Harvey, Town May Be Closer To Agreement

E.L. Harvey & Sons' appeal over a recycling plant expansion in Hopkinton, Mass., may be sputtering toward resolve with the health board after months of negotiations, but nothing is signed yet and the case could still go to court.

"We're ready to go to court now," said chief executive Jim Harvey. "Our lawyer was going to meet with their lawyer to lay the groundwork to go to court. Then I talked to Steve Richmond (Harvey's attorney) late (Wednesday) night, and he said we might not have to go to court."

E.L. Harvey appealed four conditions the board set on a permit to expand its recycling facility on 40 acres in Hopkinton. The parties have been working with lawyers since December to reach an agreement.

At this point the only sticking point is a condition that would require E.L. Harvey to monitor groundwater on and downgrade of the site, including the town's old landfill, which was capped in 1986.

Nancy Peters, chairman of the city’s Board of Health, wants the recycler to compare site groundwater to drinking water standards like it does at its Westborough facility and to more critically monitor an area of environmental concern on the property.

"A lot depends on them," Peters said.

E.L. Harvey has argued it should only be held to groundwater standards for solid waste facilities, but Jim Harvey said, "we finally agreed to the drinking water standard. We always said we'll dig as many wells as you want and test as much as you want.”

";I wish I could say it's done and signed, but I can't."

";We haven't resolved it until I see the paperwork and the language involved,"; Peters said.

On March 26 Peters asked selectmen to approve a carte blanche request to consult an environmental lawyer with legal questions that Town Counsel Larry Faiman cannot answer. Selectmen must approve all requests for legal assistance.

The board asked Peters what case she needed counsel for, but she said she preferred to keep it private and would not disclose the information at the public meeting.

Selectmen denied her request but gave her permission to use one hour of Faiman's time to get a recommendation from him to consult an environmental lawyer.