Hearing Slated for C&D Project

E.L. Harvey & Sons’ proposed C&D and recycling plant in Hopkinton, Mass., is slated to come before the city’s Board of Health next week. The company, which has been looking to build a 80,000-square-foot facility adjacent to their existing facility, located in Westborough, is scheduled to present its case to interested parties.

Before receiving local approval for the C&D/commercial and industrial recycling facility, the company is required to appear in a public forum where a host of parties may present their case why the facility should or should not be built.

According to local press reports, the proposed facility would include around 20,000 square feet dedicated to construction and demolition operations.

Ben Harvey, With E.L. Harvey, Westborough, Mass., said the company already has received approval from the state of Massachusetts’ Secretary of Environmental Affairs and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The final hurdle will be local approval.

According to Robert Rasmussen, with Epsilon Associates, an environmental and engineering firm headquartered in Maynard, Mass., a public forum will be held Oct. 1, followed the next day by a public hearing. Epsilon Associates was hired by the Hopkinton board of health to act an independent hearing officer.

While Harvey says that the proposed project has run into some opposition, he says much of it is due to the NIMBY (not in my backyard) philosophy that is typical of any company in the recycling or solid waste field.

After completion of the public hearing, the board of health will have 45 days to approve the site.