at its capacity we got a vertical expansion after that that gave us I guess two or three years we heard from Dane now I'm hearing that it's going to last till 2027 or 2030 so
should we be concerned that this is overflowing now like where is everything going so if we were going to reach capacity and say 2018 2019 and by the way the city did nothing after 2015 just sat on its hands and did nothing um till I don't know after I got kicked out of
city council I think maybe this started getting heated up a little bit but that was what 2019 so I don't understand how this thing can is not at its capacity when it was had its capacity in 2015 and the vertical expansion gave us another 3
years which would have tick us to 2018 but now it's going to last till 2029 the point is they're going to they're going to tell you whatever they want to tell you and until until there's another side presented and I know Allen and some people you know have have done a lot to
fight from the other side but like they say you can't fight City Hall so get used to it this is going to there's zero chance that this isn't going to happen zero chance um so thank
[Applause] you good evening everybody hear me I'd like to know all the four of you up there if you raise your hand how many of you within one mile of the toxic sludge landfill that you live there that
explains a lot if you were there or your families Liv there you'd have a different outlook on that and these people here are here for the fact of the benefit of their health their well-being for themselves their families their neighbors their animals their pets and
they worry about a lot of that stuff and you worry more about the fact of the money just as a gentleman previously said it always comes down to money I like to have every one of you up there look at these people back here behind me looking in the eyes try to convince them the fact that this
proposal you're trying to do is in the best interest of their benefit period there are different Alternatives out there to do and you know that you choose not to do it because typically it's politics and it comes down to money
these are the constituents behind me of the people that vote for the people in the town the mayor why isn't the mayor here apparently it's not a big thing for him I don't know why but he should be apparently the people voted for him who knows but when it comes down to it these
people back here their lives and their livelihood are more in tune to the fact of what they need and these people are woken up they understand what's going on in the world now and they know what's going to go on behind the halls of C of City
Hall so you best get straight and keep these people mind of the best interest of what they need to do and ey along with everybody back here oppos a sledg l INF so do the right thing thank
[Applause] you uh my name's Calvin Brooks lifelong resident and uh city counselor um it was noted that uh the mayor is not here at this
meeting he's a big boy I'm sorry he's not a he's a boy to me because he's way younger he he can take care of himself and he can speak for himself I would just like to put in the record that I believe he is in the building that there is a school
committee meeting ongoing right now he is Chairman and I believe he is at the meeting chairing the meeting thank [Applause] you I'm Tom Russo I grew up in Gardner
my in the Gardner area my whole life I'm like all the other russos right next to the property playing in a pond my two young kids also play in the pond just to tag along but the gentleman before me was just talking about the mayor has never showed up to any of these events
in the last 10 years 10 years ago Alan Russo uh excuse me the city started talking about this and Alan Russa had an event at the Garden of fishing Gun Club 10 years ago so 10 years from now after this landfill is supposedly built we get
to start this conversation all over again so I would rather not talk about this anymore and we just figure out a solution now so this never has to be talked about again sure maybe there there's going to be some logistical problems along the way you know what just like everything else we're going to
figure it out but as far as a landfill we've been dumping garbage and and in human we there for decades uh trash as far back as the 1940s and that used to be a pond they
just threw garbage in a pond and then later down the road when the EPA came around they said hey now let's put a tarp on it and then they continue to put garbage on top of it so I'm sick of talking about this just like
everybody else let's come up with a solution 12 to 15 million that's a completely different number than what we had discussed before when Allan and and Susan actually went to the
hydro uh thermal carbonization plant down in uh Pennsylvania all these numbers are different they keep changing and 12 to and even with your numbers 12 to 15 million
for a permanent solution or semi-permanent solution compared to 17 years this is crazy and for all the public officials that and elected officials or appointed officials can I ask you this how many of
you are going to be here in 17 years after this is built it's just passing the buck let's get it done I'm sick of talking about this [Music] [Applause]
hello my name is Aaron Kell I live on Pearl Street I oppose I oppose this uh Sledge landfill um one reason I it's so silly we oh birth birth rate
is down so much in the US but this sort of things makes me say no there's absolutely no way I am giving a human being to a city and a state and a country that would allow us to just put a pile of poo in the river I thought we
had learned more than that as humans um it's also in a flood area what happens at the 500 years storm what happens at the Thousand-Year storm uh I was at the site visit and the person there said oh well we didn't have to uh account for a 500e storm or a
thousand year storm but I I was just in Alabama and it snowed a and and that had never happened before so the thing weather events that have never happened before are coming and to put a pile of poo in an area that's surrounded by water seems like an absolutely
ridiculous idea um if we're having a regional waste crisis why wouldn't we want to be an epicenter of bring your waste here we would know what to do with it we can make all this amazing electricity and biochar out of it and we sell it and we create jobs and we aren't
just putting a pile Pooh in the river um I don't think that we should be doing biowarfare on tumbleton when this thing eventually leaks as it will like they all do that's going to be bow Warfare on Templeton um I would rather be poop rich
with a with the facility to deal with our waste then have another pile of poo in the woods and Allan said that we could take the old pile of poo and put it in the in the facility that we could build and we wouldn't have old pile of
poo anymore thank [Applause] you is there anyone else that would wish to speak comment questions good evening I'm Robert shephard I live at 496 West Street and
Gardener and um I'm opposed to the expansion of the sludge Landfield which I feel is nothing more than a human waste burial site I've had to put up with the smells and the uh the problems
at the present site for years and I can't imagine what it'd be like if we expand it thank [Applause] you um if there's nobody else um the meeting's been recorded um it will be
posted to the city's YouTube channel um so you're free to view it there I can't tell you when it will be but probably a few days um if there's nothing else from anyone um we we thank you for being here and we appreciate all the input um we will go
back with all your questions and concerns um they will be added to the draft environmental impact report um we'll address the ones we can um we have all the information so um if there's nothing else we can wrap up tonight or if there are other questions or
concerns I'll take that as a no um just a reminder if you have not signed the sign-in sheet um please do so um that we we know you were here here um we can add you to the distribution list material and please review their materials they
are available on the city website um as changes are made made to the public involvement plan um they'll be posted so thank you very much thank you