Residents and Officials Stand in Opposition to the Holbrook Regional Trash Transfer Station on Anniversary of Lease Signing

Trash Transfer Station Opponents Mark 10 Years Since Lease Signing

Contact:
John Nicholson, j_a_nicholson@comcast.net
Katherine Connolly, Kathy_connolly@comcast.net

HOLBROOK – Holbrook, Randolph and Braintree residents and local leaders joined together today at the Holbrook/Randolph Commuter Rail Station to voice their disapproval of the planned regional trash transfer station in Holbrook. Organizers said the group would now carry their message to the Holbrook Planning Board and Conservation Commission meetings next week and urge the town to finally reject the project after 10 years of active opposition.

Speaking against the project were Senator Walter Timilty (D-Milton), Braintree Town Councilor Tim Carey, Randolph Town Councilor Ken Clifton, and Holbrook Activist Katherine Connolly.

“For well over a decade, I’ve been on the forefront of fighting to protect the health and safety of our children and all our residents,” said Randolph Councilor Clifton. “I’m so proud of our residents in Randolph, Holbrook, and Braintree who have come together in unity and said a loud ‘no’ to this monstrosity of a health hazard.”

The proposed regional trash transfer station, which is just yards from the train station, will process tons of waste delivered through the towns by hundreds of trash trucks every day. Residents and the abutting towns believe odor, vermin, traffic congestion, and other environmental and public health hazards are a high price to pay for a limited source of revenue Holbrook will receive for hosting this facility on Phillips Road, Holbrook.

“The Holbrook Regional Trash Transfer Station will serve no purpose and cause much harm if allowed to operate. Braintree has capacity at their transfer station and the financial cost would be significantly less if trash were brought to that facility,” said Braintree Town Councilor Carey.

The regional trash transfer station property lease between the town and the trash transfer station developer was signed in 2009 and since then, proponents have failed to win final approval because of legal appeals filed by the Town of Randolph and resident resistance. The planning board meeting on September 18 and the conservation commission on Monday night are permitting steps the developer needs to meet before the project can advance.

“This is a fight that is vital for our region,” Senator Timilty said. “This is the wrong project, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.”

With the help of federal and state preservation grants, residents want the town-owned site to be set aside as a regional buffer to protect the fragile Cochato River, which would be threatened by the anticipated pollution the transfer station will generate. A portion of the project is on the Baird & McGuire Superfund Site and the regional trash transfer station and its construction would disturb the contaminated site and pose further environmental and public health risks, residents said.

The US Environmental Protection Agency recently issued its five-year review of the Baird & McGuire site and reiterated that any development, such as the regional trash transfer station, in the surrounding area should be limited and restricted. The Baird & McGuire site is the source of groundwater contamination that led the town of Holbrook to permanently shutdown municipal wells.

Both town boards meet at town hall. Conservation commission begins at 7:30 PM and the planning board at 7 PM.

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