Town Halts Ballfield Mining Operation
By Dan Sapir and Dennis Randall

(MARCH 2002) Within a 72 hour period, two cease and desist orders were issued against earth removal operations by Zoning Enforcement Officer Paul Armstrong. The first order was issued February 19th against the Pottle Street ballfield project when truckloads of processed sand were spotted being removed for private sale. The second order was issued February 22nd against Duxbury Construction for operating without a permit on land located at the end of the access road adjacent to United Rentals (See related story).

The Observer had been contacted by numerous municipal and private sources regarding operations at the Pottle Street site. Allegedly, materials were being removed by contractors in 18 wheel rigs. Evidence of processing was observed in the form of a portable screener, excavator and several stockpiles of processed sand, tailings, subsoil and signs of recent excavation. The next day (Tuesday, February 19), we followed fully loaded trucks from Pottle Street to a private site in Pembroke. Based upon this information Armstrong shut down the operation pending the results of an investigation.

The following morning (Wednesday, February 20), despite the stop work order, we followed another 18 wheeler from the site all the way out to Route 495 bound for a Fairhaven jobsite. Armstrong reiterated the stop work order. A few days later on Friday, Armstrong, for the third time, had to stop excavating activities. The company conducting the work was W.E. Lyons Sand & Gravel, a Plympton based company whose owner, William "Billy" Lyons lives in Kingston. Lyons contacted the Observer and stated he was conducting volunteer work for the Ballfield Committee and his only interest was in helping the kids. He stated that the two large piles of processed sand had a value of $10,000 that he would take as a loss if unable to remove it from the site. He asked if we would approve the removal of the material and in exchange he would wrap up his excavations. We advised Lyons we were not in the permitting business and sympathized with his problem. We asked under what authority or contract he was conducting this excavating, processing and removal and he said there was nothing on paper. We suggested he contact whoever authorized his presence to commit the authorization to writing. Lyons explained he had done some volunteer excavating work and the sand represented some form of compensation. He declined to name the person(s) who authorized his enterprise.

Lyons Mining Operation: Uncompacted organic laden sub-soil replaces sand removed during "below-elevation" mining while additional material awaits removal. Large glacial boulder has limited excavation right of photo. Photo/Dennis Randall

It should be noted that the Pembroke job site represented a private residence on Spring Street doing a septic system repair. The contractor for the job purchased six (6) truckloads of sand, 28 yards per truck at $7.00 a yard -- $1,176.00 -- delivered.

Pembroke Board of Health Regulations require washed sand be used for septic repairs. The Pottle Street sand was not washed sand. The Town of Kingston was invoiced for almost $1,700 in sand purchases by Lyons in January and February of this year. Lyons told the Observer that a portion of that sand was excavated from the town owned land on Pottle Street. Highway specs for road sand also calls for it to be washed. Again, the Pottle Street material is not washed, there being no washing facility on site.

A view of the Pottle Street acreage clearly delineates the area which has been excavated. Lying adjacent to the railroad right of way, the area is rich with sand deposits. The ability to screen the material on site adds greatly to the value of the aggregate. The same excavator that pulls the sand from the ground is the same machinery that loads it into the screener. The same equipment is then able to fully load the rigs.

Overseers of the ball field project have said that volunteer contractors like Lyons, are utilized to excavate worthless materials and bring the site to grade in accordance with engineering plans. Committee member Gary Langenbach was visibly agitated when he told the Observer that nobody was interested in the Pottle Field material because it had no value. He named local businessman John Hamilton as someone in the business who had no interest in the material. When the Observer contacted Hamilton, he said he never spoke with Langenbach or anyone else relative to the earth material. He couldn’t understand why his name would be used as a reference and was disturbed by what he observed after viewing the site. It must be noted that the engineering plans call for any excess earth material to be stockpiled at the town highway facility for future municipal use.

Heath Norrie of Plympton Sand & Gravel did tell the Observer that they were contacted last Summer and asked if the excess material was of any interest to them. After an inspection of the site, Norrie said they declined because the product was spread out throughout the site and contained too much silt for their purposes. He said they were contacted by Peter Opachinski who is the Committee’s newest member, having been appointed this past October. Members of the Committee point out that Opachinski donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in in-kind services in site work, topsoil screening and other assignments. Additionally, he was paid $17,146.50 for land clearing, chipping and hay bale installation.

Several problems emerge: First, the Lyons material is not worthless. We contacted several licensed engineers who reviewed plans and another who inspected the site. We were told that all material in the industry has value. There is a value to sand, gravel, tailings, rock and clay. Specifically, we were advised that the material being worked by Lyons had value which was substantially increased by on-site processing. In fact, the material was of such quality it could pass as washed sand.

Secondly, the work being done does not conform to the plans or accepted practice. The suspended Lyons mining activity undercuts the elevation grades. Harvested materials were replaced with less desirable subsoil not in conformance with the standard compaction process of layering fill in 6-8" lifts, required by the engineering plans. Industry experts advise us that problems will arise with fields built upon non compacted fill. Earth settles over a course of time and the resulting low spots require constant maintenance. At least one field may be so affected. Gale Associates Engineer Andy Fairbanks defended the practice by telling the Observer that no ballfield is to be built over the non-compacted fill despite engineering plans to the contrary. Fairbanks said if compaction is required, it can be done later. The statement is ludicrous. While errors certainly can be corrected, you don’t deliberately introduce them into the process for "correction" and additional costs at a later date. Gale Associates is the contracting engineer for the project.

Thirdly, little exists in writing. Detailed record keeping has been problematic with the project’s overseers. In light of recent developments, Town Counsel, through Town Administrator Kevin Donovan, has requested a written statement enumerating understanding, agreements and contracts relative to the ballfield. An examination of the committee’s minutes provides no explanation or mention of the Lyon’s involvement. The Observer attended the February 25th committee meeting, where members attempted to explain that Lyons was on site in order to determine the size of a large boulder interfering with the project. No doubt the rock has caused problems. Sizing an obstacle however, does not explain mining, filling, processing and on site customer service.

As of press time the screening unit has been removed from the site and the excavator was pulled almost a week later. We still don’t know the terms and conditions that allowed Billy Lyons to conduct commercial operations on town owned land. It would be unfortunate if this incident places in question the role of genuine contributors who may indeed have reduced the collective cost of the ballfield initiative. Delays caused by a stop work order are unfortunate. The anthem driving the ballfield plan is "It’s about the kids". Yes it is about the kids — but how we get to the kids is about us. The kids are the destination at the end of a long journey — short cuts around basic management principles and sound business judgment — serve neither the kids nor the town.

Overview of the Pottle Street Ballfields construction project. Area of unauthorized mining
is marked by the black & red box. Click on image to take a virtual tour of the site.

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