DALTON, Mass. — Town officials say they are taking residents' concerns seriously regarding the dust and particulates coating bordering neighborhoods from Berkshire Concrete's unauthorized dig site, which is allegedly causing health issues.

 

In February, the town ordered Berkshire Concrete to stop work because of a "clerical error" that led to the improper notification of abutters. The parcel being excavated, No. 105-16, was not included in the permit application despite being shown on the submitted site map.

 

At the advice of town counsel, all work has stopped, and Berkshire Concrete will be required to reapply for this permit under this parcel number.

 

The Planning Board will be reviewing the mitigation plan recently submitted by Berkshire Concrete and will discuss it at a future meeting. 

 

Although the work has ceased, residents say that they are still experiencing issues because the sand from the dig site is still accessible to the wind. 

 

During Wednesday's Planning Board meeting, more than 50 residents attended, online and in person, to highlight what they have said at several meetings — the need for the town to take action to protect the community's health and environment from the sand leaving the dig site.  

 

Community members voiced frustration over being shuffled among various boards to address their complaints and called for improved collaborative communication between boards and departments.

 

Planning Board Chair Andrew Perenick said Health Agent Agnes Witkowski wrote a letter that directs Berkshire Concrete to immediately take care of the sand at the dig site to prevent it from being blown away into neighborhoods.  

 

Resident Mike Cyr highlighted how there isn't a bylaw regulating strip mining in the area, which he finds ironic, especially given the existing regulations on other public health issues, such as outdoor wood-burning furnaces.

 

Residents emphasized that Berkshire Concrete "lied about where they were digging, resulting in community members having a lack of trust in Berkshire Concrete because it has shown 'a generational disregard for the citizens of Dalton.'" 

 

This disregard was demonstrated in a petition to the Planning Board and Board of Health to take action regarding complaints surrounding Berkshire Concrete Corp. 

 

"I appreciate the work that [Lisa and David Pugh] have put in [with the petition] because I had no idea of all that history. I think I've been on the planning board for 11 years," board Vice Chair Zack R. McCain III, said.  

 

"I'm disappointed in myself for not realizing what was going on the last couple of years. That's when this started when they took all the trees down. I'm surprised they got to do that without a permit."

 

This permit was deceptive from the beginning, resident Pete Persson said. 

 

"I'm not saying intentionally deceptive, although I have my own opinions regarding that. It was deceptive. The lot number was left off of that permit," he said. 

 

The residents had no objections because Berkshire Concrete did not list the parcel on the permit, and the abutters were not notified, Persson said.

 

"That was deceptive as hell. I can't fill out a building permit and say, ‘Okay, I'm building a house on Main Street, try and figure out where I am' and that is kind of what they did," he said. 

McCain said when the permit was approved, Berkshire Concrete said no new mining was taking place and that they were processing there. 

 

"I remember, most of these guys weren't on the board at the time, [Berkshire Concrete] were only doing processing. They weren't mining," he said. 

 

"They had revegetated a bunch of areas, and now there is a solar field back there. I was under the impression they were never doing anything on the other side of the pond." 

 

It wasn't until last month, when residents Ronald and Lynne Griffin presented a map of the affected area, that he knew Berkshire Concrete was mining in that area, McCain said. 

 

All this boils down to one thing Ronald said — oversight. 

 

On Wednesday, the town met with an engineering company that would function as a third party to oversee the mitigation plan and ensure it meets the criteria to eliminate the problem, Planning Board member Robert Collins said. Collins also serves on the Select Board. Collin said he was not present during that meeting.  

 

The town was unable to hire that engineering company because they declined the project. However, the town still intends to find an engineer that is also qualified.

 

would function as a third party to oversee the mitigation plan and ensure it meets the criteria to eliminate the problem but has yet to find one. 

 

At the moment, the town would be paying for the firm. Berkshire Concrete has to be given a reasonable amount of time to rectify the problem, Collins said in the follow-up.

 

A number of issues need to be addressed when the town gets the solve the problem of how to mitigate the sand, he said. 

 

The town's first priority is mitigating the sand and ensuring everyone is safe, then, the town can consider what to do next, including whether there are any consequences for digging there and what the guidelines should be moving forward, he said in the follow-up. 

 

The samples of the sand are on its way to California, which has the only facility with a machine that can determine the type of sand, including confirming the presence of silica, Collins said during the meeting. 

 

Collins said the town had to navigate where it could send the samples and communicated with several institutions until they were eventually directed to send it to California. 

 

"Just so everybody understands, we did hear you. We just didn't know where to go get this information. And it took us all this time. It was up to last Wednesday that we just got this information…we are on track for giving you your answers," he said. 

 

Until there is a financial penalty, Berkshire Concrete will not stop because they are making money and are disregarding neighbors, and regulations, resident James "Jimbo" Doucette said.