Peabody City Council on Thursday approved an earth removal permit for the PMA landfill (filed as 0 Forest Street, Assessor Map 69, Parcel 5) to excavate about 91,700 cubic yards of material, imposing a package of conditions on blasting, hauling, environmental safeguards and reporting.

The permit matters to nearby residents because the work includes blasting, heavy truck traffic and on-site fueling. Councilor Michael Gamache moved approval and described the conditions the council would attach; the motion passed on a 9-0 roll call.

City officials and the applicant detailed how the city will limit risks. Dennis Moran of Time and Bond, representing the applicant, said the project is “to excavate approximately 91,700 cubic yards of overbore, burden and ledge material at the PMA landfill off of Farm Ave.” Captain Chris Dowling of the Peabody Fire Department told the council the department has reviewed prior blasting on the site, will enforce the city’s blasting permit process and will require third-party engineering review and pre-blast surveys when a permit application is submitted. “At this stage in the process, I don't have a blast plan. I don't have a permit application,” Dowling said, adding that each blasting operation will be reviewed independently and subject to a pre-blast meeting.

Sharon Cameron, director of the health department, said the board of health will be cc’d on monitoring reports and that the department enforces testing and reporting to guard against air and water contamination. “The board of health is a cc on those reports,” Cameron said, noting the board’s role in approving sources of ash in landfills and requiring testing for contaminants of concern.

Key conditions the council adopted require: hours of general operation from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday; truck-cleaning protocols; designated northbound and southbound haul routes (northbound via Forest Street to Route 1 North; southbound via Dearborn Road to Route 1 South); a city fee of $18 per truck weighed at the city scale (credited as material credit for city projects); general and automotive liability insurance naming the city as additional insured (minimum $1,000,000 each); and prohibition on accepting or storing hazardous waste on-site. The permit text also requires annual air-quality monitoring and reports, gates to prevent illegal dumping, and availability of stone for pickup by city trucks.

On blasting specifically, the council incorporated state and local requirements. The permit cites state blasting regulations (527 CMR 13) and Peabody’s local blasting guidelines; the fire department will require a third-party blasting consultant to report directly to the fire department and a blasting permit from the fire department will be required. The council added that: abutters will receive pre-blast surveys documenting existing conditions with property owners provided copies within 90 days of inspection; abutting property owners shall be notified at least two hours before each blast; and counselors will be notified one week in advance of planned blasting. As a further restriction, Fire Department practice in Peabody limits blasting to 9:30 a.m.–2:20 p.m. on weekdays with no weekends or holidays, a narrower window than state law.

Councilors pressed the applicant and city staff on resident notice and fuel-handling. Councilor Mark Turco said he wanted to avoid the situation where residents call their councilors and receive no definitive information about a blast; the petitioner agreed to provide a one-week advance schedule and the council asked that notification be written into the permit. Moran said the blaster could provide a weekly schedule a week in advance, and Gamache said he would put that notice requirement into the permit.

Councilor Mary Higgins and others pressed for a timeframe for how long blasting will continue. The applicant said the overall duration is uncertain because the thickness of overburden above ledge is not yet fully known; the applicant said excavation must proceed to determine how much ledge requires blasting.

Councilor James McGinn noted the city will receive revenue from the work: council discussion and petitioner materials listed municipal receipts from prior years tied to the landfill—$107,000 in 2021; $152,000 in 2022; $325,000 in 2023; $512,000 in 2024; and $720,000 in the most recent year.

The council recorded the motion to approve the earth removal permit as moved by Councilor Michael Gamache. The roll-call vote yielded nine yes votes and no votes recorded (Turco; Peach; Gould; Gamache; Higgins; Manning Martin; McGinn; Rosignal; Melville). The motion’s conditions require continued departmental review and permit approvals; the public services department will update the city council on implementation of the listed conditions.

The permit approval concludes the council’s public hearing on the application, but the council and staff emphasized that individual blasting permit applications, third-party reviews and pre-blast surveys are still required before blasting can proceed and that the fire and health departments will continue oversight.