New Hampshire
Opinion: The untold story of DES’ new landfill siting rules
Eliot Wessler lives in Whitefield and works with a number of grassroots organizations in New Hampshire’s North Country.
New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services (DES) has the responsibility to balance the interests of landfill developers and the public. But the agency, under the thumb of outgoing Gov. Sununu, has leaned heavily in favor of the solid waste industry for years, and the New Hampshire legislature has too often gone along.
DES’ new landfill siting rules were approved at the Dec. 19 JLCAR (Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules) hearing. DES provided JLCAR with just enough half-truths that it was able to ram home a version of the rules that was heavily influenced by landfill developers.
The stink from that hearing hasn’t abated. The written testimony in advance of the hearing consisted of virtually unanimous objection from scientists and crickets from the industry. As for the hearing, the 15-20 people who showed up to provide testimony opposed to DES’ rules were denied an opportunity to testify by an administrative maneuver engineered by two of the ten JLCAR members.
Given everything we now know about the risks of PFAS contamination from landfills, including the contamination of public water supplies near Pease, the hundreds of incidents of leachate mismanagement at Casella’s NCES landfill in Bethlehem, and Casella’s hubris in trying to push through permit applications to build a brand new mega-landfill (the GSL project), it’s appalling that DES’ new rules make it easier for landfill developers to build landfills wherever they want.
The most egregious thing DES did was to weaken the hydraulic conductivity standard compared to its original proposal. The industry lobbied DES to make the change, arguing that the stronger standard would make siting landfills harder. DES caved, despite overwhelming evidence that the weaker standard dramatically increased the risk of landfill contamination, and with no countervailing evidence that a stronger standard would prevent siting new landfills.
So now we’re stuck. DES’ standard is far weaker than the standard used in both Maine and Vermont. Moreover, it is weaker than all U.S. states that have such standards, as well as many foreign countries, including countries with extremely lax environmental rules such as India.
DES is required by administrative rules, enforced by JLCAR, to make decisions on the merits of the available evidence. In weakening the conductivity standard, DES offered assertions to JLCAR but provided no evidence that the conductivity standard weakening was based on merit. In fact, the evidence presented to JLCAR seems to confirm that DES reverse-engineered the standard so that permits for Casella’s GSL project could be greenlighted:
■DES argued that the old rules did not have a hydraulic conductivity standard, so the new rules are ipso facto more protective. That defies logic given that the standard is set so low that it virtually provides a permission structure for landfills to be sited in highly permeable soil.
■DES disowned a DES-sponsored soil permeability map that showed some 85% of the state has more suitable soils for landfill siting than the GSL site. But having disowned the map, DES produced no data or evidence of any kind regarding the distribution of soil permeability in New Hampshire.
■In DES’s own words, “NHDES staff asked other concerned members of the regulated community to provide information and documents to demonstrate …foreclosing… the siting of any new landfill or the expansion of any existing landfill, but the department did not receive any supporting documentation.”
■On the same subject, in DES’ own words, “Other commenters including several industry representatives commented that the initial values…would make it very difficult to site new landfills or to expand the existing landfills in the state. One industry representative referenced a statewide study that had been conducted for a private client that they claim showed this result. The representative was unwilling to share the document.”
With JLCAR’s acceptance of DES’ Section 800 rules revisions, DES may have won a pyrrhic victory. Outgoing Gov. Sununu is just about the last public official to think GSL is a good idea, and he will be remembered by many as a cheerleader for unneeded large engineering projects, including the albatross that is the Seabrook nuclear plant, and the ill-conceived Northern Pass transmission project.
With the inauguration of Governor-elect Ayotte in a few weeks, DES will be under new management. She has said that under her watch New Hampshire will modernize its landfill management practices, will not become the solid waste dump for all of New England, and that the GSL project will not happen.
In addition, given the heightened awareness in the New Hampshire legislature of the dangers from landfills, as well as heightened awareness that DES historically has not done nearly enough to faithfully fulfill its mission to protect public health and welfare, there is hope that through new legislation and tougher oversight, DES will be encouraged (or maybe forced) to re-focus on its mission.
New Hampshire
Bank Robber, Sexual Assaulter, With 40-Plus Year Criminal History, Wanted On Parole Violation: NH DOC
CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is asking for the public’s help in finding a sex offender and robbery convict, with “violent tendencies,” who is wanted on a parole violation.
Michael J. Wells is 60, white, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs around 150 lbs. He has dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. Officials said Wells sometimes uses the following aliases: “Michael Morris,” “Michael Morse,” and “Michael Kirby.” He has Tasmanian devil, star, moon, and skull tattoos on his right arm and a cross over a skull with a spider web on his left arm.
The warrant against Wells was issued by the New Hampshire Parole Board as well as Manchester police for duty to report, after accusing him of absconding from parole and failing to register as a sex offender.
“In December 1994,” an alert stated, “Wells was convicted of aggravated felonious sexual assault and as a result, is required to register as a Tier III sex offender for the remainder of his life. Wells is currently on Parole Supervision for robbery.”
In December 2018, Wells robbed the Citizens Bank in Manchester, passing a note stating, “I have a gun. No tracking. No dye bag. $20-$50 quickly. No alarm.” In August 2021, he committed the same offense under similar circumstances, officials said, after he was placed on escape status from the Calumet Transitional Housing Unit. He was arrested in Massachusetts a few weeks later.
Wells is known to frequent both Concord and Manchester.
Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains how to request the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.
Wells criminal history dates back more than four decades, according to superior court records, after he was accused of forgery in Nashua in August 1985. In June 1988, he was convicted on one forgery charge.
Wells was accused of theft in 1990 and he pleaded guilty to the charge a month later.
Wells was accused of bail jumping in February 1989.
In 1994, Wells was accused of aggravated felonious sexual assault, sexual assault, and second-degree assault charges in Nashua. In December 1994, he pleaded guilty to the second-degree assault charge. Wells was found guilty by the court on one aggravated felonious sexual assault charge in January 1996.
Wells was also accused of escape in December 1998.
In 2005 and 2006, more charges were racked up, including four acts prohibited counts in Nashua, a false report to law enforcement, receiving stolen property, two acts prohibited counts in Salem, and forgery in Manchester. Wells was found guilty on two of the drug charges in Salem and the Manchester forgery charge, while the others were nolle prossed.
In April 2019, Wells was convicted on the December 2018 bank robbery charges. He was given a three-and-a-half-to-10-year sentence with 136 days of time served credit and a 10-to-20-year sentence, suspended for 10 years.
New Hampshire
N.H. lawmakers to vote on increasing tolls, civil rights, and k-12 education – The Boston Globe
One proposal (Senate Bill 627) would generate more than $53 million per year in estimated revenue for turnpike projects by essentially doubling what certain cars pay on the state’s toll roads.
The cash fare for Hampton’s main toll booth on Interstate 95, for example, would jump from $2 to $4 for cars and pickup trucks. The toll wouldn’t increase at all for motorists who use New Hampshire’s E-ZPass transponders.
“Surrounding states already have the same in-state discount structure in place,” Democratic Representative Martin Jack of Nashua wrote on behalf of a House committee that unanimously recommended the bill.
A potential hitch: Governor Kelly Ayotte. She’s expressed opposition to the whole toll-hiking idea, and proven she’s not afraid to use her veto pen.
Modifying civil rights standard
Another proposal (Senate Bill 464) would add a few words to the state’s Civil Rights Act. Instead of addressing conduct that is merely “motivated by” a legally protected characteristic, the proposed revision would address conduct that is “substantially motivated by hostility towards the victim’s” protected characteristic (such as their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability).
The prime sponsor, Republican Senator Daryl Abbas, an attorney, testified the change was small and aligned with the law’s intent. But the attorney who oversees the Civil Rights Unit at the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Sean Locke, testified in opposition, saying the proposal could reduce protections, especially since the meaning of “substantially” is somewhat vague.
The House is also weighing a proposed amendment that would add a few more words than Abbas’s version, potentially narrowing the Civil Rights Act’s applicability a bit further.
Open enrollment for K-12 schools
A third proposal up for a vote on Thursday (Senate Bill 101) would make every K-12 public school in New Hampshire an “open enrollment” school. That way, students could freely choose to transfer to a district other than the one where they live.
The proposed policy is controversial, partly because of how schools are funded. Districts rely mostly on local property taxes to cover their costs, as the state government chips in relatively little, and property tax rates vary widely from one community to the next. That generates concern about who will foot the bill when a student transfers.
In light of those concerns, Republicans are offering a compromise amendment to SB 101 that would require the state to provide more money per pupil that a district receives via open enrollment, as the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. Democrats are offering their own amendment to establish a study commission on this topic, rather than adopt the proposed policy now.
Lawmakers have until May 14 to take action on the bills that came from the other chamber, though they have until June 4 to iron out any discrepancies.
Amanda Gokee of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
New Hampshire
Boston MedFlight expands into NH
Boston MedFlight often touches down at the scene of some of the worst tragedies in New England – where minutes can mean life or death for a victim. The critical care transport operation is now expanding with a new base in New Hampshire.
The organization is hosting an open house at the new Manchester location on Thursday.
Boston MedFlight flies a critical care transport paramedic and nurse on every flight. Jaik Hanley-McCarthy says their helicopters and ground vehicles are equipped to handle just about any emergency medical procedure.
“Anything that can be done in the ICU,” explained Hanley-McCarthy. “We have a mobile lab so we can draw blood and run labs in real time.”
Boston MedFlight now has five bases across the region.
“Having a base in Manchester just expands this Boston-level care even further north to the more remote areas of the state,” said Hanley-McCarthy.
Boston MedFlight operates as a network of bases and some of the locations are staffed 24 hours.
Chief Executive Officer Maura Hughes says the nonprofit operation survives on public and private donations.
“We provide about $7 million in free care every year to patients,” said Hughes. “Not every hospital can be everything to every patient. We’re really the glue that keeps the health care system together.”
Heather Young says her daughter, Teighan, is still alive because she was flown for a critical assessment and procedure after falling off a truck and hitting her head.
“She should not be driving and walking and talking and all the things she’s doing as quickly as she is,” said Young.
Teighan just turned 18 and plans to go to college to study the medical field.
“I want to be a nurse and help other people,” she said.
It’s stories like this that keep the men and women who work Boston MedFlight focused on their mission.
“I think we just go call by call and try to do the best we can,” said Hanley-McCarthy. “I think when we stop and truly think about it, I think that weight is pretty heavy.”
Boston MedFlight also has a yearly reunion where patients and the team get together here in Bedford to meet and check in on their progress. It really shows you how connected they are to the people they help.
-
South-Carolina3 minutes agoStruggling South Carolina Farmers in Line for Assistance – FITSNews
-
South Dakota9 minutes agoDOC lacks population-specific programs, otherwise has ‘right things’ in place
-
Tennessee15 minutes agoTennessee basketball adds to frontcourt with Braedan Lue, Kennesaw State transfer
-
Texas21 minutes agoCarnival is Choosin’ Texas for its Newest Excel-Class Ship
-
Utah27 minutes agoGAME DAY: Golden Knights seek to retake advantage in first playoff trip to Utah
-
Vermont33 minutes agoCOMMENTARY: It’s time to invest in Vermont
-
Virginia39 minutes agoDemocrat Beyer blasts GOP plan to counter Virginia redistricting by eliminating his seat
-
Washington45 minutes ago
2026 NFL Draft Grades | Washington applauded for selecting ‘instant alpha’ linebacker Sonny Styles