Neighbors of the Global Waste Recycling Facility in Coventry, R.I., got to breathe, at least a little, sigh of relief last Friday when a superior court judge continued a motion to hear testimony from a Global expert witness on why the company should be allowed to process material on site.
Kent County Superior Court Judge Netti Vogel continued a motion on why Global Waste Recycling on why the company should be allowed to process material on site. The continuance was made because Global's expert witness, Bill Bettez, was unavailable on March 16th to provide testimony in favor of processing stockpiled construction debris.
"We're objecting to that [motion]," said John A. Langlois, senior legal counsel for the DEM. Langlois said that Global was fined for operating without a license, the company still does not have a license, therefore should not be allowed to process material on site.
The agreement that Global has with the DEM and the court system allows only for Global to remove stockpiled material and transport it directly to the Central Landfill in Johnston.
According to Langlois, Global needs to move 15,000 tons of that material to the landfill by March 31, in addition to 15,000 tons each quarter with "Compliance Milestones" set at March 31, June 30, and September 30. By December 31, Global must remove all the material from the site.
As of March 2, Langlois said, only 8,259 tons have been removed so far. Global still needs to remove another approximately 6,700 tons.
"We want the place scraped clean," Langlois said, adding that it does not matter how much material is there, Global must remove it all. Some estimates have included about 60,000 tons total. Langlois said, per court order, that Global must remove 45,000 tons by September 30. "If there's another 50,000 tons out there after that, too bad. They have to remove everything by the end of the year."
In addition, Judge Vogel continued DEM's motion to add Independent Sand and Gravel to the removal order. DEM wanted Independent added as a fail-safe to the removal plan. However, Langlois said that the judge thought it more prudent to allow Global to continue as they have shown progress in removing material.
Judge Vogel continued the processing hearing until April 5.
Langlois said that both Global and Independent Sand and Gravel have combined over $550,000 worth of fines still pending. A hearing by the Administrative Adjudication Department of DEM has scheduled a hearing on the disposition of those fines for March 25. Langlois said that the Global attorney would have a settlement offer by before that time. The Global attorney, Gregory L. Benick could not be reached for comment as he was on vacation. Coventry (Rhode Island) Courier