Category: Uncategorized

We appreciate your service to our state.

We know this has been a difficult legislative session and it is far from over.

Along with many others, we ask you now to give careful consideration to a piece of legislation before you that is important to us: HB177.

NCABC is one of several grassroots organizations that support HB177 and together with those other organizations we represent thousands of voters throughout the state.

We ask the NH Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee members to vote Ought To Pass, and for the full Senate to support the bill.

HB177 is a needed and timely legislative fix for a regulatory problem.

Under its current rules, NHDES may issue permits for a landfill as long as it is more than 100 feet from a NH state park.

We think a buffer that small makes no sense, and we think a buffer of 2 miles, as proposed in HB177, is a compromise and good public policy.

In the short-run, HB177 is needed to protect Forest Lake State Park from landfill encroachment.

In the long-run, it will protect all of our state parks.

One day it may protect a state park in your district, or maybe a state park that your constituents care deeply about.

HB177 has been carefully crafted.

The measure was recently amended to address concerns expressed in hours of hearings in the NH House, where it passed in bi-partisan fashion April 9.

HB177 is a good bill.

It’s simple.

Is solves a problem that requires a legislative fix; it does not trample
on property rights; and it will not cost NH taxpayers a cent.

Opponents of HB177 have raised a number of questions about the bill.

We find many of their concerns unsupported and misleading.

To help foster careful consideration of the bill, we have prepared a Fact Sheet addressing some of their claims:

*Does HB177 Trample Property Rights?
*Is HB177 Spot Zoning?
*Does HB177 Usurp Local Control?
*Is HB177 Unconstitutional?
*Will HB177 Exacerbate a Capacity Shortage?
*Will HB177 Increase Consumer Costs?
*Will HB177 Increase Carbon Emissions?
*Is HB177 Needed Given NHDES’s Authority?
*Is the 2 Mile Buffer Arbitrary?

In the Fact Sheet presented below we emphatically answer to all of the above questions: NO.

We are happy to address anything in the Fact Sheet, or any other lingering issues you may have—please feel free to call or email. We are also happy to make available to Senators the legal and technical experts who have been advising us on NHDES permitting matters.

Sincerely,

NCABC President Eliot Wessler on behalf of the NCABC Board of Directors

                                                              For Immediate Release

Contact:

NCABC President Eliot Wessler

eliot.wessler@gmail.com

Cell: 202-674-2416

New Hampshire House passes bill prohibiting siting landfills within 2 miles of New Hampshire State Parks

Bi-partisan legislation now heads to NH Senate as grassroots organizations gear up for final passage

Littleton, N.H. [April 9, 2021] – The New Hampshire House today passed a bi-partisan bill (HB177) establishing a 2-mile buffer around NH State Parks to protect them from landfill development and proven odor, noise, groundwater and air pollution which accompany them.

In a bi-partisan vote of 171 for and 187 against, the House voted not to accept the House Environment and Agriculture Committee recommendation of inexpedient to legislate for HB 177.

The House went on to approve the measure 197-159 with amendment in a motion by Rep. Andrew Bouldin (D-Manchester).

Happy Earth Day, NH! 🌍 We are proud of caucus member Rep. @andrew_bouldin for standing to protect our state parks 2 weeks ago with the passage of HB 177. Watch the full video: https://t.co/lR77UZ4ez3 #NHPolitics pic.twitter.com/FtbiaDLa6g

— NH House Democrats (@NHHouseDems) April 22, 2021

“NCABC expected the vote on HB 177 to be close but we were never discouraged because we knew that it is a very good bill– it’s simple, it solves a problem that needs a legislative fix, it doesn’t trample on anyone’s rights, and it doesn’t cost NH taxpayers a cent,” NCABC President Eliot Wessler said following the vote.

Continue reading “HB 177 Passes the NH House!”

HB177 WILL ACTUALLY HELP RETURN LOCAL CONTROL TO LOCALS

1.     Five North Country towns (at a minimum) will be directly affected by a huge new landfill if DES issues permits for the Casella proposed project.  Each and every one of those towns has come out against the project—including Dalton.

2.     Casella argues that HB177 is the enemy of local control.  In the Littleton Record last month, a Casella VP is quoted as saying: “HB177 is an attempt by opponents of a single development project to use legislation to bypass the regulatory process and snatch local control from residents in Dalton….”  Another tidbit: Casella has told Dalton repeatedly, despite Dalton enacting its first zoning ordinance, that the Town is powerless to stop the juggernaut that is DES and the only option Dalton has left is to roll over for Casella’s plan and take the money that Casella is offering.

3.     So….. sounds like Casella maybe is in favor of local control when it helps the company’s bottom line, but otherwise—meh! 

4.      Casella has demonstrated its lack of commitment to local control by seemingly targeting:

New Hampshire’s North Country because it is the poorest and least politically powerful region of the state; and New Hampshire because other New England states have reasonably set limits on landfill expansion. 

Continue reading “Dear Speaker Packard, Members of the NH House and Governor Sununu: A letter from NCABC President Eliot Wessler about HB 177”

We write on behalf of several thousand people who vote, own property and vacation in NH — we are committed to balancing New Hampshire’s natural resources and economic interests. NCABC endorses HB 177 to protect all State Parks with a 2-mile buffer from new landfill development. This is a bi-partisan, common sense bill for the common good. Here are just a few points to support the Ought to Pass/A vote on April 9.

5 good reasons HB 177 OUGHT TO PASS as Amended

1.  Putting a landfill right next to a state park is terrible economic policy. New Hampshire thrives on tourism. It is the lifeblood of our economy.  Fresh air and clean water in and around our state parks are a huge draw for visitors and residents alike.  NH’s own Commissioner of Business & Economic Affairs is concerned about putting a mega-dump right next to a state park.  For the sake of our state’s economy, are we really going to let this happen?

2.  The threat could be to any state park in or near your district. Today, it is a state park in Dalton. A vote for HB177 will help protect all of NH’s state parks from landfill encroachment.  Doesn’t that sound right?

3.  The NH Department of Environmental Services is well-meaning but…  DES agrees its guidelines for evaluating landfill permits are outdated. Their regulations cannot protect any state park from a landfill being built on its border — no matter the high value and environmental sensitivity of that park. But HB 177 can protect all our parks from nearby landfill impacts.

Continue reading “Five good reasons HB 177 should pass”

This letter-to-the-editor by NCABC President Eliot Wessler was sent to the Caledonian Record to rebut a misleading letter by a Casella Waste Systems Inc. executive regarding HB 177, a bi-partisan bill before the New Hampshire Legislature to set a 2-mile boundary protecting New Hampshire State Parks from landfill encroachment.

To the Editor

Brian Oliver, a VP of Casella, urged in his March 16 LTE for all of us to contact NH state legislators and ask them to vote NO on HB 177. He argues that local control demands defeat of this legislation to preserve “local control”.

He says: “HB 177 is an attempt by opponents of a single development project to use legislation to bypass the regulatory process and snatch local control from residents in Dalton….”

It’s all about local control – really? His letter is a masterpiece of irony. For example:

Continue reading “Casella argues local control – Really?”

In just a few weeks, the New Hampshire House will take up legislation to ensure the natural preservation of our 68 state parks for residents and visitors to enjoy for generations.

State Parks were established by wise people decades ago who realized that protecting natural places to recreate, walk and enjoy is an instrumental need for human beings.

The idea to set aside New Hampshire’s natural splendors from the Seacoast to the North Country– and everywhere in between forever — was the goal for these visionaries.

That in simple terms is the thrust of HB 177, a bi-partisan bill to set a 2-mile barrier around state parks from new landfill development.

There is rising statewide support for HB 177 as residents ask their elected representatives to protect ALL state parks from the public health threats, environmental insults and economic losses that inevitably come with a nearby landfill.

Toxic odors, waters fouled with the feces of scavenger birds, steady noise, blowing dust and trash from heavy truck traffic and eventual wetlands and groundwater pollution would be ruinous for any park.

Continue reading “A time to take a stand for New Hampshire State Parks”

Who is opposed to the Dalton dump? And who favors HB 177, a bi-partisan bill before the Legislature setting a 2-mile buffer around state parks from landfill encroachment?

All the town conservation commissions in the area, the Conservation Law Foundation, the Ammonoosuc River Advisory Committee, the NH Sierra Club, the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and hundreds of local residents, as well as Grafton and Coos county lawmakers, oppose the dump.

Town meeting voters in Carroll and Littleton overwhelmingly voted March 9 to tell the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to reject permitting for the dump.

Check out this compilation of letters opposing the ill-suited and unwanted Granite State Landfill proposal currently up for permitting by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services:

Disputing Casella Waste Systems testimony to the N.H. House Environment and Agriculture Committee point by point

A. Putting a landfill right next to Forest Lake State Park is far from the only viable option for NH to manage its solid waste.

1. Casella’s presentation would have the Committee believe that NH DES must allow Casella to build a massive new landfill on the Dalton site, right next to FLSP, because it is the only way that NH can ensure future landfill capacity.

Not true—the testimony at the Hearing demonstrated that if and when new landfill capacity is needed, alternative sites to the Dalton site, in NH (and elsewhere in New England) are available.

2. As discussed at the hearing, HB 177 would put off limits only a small percentage of the land in NH to landfill development, but otherwise would not in any way affect other land uses that are more compatible with state parks. That leaves plenty of land in NH left for Casella to find an alternative site. Please note that we can provide maps that show the minimal impact a 2-mile buffer would have around FLSP and a number of other NH state parks.

3. Casella has provided little to no evidence that it has done due diligence to find an alternative site for its next landfill. NH DES indicated to Casella that it is highly skeptical of Casella’s required efforts to find an alternate site in NH or elsewhere in New England that would do less environmental damage, especially given that the Dalton site will harm 17 acres of wetlands and destroy 5 vernal pools.

4. Moreover, the Mt. Carberry landfill in Success, N.H. has ample capacity currently available, and significant capacity expansion opportunities. And we note that we have worked closely with Androscoggin Valley Regional Refuse Disposal District over the last year—it opposed HB 1319 in the last House session but is not opposed to HB 177 due to the improvements in the legislative language.

Continue reading “FACT SHEET ON HB 177”

FOR THE NH HOUSE E&A COMMITTEE HEARING
ON HB 177 (2021)– February 3, 2021

Dear Chairman Pearl and other members of the Committee:

Thank you for providing this forum for the public to express their views on HB 177.  

I am the President of North Country Alliance for Balanced Change.  This written testimony is on behalf of the NCABC Board of Directors, but please note that it is also on behalf of the hundreds of NCABC supporters who live, work, play–and vote– in New Hampshire’s North Country and throughout the state of NH.

NCABC is one of several North Country grassroots organizations as well as a number of regional and national public interest organizations that will be testifying today in support of HB 177.  I believe that all of these organizations speak with one voice in urging the members of this Committee to vote YES.

Continue reading “HB 177 Testimony in support by NCABC President Eliot Wessler”

North Country Alliance for Balanced Change enthusiastically supports HB 177, a bi-partisan bill prohibiting the siting of new landfills within 2 miles of a state park.

This legislation will protect all of New Hampshire’s state parks from encroachment by private landfill developers. Landfills near our state parks would harm tourism and threaten the recreational opportunities, natural beauty and tranquility provided by these treasured places.

NCABC thanks the bill’s sponsors: Rep. Timothy Egan (D-Sugar Hill), Rep. Edith Tucker (D-Randolph), Rep. Larry Laflamme (D-Berlin) Rep. William Hatch, (D-Gorham), Rep. Dennis Thompson (R-Stewartstown) and Sen. Erin Hennessey (R-Littleton).

These lawmakers have shown their dedication to protect our state parks and the natural environment and ensuring that our tourist-based economy is not harmed. 

The bill was slated to be introduced to the New Hampshire House today and automatically referred to the House Environmental and Agriculture Committee for review. A similar bill, HB 1319, passed the House in 2020, but was not taken up by the state Senate due to early closure of the legislative session because of Covid-19.