Grassroots anti-asphalt group expands its mission

EAST CANAAN — Residents fighting a proposed asphalt plant here have a new name, a broader mission and a dedicated funding source.

The Blackberry River Valley Protection Alliance, Inc. (BRVPA) is the new name for Stop the Asphalt Plant (STAP). With a wider focus and newfound funding, it plans to expand its years-long battle to stop the plant on conservation and environmental fronts.

BRVPA also has become a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization with hopes to bolster fundraising and support its new mission to protect “the air, the land, the aquifer, wildlife, and the health and general quality of life of area residents and visitors” in the Blackberry River watershed. The group has received a grant to retain an attorney,

Dolores Perotti, a local resident and president of BRVPA, said the organization’s current focus is stopping B. Metcalf Asphalt Paving, Inc., from producing asphalt on industrial-zoned land in the neighborhood. Perotti notes that there are many homes and businesses as well as family farms along this stretch of Route 44 between Lower Road and Furnace Hill Road, including a nearby U.S. Post Office branch and the North Canaan Congregational Church.

“We don’t know what he’s going to do next,” Perotti said. “We’re kind of waiting. But our mission is to protect this valley and the whole area.”

Ben Metcalf and the Blackberry

That Blackberry River watershed covers thousands of acres in towns in the Northwest Corner, including North Canaan and Norfolk. The river originates in Norfolk and flows westward into the Housatonic River at North Canaan. It is a major tributary of the Housatonic, which now is under renewed consideration for Wild and Scenic River status in legislation being drafted in Congress.

“None of what I’m proposing is going to have any effect on the river,” said Ben Metcalf, owner of the business located at 235 East Canaan Road. He added that “nothing that I would use as an ingredient would have any deleterious effect on the river.

“I’m in support of anything that supports natural resources,” he said, adding that he considers himself a conservationist who also supports farmland preservation. Metcalf said he wants to create his own facility to produce new materials that are sustainable and eco-friendly, pointing out that warm-mix asphalt production uses 40% less fuel than hot mix.

In 2010 and 2011, the state Department of Transportation conducted pilot projects to gauge the effectiveness of warm asphalt on road surfaces and concluded that, after a few years, various mixes performed well.

Warm-mix asphalt is produced at lower temperatures than the hot-mix variety. The state’s final report also concluded that warm asphalt is fast expanding in the U.S. and that its production offers benefits: “reduced fuel consumption during production, reduced exposure to fumes due to the reduction in temperature during production and placement, and as an aid to achieving adequate compaction in the field especially with mixtures containing polymer modification.”

“Every day the technology gets better,” he said. “When I get the technology, then I’ll move ahead.”

History of litigation

Both parties have been at loggerheads for years. Metcalf has taken town zoning officials to court three times. While the neighborhood group’s opposition has been steadfast, its efforts to intervene in the litigation failed.

In May of 2018, when Metcalf submitted a site-plan application to produce warm-mix asphalt, North Canaan zoning officials declined to accept the application and returned his check, saying that asphalt production was not an approved use under town regulations. However, because 65 days then passed without any action on his application, it was considered approved under terms of state law. North Canaan zoning officials passed an amendment in May of 2019 prohibiting asphalt production in all zones, though such a move did not apply retroactively to Metcalf’s case.

A year later, in April of 2020, Superior Court Judge John D. Moore ordered town zoning officials to issue an approval of the 2018 site-plan application, leaving the residents still with the prospect of a warm-mix asphalt operation in their back yard.

Metcalf pressed to overturn the town’s 2019 amendment, claiming that his company was aggrieved because possible future use of the property could fall under nonconforming uses. The court decided last summer that the injury Metcalf claims has not yet occurred.

BRVPA preparing for future battles

Last month, BRVPA mailed letters to thousands of residents in North Canaan and surrounding towns in an appeal to expand membership in the new organization. Its campaign will involve discussions with administrators and government to ensure proper application of laws and regulations, including legal action to seek compliance with laws and regulations.

“When B. Metcalf Asphalt Paving returns to resume their legal battle with us, we will be ready. We have local funding in place and we have lawyers on retainer,” Perotti says in the letter.

Connecticut state law prohibits the location of an asphalt plant in an area that is less than one-third mile from hospitals, nursing homes, schools, areas of critical environmental concern, watercourses, or areas occupied by residential housing. BRVPA says the asphalt plant’s proximity to the Blackberry River and to homes would violate the one-third mile rule. The group further claims that the plant site risks contaminating the underground aquifer, would pose a health hazard to the community from potential fumes from the plant, and would result in reduced home values.

Metcalf said, “I want to be a good neighbor and supply customers who want a sustainable product,” he said.

BRVPA’s 501 (c) (3) status will enable tax-deductible contributions. The group has allied with the Coalition of Sound Growth of Norfolk, which will act as a fiscal sponsor, permitting donors to make gifts restricted to BRVPA. The William and Mary Greve Foundation of New York and Norfolk is providing the grant to retain legal counsel. The foundation also supports many environmental groups, including The Wilderness Society, Norfolk Botanical Gardens Foundation, Scenic Hudson Inc., The Trust for Public Land and Great Mountain Forest.