SHUTESBURY — A Conservation Commission enforcement order has been issued against the town after commissioners determined that the Highway Department’s bringing soil to 66 Leverett Road, the future site of a new town library, violated local and state wetlands rules.
“Filling with loam in the 100-foot buffer zone of a bordering vegetated wetland without authorization … constitutes unpermitted work under the Wetlands Protection Act and Shutesbury General Wetlands Protection Act,” the commission wrote in its Aug. 12 order.
The order, signed by Chairman Miriam DeFant and members Mary David, Robin Harrington and Beth Willson, came in response to complaints from residents Michael Hootstein and Amanda Alix.
In July, Hootstein told the commission that town officials were not following Shutesbury regulations, both in bringing fill to the site and possibly mowing wetlands plants on the property.
Commissioners began the discussion about the property after Hootstein called for diligent enforcement. “Nobody is above the law,” Hootstein said.
The order tells town officials, as landowners of the 22-acre site also known as Lot O-32, that they “shall cease and desist from any further ground disturbance or activities that remove, fill, dredge or alter wetland resource areas.” It also instructs the town to complete a wetlands delineation site plan for the entire property prepared by a qualified wetlands professional.
Town Administrator Becky Torres said Tuesday that the Select Board has no comment on the commission’s enforcement order.
A new library, at a cost of $6.4 million, is planned for the site following overwhelming support at Town Meeting last spring and a subsequent ballot vote.
At the July Conservation Commission meeting, Torres confirmed that Highway Superintendent Tim Hunting trucked in the loam and put down grass seed in the area where a garage was demolished and a concrete slab was removed.
“He brought in loam because he was trying to stabilize the area,” Torres said.
DeFant said the permit issued by the commission didn’t include any authority to bring in fill or work in a wetlands buffer zone, and the commission’s preference is for the town to come back for any permission related to work on the site.
Torres assured the commission that a wetlands delineation would be done soon, and then the library can move forward. “The whole project, we hope to move on quickly at that point,” Torres said.
The site is already classified under the state’s Chapter 21 E, also known as the Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention and Response Act.
Previous tests done on the property have revealed low levels of chemicals and gas, based on a limited site assessment done by O’Reilly, Talbot & Okun Associates Inc.
A February letter from the Department of Environmental Protection to Torres notes that “the site was formerly operated by the US Air Force/Department of Defense. Historic operation of an underground storage tank formerly located on-site or other operations by the Department of Defense are a likely source of contamination at the site.”
Torres told the commission there is no understanding that any cleanup will be necessary before the library construction begins. “That is not yet determined,” Torres said.
Alix is one of 17 residents calling themselves the “Lot O-32 Remediation Oversight Group” who have petitioned the Select Board for more information about the property out of concern that there could be multiple hazards present on the parcel, posing potential dangers to outdoor activities, “story walk” areas, and community gardens associated with the library.
“We need to know the status of this piece of land to determine whether it is safe for people to visit on a regular basis or eat food grown there,” Alix said. She also notes that the scope of services for Fuss & O’Neill, the town’s recently licensed site professional, is too limited to determine any problems that might exist.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.