After years of delay during the COVID-19 pandemic, the solid waste management facility in Edgartown is back to advancing a plan that would roughly double its footprint, and result in clear-cutting 6½ acres of woods.
On Monday evening, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s Land Use Planning Subcommittee voted 7-0 to recommend a three-year extension on the Martha’s Vineyard Refuse Disposal and Resource Recovery District’s previously approved expansion project. Subcommittee chair Doug Sederholm, who has provided legal services to the refuse district on several occasions, recused himself.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission will take up the extension recommendation on Dec. 12.
The district consists of four Vineyard towns — Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, and West Tisbury. Located in Edgartown, its facility acts as both the towns’ local drop-off center and the main transfer station on the Island.
The project was originally approved by the commission in November 2019. Refuse district representatives proposed clear-cutting 6.5 acres of woods, and adding three acres of pavement to “separate commercial from residential operations, to improve safety, to allow more staging for customers waiting to drop off waste, and to prepare future incorporation of composting.”
Although it was ultimately approved by the commission, the estimated $2.5 million expansion was met with resistance from neighbors south of the refuse district, who cited health concerns.
Don Hatch, manager of the refuse district, said during the Monday meeting the plans look the same as when they were originally approved, but the permitting process delayed the project.
Hatch said following the commission’s 2019 vote, it took around 10 months for the Edgartown board of health to approve the project. And the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s approval on the refuse district’s permit modification for the expansion was issued on Nov. 6 of this year.
“They’ve been tied up with COVID, short of labor, and the PFAS issues overwhelmed them,” Hatch said regarding MassDEP’s sluggish response.
However, the commission’s approval expired in February 2023, so an extension was needed.
“We’ve got everything we need,” Hatch said. “We’ve got the money sitting still since day one. It’s just a matter of clearing trees and making roadways. There’s no buildings involved.”
Additionally, Hatch said project bid requests will be ready to be issued in the coming weeks.
After a brief discussion, the subcommittee decided to recommend an extension expiring in February 2026 to the full commission.
