Excel Recycling restores shredder license

The town of Freetown, Massachusetts, has been ordered to reinstate the license of Excel Recycling LLC, headquartered in Freetown, according to a ruling by Judge Raffi N. Yessayan on Oct. 3 in the New Bedford Superior Court. The decision came after a long and expensive battle between the town and Excel Recycling, in which the town of Freetown was ruled to have acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner as Excel sought to establish its right to a license to operate its scrap metal processing plant in Freetown’s Campanelli Industrial Park.

“We are pleased that the judge recognized Excel’s significant efforts and its attempt to build a positive relationship with the town of Freetown and the community,” says Marty Costa, president of Excel Recycling. “From the beginning, Excel has wanted to be a contributing member of the community by providing an important service and by creating many jobs.”

Excel’s latest legal dispute with the town of Freetown began after the board of selectmen last year reversed its 2015 decision to allow the company to operate in the town’s industrial park, denying its license renewal on Dec. 5, 2018, in response to complaints from residents about sound and emissions generated by the company’s metal processing operations.

According to a news release from Excel Recycling, the board of selectmen’s decision not to renew Excel’s license jeopardized employment opportunities and commerce to the community. Excel started building its facility in the industrial park in 2015 after obtaining approval from the Freetown select board and building commissioner, who confirmed that the company’s operations were an “as of right” use in the industrial park after the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permitted a state of the art metal shredder and associated metal separating equipment. With all permits in place, Excel began its operations.

After receiving initial complaints from a small group of neighbors, the company engaged civil engineers and sound engineering experts who submitted a noise mitigation plan to the town and the DEP. Excel Recycling reports that it spent more than $2 million to address the sound issues, including but not limited to the installation of a state-of-the-art German-engineered sound enclosure. After the installation of the acoustic enclosure, noise levels were tested by Excel’s engineers under the supervision of DEP, and air-quality testing was completed under DEP supervision. Results demonstrated that Excel was operating in compliance with the required noise levels at all of the nearby residences and that air emissions from its operations are within air-quality regulations, the company reports in a news release.

The site’s engineered stormwater system, which is subject to a long-term stormwater pollution prevention plan, was inspected and found to be operating according to its design. Also, even though Excel Recycling had scientific evidence that it has been compliant with DEP noise and emissions requirements and police logs show that a number of reported complaints about noise emanating from the facility were unfounded, the company has taken additional steps to appease abutters and the town of Freetown, Excel Recycling reports in a news release. The company also installed liners in truck beds to reduce noise and initiated best management practices, further mitigating sound from the operation.

Prior to receiving the favorable ruling, on two occasions Excel Recycling offered to enter into a Host Community Agreement with the town of Freetown, which would have resulted in Excel Recycling paying the town up to $175,000 annually in addition to its annual property tax. According to Excel Recycling, that offer was rejected by the select board last August without any explanation or counter proposal. 

At the Oct. 3 Superior Court Hearing, Excel Recycling argued that when the Freetown board of selectmen denied Excel’s license, it ignored the scientific documentation showing Excel Recycling’s compliance. The court accepted the argument, noting that the town had not conducted any scientific testing of its own and had no valid evidence to refute Excel Recycling’s compliance.

A family-owned company, Excel Recycling was founded in 2003 and currently owns three facilities serving Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, as well as parts of New Hampshire and Maine.