E.L. Harvey Expansion Faces Opposition

A plan by E.L. Harvey & Sons to expand its operations to include recycling facilities that would include industrial, commercial and construction and demolition material is facing some resistance from protestors.

The company, headquartered in Westboro, Mass., has filed plans with the state Executive Office of Environmental affairs to expand to three abutting parcels comprising 51 acres in Westboro and Hopkinton. More than 300 people in the two towns have signed a petition stating their opposition, according to local press reports.

James Harvey, CEO of E.L. Harvey, says that the opposition, primarily from protestors in Westboro, has made the company be very careful about proceeding with the project. “We are 75 percent of the way through it right now,” he says.

The company, which is seeing a permit from the city of Hopkinton, says that they hope to receive a permit by this coming summer, with groundbreaking soon afterwards.

Harvey has been working on getting permits for the expansion for the past three years. Along with the time that it has taken to obtain the proper permits, the company also has spent around $500,000 on the permitting procedure.

The proposed project would give Harvey the opportunity to increase the amount of commercial and industrial material they take in. Additionally, the new project would allow the company to grow its construction and demolition business.

Some of the protesters cite the number of trucks that will be moving through the neighborhoods as a cause for concern.

E.L. Harvey plans to build an 80,000-square-foot recycling center, a 20,000-square-foot center for construction and demolition waste and a leaf and yard waste composting site. The business would process and take away 600 tons of recyclables a day.

Harvey says the business is responding to a state mandate to increase its recycling capacity. While the company is looking to add to its overall capacity with the new facility, Harvey has been in operation in the Westboro area for around 75 years.