You might have seen the recent headline in the Caledonian Record— Chick Ingerson saying at a Dalton Planning Board meeting that the proposed Dalton dump is not going to be built on the land he owns and has optioned to Casella Waste Systems.
Mr. Ingerson’s statements are inaccurate and misleading.
If you keep reading you’ll see that Casella seems fully committed to building the dump in Dalton even in the face of strong public opposition.
And why not— Casella still seems to think it can convince DES to let it hide a new mega-dump in the North Country that is right next to a state park and in the middle of a gravel pit that risks contamination of groundwater and water supplies.
Casella is losing its grip on Bethlehem, and it desperately wants to cash in on potential revenues from a Dalton dump estimated at $1 billion.
At this point it doesn’t matter what Mr. Ingerson says or wants because Casella is calling the shots. It has an option to buy a big chunk of Mr. Ingerson’s land, and nothing Mr. Ingerson says makes any difference as to whether or not they will proceed with plans to build the dump.
Mr. Ingerson has many plans for his land.
First it’s a dragstrip, the next day it’s a dump, and it sounds like tomorrow it’s going to be a campground. One thing Mr. Ingerson should realize is that he is not above state law, and not above local land use considerations. Like everybody else, he needs to recognize that he is free to do whatever he wants with his land—as long as it complies with law!
The upshot? We have to work as hard as ever to stop Casella from turning NH’s North Country into the dumping ground for all of New England.