Some residents who live near the landfill filed a lawsuit claiming town officials violated an agreement with the state restricting the use of the landfill to active or passive recreation.
This capped landfill is the site of the proposed solar project in Amherst. AMHERST – Town counsel Joel B. Bard has filed papers seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed against the town to stop a solar project from being built on a closed town landfill.
A group of 13 residents who live in the Amherst Wood Community near the town’s capped landfill filed suit in June in Hampshire Superior Court claiming town officials violated an agreement with the state restricting the use of the landfill to active or passive recreation.
The town is entering into a long-term lease with Boston-based BlueWave Capital Inc. to bring a solar array to that capped landfill. Neighbors have been critical of the project, claiming that it poses health and safety issues.
“Our attorneys believe this lawsuit has no legal merit. This is a strong project that received overwhelming support from the Select Board and from Town Meeting and it has widespread support from the community at large,” said Town Manager John P. Musante in a statement.
The town must seek permitting approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection and from the Zoning Board of Appeals. “Discussions with the Department of Environmental Protection are ongoing, and the project will proceed only if the town has fully satisfied all DEP requirements,” Musante stated.
In the late 1980s, the town received a state grant to help pay costs associated with capping the landfill.
According to the lawsuit, the town was supposed to have filed a deed restriction with the state within six months of signing the agreement “and prior to submitting a request for final payment” in 1989.
The suit claims that the construction and operation of a solar array is not an active or passive recreational use, and the defendants “are attempting to take advantage of their own lack of compliance with the grant agreement by taking the position that use of the landfill is not restricted” because the deed restriction was not filed.