The state Department of Environmental Protection is finally moving to take over the odoriferous Crow Lane landfill in Newburyport, which has been torturing its neighbors for the past several years, thanks to its owner, New Ventures LLC of Everett, ignoring environmental laws, ignoring agreements it has made, and ignoring orders from both local and state officials.
That’s good, but long overdue. It is a major stretch to say, as local health agent Jack Morris did, that the DOE filing a complaint in Suffolk Superior Court is “pretty aggressive.”
It was, after all, last summer when New Ventures and the DOE came to an agreement that required the company to control the odor and cap the landfill – and allow the state to take it over if it wasn’t done. It was, after all, last February when the landfill was shut down yet again for various violations of the agreement and environmental regulations.
Meanwhile, residents are suffering through another smelly summer.
If this is considered aggressive for the state, don’t expect to see any deteriorating bridges being repaired anytime soon.
