October 15, 2019
Contact: Liz Isherwood
508-965-4191
Eisherwood@micomm.com
For Immediate Release:
Court Rules in Favor of Excel Recycling in Freetown Licensing Dispute
(Freetown, MA) —
The Town of Freetown has been ordered to reinstate the license of Excel
Recycling, LLC, according to a ruling by Judge Raffi N. Yessayan on October 3rd in New
Bedford Superior Court. The decision came after a long and expensive battle between the
Town and Excel, in which the Town of Freetown was ruled to have acted in an arbitrary and
capricious manner, as Excel sought to establish its right to a license to operate its scrap
metal processing plant in Freetown’s Campanelli Industrial Park.
“The system has worked. Justice has been served” said John Markey, attorney for Excel
Recycling.
“We are pleased that the judge recognized Excel’s significant efforts and its attempt to build
a positive relationship with the Town of Freetown and the community. From the beginning
Excel has wanted to be a contributing member of the community by providing an important
service and by creating many jobs,” stated Marty Costa, President of Excel.
Excel’s latest legal dispute with the Town of Freetown began after the Board of Selectmen
last year reversed its 2015 decision to allow the company to operate in the Town’s
Industrial Park, denying its license renewal on December 5,2018 in response to complaints
from residents about sound and emissions generated by the company’s metal processing
operations.
According to Excel, the Select Board’s decision not to renew Excel’s license jeopardized
employment opportunities and commerce to the community.
Excel started building its facility in the Industrial Park in 2015, after obtaining approval
from the Freetown Select board and Building Commissioner, who confirmed that the
company’s operations were an “as of right” use in the Industrial Park and after the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) permitted a state of the
art metal shredder and associated metal separating equipment. With all permits in place,
Excel began its operations.
After receiving initial complaints from a small group of neighbors, the company engaged
civil engineers and sound engineering experts who submitted a noise mitigation plan to the
Town and the DEP. Excel subsequently spent more than two million dollars to address the
sound issues, including but not limited to the installation of a state-of-the-art German
engineered sound enclosure. After the installation of the acoustic enclosure, noise levels
were tested by Excel’s engineers under the supervision of DEP, and air-quality testing was
completed under DEP supervision. Results demonstrated that Excel was operating in
compliance with required noise levels at all of the nearby residences and that air emissions
from Excel’s operations are within air quality regulations.
The site’s engineered stormwater system which is subject to a long-term Stormwater
Pollution Prevention Plan was inspected and found to be operating according to its design.
Furthermore, even though Excel had scientific evidence that it has been compliant with DEP
noise and emissions requirements and police logs show that a number of reported
complaints about noise emanating from the facility were unfounded, the company has taken
additional steps to appease abutters and the Town of Freetown. Among other things, it
installed liners in truck beds to reduce noise and initiated best management practices,
further mitigating sound from the operation.
Prior to receiving the favorable ruling, on two occasions Excel offered to enter into a Host
Community Agreement with the town of Freetown which would have resulted in Excel
paying the Town up to $175,000 annually – in addition to its annual property tax. That offer
was rejected by the Select Board last August without any explanation or counter proposal.
At the October 3rd Superior Court Hearing, Excel argued that when the Freetown Board of
Selectmen denied Excel’s license, it ignored the scientific documentation showing Excel’s
compliance. The Court accepted the argument noting that the Town had not conducted any
scientific testing of its own, and had no valid evidence to refute Excel’s compliance.
A locally and family-owned company, Excel Recycling, LLC was founded in 2003 and
currently owns three facilities serving Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut as well as
many parts of New Hampshire and Maine.
Read the Article in the Southcoast News:
https://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20191015/court-freetown-was-wrong-to-shut-down-excel-recycling