Conservation commission closes hearing, moves to issue order for capping of uncapped Flint Road landfill

The Town of Charlton Conservation Commission voted to close the public hearing and issue Order of Conditions for the proposed capping of an uncapped landfill at 54 Flint Road, a MassDEP‑mandated closure project described by the applicant’s environmental consultant as intended to reduce contaminant migration to nearby wetlands and groundwater.

Gary Magnuson, an owner of CMG Environmental and the project presenter, told the commission the site is a roughly 6‑ to 7‑acre vegetated former landfill with steep slopes that descend to wetlands. He said Langdon Engineering is the engineer of record and that the project has received permission from MassDEP’s Central Regional Office to proceed. "It's a standard closure in accordance with MassDEP Division of Solid Waste approval," Magnuson said.

The applicant's plan calls for capping the landfill with engineered slopes, stormwater controls and grading that would raise the center of the waste mass about 20 feet, with 3:1 side slopes and a stormwater discharge control system. Magnuson said small areas of flagged wetland—about 400 square feet total—overlap the landfill edge; the proposal would pull waste back from those flagged areas, tie the cap in below the flagged wetland boundary, and perform wetland reclamation in those locations.

Magnuson described the public‑health rationale for capping: monitoring shows elevated contaminant concentrations at the uncapped site, and groundwater sampling the town commissioned has detected contaminants in nearby drinking wells. "We are sampling 58 or 62 homes around this landfill right now," Magnuson said, and he reported roughly 20 homes on Burlingame Road with detections and about two or three homes that have had drinking‑water treatment systems installed after PFAS levels exceeded standards. He said contaminant concentrations at the uncapped landfill are approximately twice those at an adjacent capped landfill and that capping would reduce infiltration and concentrations over time.

Project oversight will include stormwater controls implemented under an NPDES permit, a public bid for construction expected within the next two months, and a construction schedule the applicant estimated at about one to one and a half years. The commission's peer review engineer reviewed submitted plans and provided comments that the applicant has responded to, and the conservation agent told commissioners she had drafted special conditions.

After discussion, a motion to close the hearing and issue the Order of Conditions carried. The commission's action authorizes the conservation agent to finalize and issue the order consistent with the special conditions discussed at the hearing.

The commission did not record roll‑call vote tallies in the meeting transcript; meeting minutes should list the official vote record once posted. The applicant and engineering team remain subject to the conditions the commission places in the Order of Conditions and to required state permits before construction begins.