East Providence resident Jim Taylor wears a hazard suit and mask as part of a rally outside East Providence City Hall on Thursday against TLA Pond View’s recycling facility on Dexter Road. The company was appealing a zoning violation Thursday.

The Providence Journal / Ruben W. Perez

EAST PROVIDENCE — Placard-bearing residents turned out at a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on Thursday night to demonstrate their opposition to their industrial neighbor, TLA Pond View, the state’s only major private handler of construction and demolition waste.

But the meeting at City Hall was devoted not to their accusations that Pond View is a nuisance but to the Rumford company’s ardent challenge of a zoning violation notice it was served last spring by enforcement officer Edward Pimental.

The board was still hearing testimony at 9:30 p.m., nearly 2½ hours into the meeting, and did not reach a decision on the appeal of the notice by press time.

Pimental had determined that Pond View was violating its 1998 use variance in several ways. Among them was handling unapproved materials such as street sweepings, metals, concrete and stone; operating outside approved hours; using areas of its property not authorized for storage and processing; and illegally expanding to more than 150 tons of material trucked in daily.

Pimental said the company would risk losing its variance and being shut down if it didn’t correct these violations.

Pond View appealed the notice and lawyer Kevin Bristow, representing vice president John Walsh, defended the company before the Zoning Board on Thursday.

He raised questions about whether documents that Pimental cited were ever legally recorded. He also questioned how Pimental was sure of his findings since he relied upon aerial photographs taken nearly a year earlier and did not follow up with an on-site inspection.

Pond View processes construction waste, culling out such recyclable materials as wood.

Residents have fought for years against Pond View, located in an industrial park on the Seekonk River. They objected when the state Department of Environmental Management increased the company’s daily volume to 500 tons in 2003. And their battle was renewed when Pond View asked the DEM to triple that amount to 1,500 tons a day.

The DEM granted that request in May but emphasized that it was up to the city to enforce zoning violations that are outside the department’s “legal authority.”

Pond view neighbors complain of noise, odors, dust and health problems that they blame on the company. Before the hearing, about 50 neighbors rallied outside City Hall wearing red T-shirts with the message “Enforce the law and protect us” and waving stop-sign-shaped placards that said “Stop Pond View.”

“Close down, clean up and move on,” said Ken Schneider, addressing his fellow residents. “Pond View should never have been located where they are or anywhere in the city.”

http://www.projo.com/news/content/POND_VIEW_APPEAL_09-16-11_SUQCMPV_v9.8ef49.html

State lawmakers have passed legislation sought by many Rumford residents that would require the operators of construction and debris demolition facilities located near residential neighborhoods around Rhode Island to get clearance from the municipalities where they operate.

The legislation, which was sponsored by Rep. Helio Melo, Rep. John A. Savage, Rep. Christopher R. Blazejewski, Rep. Roberto DaSilva and Rep. Mary Messier, also says the facilities would not be able to process more than 150 tons of waste per day if residents within a 1,000-foot radius object. 

The measure passed the House Wednesday.

A companion bill sponsored by state Sen. Daniel DaPonte, Sen, Frank A. DeVall Jr., Sen. Frank A. Ciccone III, Sen. Joshua Miller and Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski, unanimously passed the Senate unanimously in April. Gov. Lincoln Chafee would have to sign off on the legislation as well.

The measures were intended in part to help address concerns that some Rumford residents have long had about the operations of TLA/Pond View. East Providence and the company have been tied up in legal battles for more than a decade. 

"It's a landmark piece of legislation for protecting citizens throughout the state," said East Providence Councilman William Conley, who has worked on citizens' behalf on the issue. "It doesn't close the facility, but it limits it to 150 tons per day."

He said it's not uncommon in New England for residential neighborhoods to border industrial areas. 

Over the objections of some neighbors, operators of the construction and debris demolition facility got a variance in 1998 to operate near a residential neighborhood. Residents have long complained about how dust they believe comes from the facility could be impacting their health and about odors and truck traffic from the Dexter Road facility. 

TLA/Pond View representatives have said that the neighbors do not have scientific proof that the company is causing health problems and argue that the company does not have violations. 

In May, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management granted the facility permission to expand the amount of waste it processes per day from 500 tons to 1,500 tons, provided the company complies with a list of conditions. That's ten times what the company was originally approved for. 

But RI DEM also noted in a news release that "many of the quality of life concerns raised by the residents, such as zoning, hours of operation, trucks, traffic hazards and noise are the City's responsibility to address through local ordinances, and are outside of DEM's legal authority."

After RI DEM's decision, an attorney for TLA/Pond View sent a letter to the city's zoning officer, Edward Pimental, stating that he could find himself subject personally to a federal civil rights lawsuit if he issued the company a cease-and-desist order. Pimental sent the company the order.  

Jack Walsh, a regional vice president for Transload America, did not respond to an email seeking a response to the passage of the legislation. 

The new legislation mandates that no construction and demolition debris facility can operate without receiving a letter from its host municipality that the company has complied with the city's zoning law. The company also has to receive approval from the municipality's mayor or city or town manager. 

The legislation also says that any construction and debris processing facility within 1,000 feet of a residential zone will not be allowed to accept more than 150 tons of waste per day if property owners in that radius file an objection.

Later changes to the legislation also added the ability for the company to appeal.  

Conley thanked DaPonte, Melo and the other members of the East Providence delegation who supported the legislation. He said he thought the legislation struck the proper balance between business and community interests.  

He anticipated that the city would continue with the enforcement of the zoning law and with other appeals related to the issue.

Provided the governor signs the legislation, the residents would "have some work to do" in terms of determining who lives within the 1,000-foot radius, Conley said. That information would then probably be filed with both RIDEM and the city, he said.

http://eastprovidence.patch.com/articles/state-lawmakers-pass-legislation-to-restrict-construction-and-demolition-operations-near-residential-neighborhoods

A few Rumford residents spoke at Tuesday night’s city council meeting in support of a recent cease and desist order issued by zoning enforcement officer Ed Pimentel against TLA Pond View.

Among the group was frequent council-meeting speaker James Briden. He said the order represents an “important turning point” for the city in opposing the company’s expansion. TLA Pond View was recently given approval from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to triple its operational capacity. Mr. Briden said this expansion will have a “significant” long term impact on the quality of life in Rumford.

Fellow Rumford resident Peter Oppenheimer said the notice illustrates that TLA Pond View has expanded “well beyond” what is allowed under the zoning board’s initial, 1998-issued variance.

City councilman William Conley Jr. also praised the order, especially in the face of what he described as “intimidation.”

In a phone interview Wednesday, TLA Pond View Vice President Jack Walsh not only dismissed the cease and desist order as baseless, but took issue with Mr. Conley’s accusation of intimidation.

“I have never intimidated, disparaged or slandered anyone. I don’t believe in those politics,” Mr. Walsh said.

Instead, he said it is he and his company who are on the receiving end of intimidation.

“We’ve been sued now over ten times. Not once in those ten times has the court come back and said ‘Pond View you’re wrong and the city, you’re right.’”

He said the zoning issues brought up in the cease and desist order have already been decided in his company’s favor by a superior court judge in 2005.

In late May, a letter was delivered to Mr. Pimentel by lawyers representing TLA Pond View stating the company is prepared to sue the city for “harassing and baseless actions.” The letter also states Mr. Pimentel could be held “personally liable for damages.”

“When TLA Pond View threatened to sue one of our public officials personally for performing his obligation, protecting the health and safety of our community, it knew exactly what it was doing and it understood the impact it could have on that person’s life,” Mr. Conley said, adding he personally wanted to thank Mr. Pimentel for his “courage” in performing his duty, following his conscience and “doing the right thing” by issuing the order.

Mr. Conley continued that the “threat” against the zoning officer is “all too consistent” with the “tone of attacks” on individuals who have opposed the TLA Pond View expansion, referencing accounts contained in letters to the editor written to The Post and personal conversations.

“I’ve had people call me, come to my home and tell me how difficult it is for them to come into these chambers and speak their conscience because they have to run the gauntlet of sneers and jeers that too often line up on the wall in the back part of these chambers,” Mr. Conley said.

“They are afraid to go to their cars alone at night because of what they’re subjected to once they speak their conscience in these chambers. That is intolerable and cannot be accepted … Intimidation will not work. Intimidation will not stop our neighbors and our community from speaking up, following their conscience and doing the right thing and the zoning officer’s issuance of that cease and desist order in the face of this threat is proof of that.”

Mayor Bruce Rogers also addressed the TLA Pond View issue, though not about the cease and desist order. Instead, he asked assistant city solicitor Robert Craven to provide an estimate on the current legal cost incurred by the city in battling the company. Mr. Craven said this figure is roughly $60,000.

A different perspective

Riverside resident Thomas Riley was another individual with comments on the matter. As he has stated at previous city council meetings, Mr. Riley argued the city should be trying to utilize TLA Pond View as a resource instead of “harassing” them with lawsuits. He said the situation between the company and neighbor opposition could be “mitigated” and the city should focus on that route instead of “throwing more into the wind with legal fees.”

Cease and desist

On May 27, city zoning officer Edward Pimentel issued a cease and desist order based on variance violations to Kenlin Properties, LLC, regarding operations at TLA Pond View. The 10-page letter instructs the recycling facility to:

Cease from any “operational activity” and “open storage” that is located outside the pad-site.

Cease from any further expansion beyond the approved 150-ton per-day limit.

Cease from acceptance of unapproved – non-wood – materials, such as miscellaneous metals, rock, concrete, cinder/concrete block, stone, brick, aggregate and mortar, street sweepings.

Immediate reduction in hours of operation.

Immediate replacement of earthen berm with trees atop.

Removal/non-increase in the number of on-site machinery.

http://www.eastbayri.com/detail/143739.html

TLA/Pond View has sent a letter to the city's zoning official Ed Pimental indicating that he could personally face legal action along with the city for what the company's attorney describes as "this pattern of harassing and baseless actions by the city."

The letter is the latest legal development in a dispute that has gone on for more than a decade between the company on Dexter Road and Rumford residents who live across Omega Pond from the facility.

Neighbors have long complained of dust, odor and noise from the facility and opposed the expansion of the company's operations, which the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management recently allowed to proceed, with conditions. 

Attorney Kevin J. Bristow wrote in the May 25 letter that he understood that the city planned to issue the company a cease and desist order, based on the argument that the company received in 1998 is no longer intact.

But Bristow argued that TLA/Pond View has received no formal notification of the basis for the enforcement and that the company has complied with the requirements of the variance. 

Bristow also argued that a lawsuit the city filed against Pond View in 2005 alleging that the company was violating the city's zoning ordinances was dismissed by a Superior Court judge. 

"Finally, let this correspondence serve as notice that TLA-Pond View, a lawful, tax-paying entity with a long history of compliance with both state and local regulations, will no longer allow itself to be the victim of malicious, selective, and/or politically motivated enforcement actions," Bristow continued. 

He also said that the latest lawsuit the city filed against Pond View in November 2010 had also been dismissed be a judge. He informed Pimental that if he issued a "legally frivolous" notice of violation and/or a cease and desist order, the company would hold Pimental and the city legally responsible. 

He added that he had been advised by TLA/Pond View to prepare a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and Pimental "in anticipation of the continuation of this pattern of harassing and baseless actions by the city." 

Councilman William Conley, who has been a strong supporter of Rumford residents who have opposed the expansion of the company's operations, said, "I really believe that this is a baseless and a rather ruthless attempt to keep a public official from meeting his obligation to protect the safety and welfare of city residents."

Jack Walsh, regional vice president for the company, could not immediately be reached for comment, nor could Pimental.

Over objections from many Rumford residents, RI DEM recently granted the company permission to expand operations, with some conditions related to the neighbors concerns. 

RIDEM also informed the city that some of the matters people complained about were not the agency's jurisdiction, and that it was up to the city to enforce its zoning laws. The city has appealed the expansion decision. 

http://eastprovidence.patch.com/articles/tlapond-view-sends-zoning-official-letter

East Providence's zoning officer Edward Pimental has sent a cease and desist letter to TLA/Pond View property owner Ken Foley despite the company's indication that it might sue him. 

The letter, which is dated May 27, says that the expansion of operations from processing 150 to 500 tons a day would be in violation of a city variance the company had received.  

The letter notes that the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management,which recently approved the company's request to expand operations, but also said TLA/Pond View had to comply with East Providence's zoning ordinances. 

Councilman William Conley said that the company would have the opportunity to appeal the cease and desist, during which it could continue operations. 

Jack Walsh, a regional vice president for TLA, said he had not yet seen the letter, though he was carbon copied on it, according to the letter. An attorney for TLA/Pond View recently send Pimental a letter indicating he and the city could face legal action if they pursued the cease and desist order. 

Children wearing protective face masks and residents holding signs that read "Our Health Matters" were among the scores of Rumford residents, politicians and environmental activists who rallied Monday afternoon on Kelley Avenue in East Providence.

The event was designed to draw attention to what those present saw as the inevitable expansion of the waterfront location of the TransLoad America Inc. waste processing site, known as TLA Pondview.

Currently, TLA Pondview is seeking clearance from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) to increase its current output of solid waste processing from 500 tons to 1,500 tons: a tripling of its current output and a ten-fold increase granted under its original permit.

The controversial waste processing site has been perched on the banks of East Providence's Omega Pond for the past 13 years. Residents claim the solid waste processed covers their homes with dust, impacts their health and damages the local environment, as Omega Pond feeds into the Seekonk River.

TLA Pondview did not return a request for comment.

East Providence City Councilmen William Conley Jr. and Michael DiGioia, State Sens. Daniel DaPonte and Frank Devall,  State Rep. Helio Melo, Save the Bay's John Torgen and the Toxics Action Center's Taryn Hallweaver were present in a show of support for the residents' claims and concerns over pollution. Councilwoman Katie Kleyla also attended to event and affirmed her support for residents' concerns.

Conley asserted that TLA's current daily output of 500 tons was not legally sound, as the company is operating without the needed certifications from the Local Waterfront Commission and the State Planning Council, something he feels was overlooked by the previous office of RIDEM.

"This seems like a no-brainer," said Conley. "If they don't have the required documentation to operate at 500 or even 1,500 tons, why are they being allowed to do it? We're hoping the DEM is not going to allow any further expansion."

Equally fervent about the prospect of TLA's potential expansion was resident Al Pallota. Pallotta, who has lived on Omega Pond, bordering Roger Williams Avenue since 1986, spoke to the large crowd gathered on Monday.

"You can't stop [the dust] from touching everything," said Pallotta. "It comes in the house, through the eaves. Imagine what our neighborhood will look like if they're allowed to process even more waste."

Pallotta said he "immediately" noticed a negative change in his neighborhood environment and overall quality life "the moment" TLA Pondview set up its operations.

He also added how his life has changed since TLA  became his new neighbor.

"I feel like a prisoner in my own home," he said. "I've stopped having people over. It would be nice to have a cookout in the summer, but the dust just gets on everything. This isn't why I moved here."

The hope shared by many at Monday's rally was that the RIDEM's newly appointed director, Janet L. Coit, would not grant the expansion of TLA. 

Jo-Ann Durfee is no exception. Durfee has been forming petitions to halt TLA Pondview's further expansion since last September.

"I really hope the RIDEM will realize how much we've had to put up with," said Durfee. "The threat to our health is enough. It's time for this to stop."

Several measures remain in the works and include a still pending lawsuit against TLA Pondview, filed by the Attorney General's office last November. The current Attorney General's office did not return a request for comment.

Also in the works, is legislation introduced by District 14 Sen. DaPonte. The legislation, still being considered in committee, would limit TLA's processing back to its original output of 150 tons a day.

In the meantime, residents like Pallotta are "literally holding [their] breath" to see what the resolution to this 13-year battle will be.