A Better Claremont

03/25/2026

Alert to Acuity's latest assault...
See A Better Claremont's website for more information and LIVE links:
https://sites.google.com/view/say-no-to-acuity/home

ACUITY UPDATE AND CALL TO ACTION FROM A BETTER CLAREMONT

MARCH 14, 2026

Dear Friend,

A Better Claremont has issued the enclosed Press Alert regarding Acuity Management, Inc. You will remember the company’s attempt to site a massive construction and demolition (C&D) operation in Claremont. That proposal prompted approximately 400 people to pack a public hearing at the Claremont Opera House last March. The public said NO to Acuity. The Department of Environmental Services (DES) subsequently denied Acuity's permit request, and Acuity appealed. The Department of Justice accepted the appeal and will hold an appeal hearing. If Acuity prevails, the DES decision to deny the permit could be overturned.

Please take whatever action you can to help ensure Acuity does not receive a permit for the C&D facility in Claremont. Suggestions include writing a letter to the editor, contacting your elected officials, and spreading the word. The Press Alert provides supporting documentation.

YOUR VOICE COUNTS!

Sincerely, A BETTER CLAREMONT

PRESS ALERT FROM A BETTER CLAREMONT

MARCH 4, 2026

CONTACT:
Jim Contois, 603-504-8379, [email protected]

Judith Koester, 603-542-0265, [email protected]

John Tuthill, 603-477-6242, [email protected]


ABC ASKS THE NH DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES TO STAND FIRM ON ITS DENIAL OF ACUITY'S WASTE PERMIT

(CLAREMONT) A Better Claremont (ABC) is issuing an alert following two rulings from the NH Department of Justice (DOJ) on February 25, 2026. Both decisions concern Acuity Management, Inc. (Acuity) and the request for a permit modification to allow up to 500 tons of toxic construction and demolition (C&D) debris to be imported into Claremont each day. The NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) denied the modification request on May 22, 2025. Acuity and the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) appealed, although for different reasons.

The DOJ has accepted Acuity's appeal and set a March 25th date for a prehearing conference to establish parameters for appeal hearings. The DOJ did not accept the CLF appeal that sought to broaden the scope of the DES denial.

BACKGROUND:
Acuity wants to truck hundreds of thousands of tons of C&D debris into Claremont and use a small lot by Meadow Brook for a massive dump and ship operation. The property is just off Industrial Boulevard at Claremont Junction near the AMTRAK station and the intersection of River Road, Plains Road, and Maple Avenue, close to residential neighborhoods, a public park, and schools.

The plan is to import approximately 3000 tons of C&D waste into Claremont each week. Residents of Claremont and neighboring towns are rightfully concerned about a major change-of-use from an existing local recycling business to one of the largest C&D waste depots in New England. Acuity's proposal would increase noise, truck traffic, and pollution across the City.

Hundreds packed the Claremont Opera House on March 6, 2025 for a public hearing and said NO to Acuity. DES subsequently ruled against the company.

DES made the right decision in denying the permit modification that Acuity requested. ABC urges public officials and area residents to stand firm in opposing Acuity and in supporting Claremont's right to local control.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION:

DENIAL OF PERMIT MODIFICATION AND WAIVER

ACCEPTANCE OF APPEAL AND NOTICE OF PREHEARING CONFERENCE ON MARCH 25, 2026

NOTICE OF NON-ACCEPTANCE OF APPEAL PETITION FROM CLF

In Claremont, a plan to accept demolition waste at recycling plant is met with fierce resistance - NH Bulletin

Claremont residents pan plan to bring in construction debris - Valley News

06/03/2025

JUNE 14, 9-9:45 AM
Intro to "NEIGHBORING"
Come join our conversation about Neighboring!

What is Neighboring?
────
Share Stories about Helpful Neighbors
────
What enables healthy Neighboring?
────
Where can we find helpful examples of and resources for Neighboring?
────
What can be done to help create healthy neighbor connections in Claremont?

Just before the Alumni Parade in Trinity Episcopal Church’s Fellowship Hall, you are invited to come learn more about Neighboring! Tell and/or listen to stories about good neighbors. What is Neighboring? Who is doing it? Why would someone want to practice Neighboring? What resources are available for those who want to explore Neighboring? What treasures are in store for those who open the door to Neighboring?

And after our Neighboring conversations… we’ll join the parade festivities!

Presented by Rebecca MacKenzie, LICSW, CCTP, CCRMT

HOSTED BY:
EARTH CARE CELEBRATION AT
TRINITY CHURCH
JUNE 14TH 9-9:45 AM
603-542-2103
120 Broad Street
Claremont, NH 03743
https://trinityclaremont.org/

06/03/2025

Acuity is back... with an appeal to DES. Let's work together to help them understand that "NO! is a complete sentence." Join A Better Claremont: call 603-504-8379.

05/23/2025

Press Release-May 22, 2025
New Hampshire regulators deny operating permit for massive transfer station in Claremont.


Area residents applaud decision to stop Acuity Management Inc. from importing 500 tons of C&D waste into the City each day



Claremont, NH–The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) has denied a permit for Acuity Management, Inc. to import 500 tons of construction and demolition (C&D) waste into Claremont each day. The decision culminates a multi-year effort by Acuity to operate a massive dump and ship operation in the city, despite significant opposition from the public. A Better Claremont (ABC) says DES did the right thing.

“DES listened to reason and did the right thing,” states John Tuthill of Acworth and a member of ABC. “Acuity’s proposal did not add up.”

Acuity Management, Inc. of Methuen, MA wanted to bring hundreds of thousands of tons of C&D debris into Claremont and use a small lot by Meadow Brook for a massive dump and ship operation. Acuity proposed importing approximately 3000 tons of C&D waste into the city each week. Area residents were rightfully concerned about a major change-of-use from an existing local recycling business to one of the largest C&D waste depots in New Hampshire.

Acuity’s proposal was contentious from the start, with public officials and area residents alarmed at the scale of Acuity’s plan. A public hearing in March drew hundreds who urged DES to deny the permit. Concerns about pollution, Acuity’s ability to effectively handle C&D, and the obvious bad location for such an operation eventually led to the DES decision.

“New Hampshire and the region must move toward better management of C&D waste with source segregation of materials at both construction and demolition sites. That will help determine what we can reuse and recycle and what we need to carefully manage as a hazardous material,” states Haley Jones of Slingshot, and an advisor to ABC.

Rebecca MacKenzie of ABC agrees: “ABC does not want any other community to go through the threat of takeover by the private waste industry. Dumping thousands of tons of mixed C&D waste onto a downstream community is poor management that endangers our health and environment.”

ABC is a local group working to help Claremont be a healthy and vibrant community. See www.abetterclaremont.org for more information.

Press release submitted by James M. Contois, a member of ABC

03/26/2025

We had an amazing public hearing on March 6 in Claremont regarding Acuity's request to run a massive C&D operation in Claremont. Here is the CCTV link for the hearing:
https://reflect-claremont.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/16374?site=

Here is excellent press coverage from the NH Bulletin and the Valley News.

https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/03/10/in-claremont-a-plan-to-accept-demolition-waste-at-recycling-plant-is-met-with-fierce-resistance/

https://www.vnews.com/DES-holds-hearing-on-company-s-plan-to-accept-construction-debris-in-Claremont-59835560

You can go to http://www.abetterclaremont.org/ for more information.

PLEASE NOTE:
The comment period is open until 4 PM on Thursday, March 27.
Send comments to:
Email: [email protected] ; or
US Mail: NHDES-SWMB Attn: Jason Evancic, PO Box 95, Concord, NH, 03302; or
Hand Delivery: Department of Environmental Services at 29 Hazen Drive in Concord

Your voice counts!

With appreciation,
Members of A Better Claremont

03/19/2025

Time to Pick Up You Pen! Immediate Action Required: Submit a Written Comment to NH DES!

Our community came together in an incredible way on March 6 in the DES Hearing. According to the Valley News, more than 400 people attended and "Speaker after speaker delivered the same message on Thursday night to officials from the state’s Department of Environmental Services: Deny the application for a construction and demolition recycling and transfer operation on Industrial Boulevard."

Now it is critical to follow through with written comments. The deadline is March 27th.

For information for your letter, please visit our citizen's site "Stop the Construction and Demolition Waste Site in Claremont"- Say No to Acuity/ Submit a Comment to DES/ Sign the Petition.
Link: https://sites.google.com/view/say-no-to-acuity/home
There are many informational resources on the website to help with a letter to DES. Also, please sign the online petition to oppose the operation.

Comments may be submitted via email to [email protected]; by postage to NHDES-SWMB Attn: Jason Evancic, PO Box 95, Concord, NH, 03302; or submitted in person to the agency’s office at 29 Hazen Drive in Concord.

03/08/2025

THANK YOU, CLAREMONT, NEWPORT, CHARLESTOWN, UNITY, SPRINGFIELD, ASCUTNEY, ACWORTH, AND ALL THE OTHER CITIZENS FROM THE SURROUNDING AREA WHO CAME TO THE PUBLIC HEARING AND STOOD UP FOR CLEAN AIR AND CLEAN WATER, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND OUR INFRASTRUCTURE TO OPPOSE ACUITY'S MEGA, TOXIC C&D TRANSFER STATION ON 3/6/25 AT THE CLAREMONT OPERA HOUSE! OVER 380 PEOPLE SHOWED WHAT DEMOCRACY IN ACTION LOOKS AND FEELS LIKE! Thanks to Slingshot community organizer, Hayley Jones, for their support to help support citizens to oppose out-of-state business, Acuity. And we want to thank Quaker City Unity Friends Meeting for the opportunity to make or take a heart to show what we love about our area! Thanks, also, to Patrick O'Grady, journalist with the Valley News and their photographer for capturing important parts of the public hearing. Everyone except the owner of Acuity and a couple of their employees opposed the MEGA, TOXIC C&D operation that is proposed in Claremont, negatively affecting Claremont and the surrounding communities. Now it's up to NH DES to reject the permit to end this chapter of the struggle with out-of-state Acuity to poison our people and our land. We, on many levels of our community, have said, "No! is a complete sentence!" We've asked them to be appreciated by disappearing with their lawsuit against Claremont to force their destructive business on us.

03/04/2025

Just click on the link to our website to sign our online petition and for oodles of great content to prepare you for the public hearing at the Claremont Opera House on March 6th at 6 PM! Come early and make or take a heart to show you care. Thanks for all you are doing to protect our community and oppose the proposed massive and toxic C&D operation.
Citizen website:

A Terrible Idea, An Inappropriate Site Acuity Corporation, headquartered in Massachusetts, has been trying for more than five years to locate a Construction and Demonstration Site in Claremont, New Hampshire. Encountering obstacles at both the State and local levels, they are now trying again, this

03/03/2025

Come early to the public hearing which starts at 6 PM at the Claremont Opera House to make a heart, or take one that someone else has made!

Make a Heart for Who or What You Love… and Oppose Acuity!
Please come a little early to the public hearing at the Claremont Opera House on Thursday, March 6th at 6 PM. There will be a table set up in the lobby to make a heart, or take a heart that someone else has made, about who or what you love about your home. NH Dept. of Environmental Services requires a public hearing for a massive, toxic construction and demolition (C&D) operation proposed too near your community, Maple Avenue Elementary School, and a lovely residential neighborhood where I was raised.
As a child, I played in Meadow Brook, mesmerized by crayfish, amidst majestic pines. I rode either a cardboard box or my sled, depending on the season, down Marshall’s hill, both beside the proposed C&D site. With grave concern for others in this neighborhood today, especially the children, a permit will allow C&D contaminates that include lead (measured in micrograms that harm children’s nervous systems), PFAS “forever chemicals”, mercury, asbestos, etc. that can lead to immune and reproductive disorders, impaired brain functioning, cancers, etc.
The economic impact will be unforgiving: damaged roads and bridges, reduced property values and higher taxes as the proposed 77 trucks a day travel through our communities while the out-of-state operators of this site, Acuity, rake in the big bucks with one of the largest dump and ship operations in New England because NH has reduced regulations governing C&D operations compared to other surrounding states. This makes us a target.
Maybe you live in Claremont or Newport, Charlestown or Cornish, Ascutney or Springfield, Plainfield or Sunapee or any of the many beautiful communities surrounding Claremont. Please come to oppose Acuity’s permit on Mar. 6th at 6 PM at the Claremont Opera House. But please come early to make your heart-song known by writing what you love on one of our pink, cardstock heart blanks.

03/02/2025

Make a Heart for Who or What You Love… and Oppose Acuity!
Please come a little early to the public hearing at the Claremont Opera House on Thursday, March 6th at 6 PM. There will be a table set up in the lobby to make a heart, or take a heart that someone else has made, about who or what you love about your home. NH Dept. of Environmental Services requires a public hearing for a massive, toxic construction and demolition (C&D) operation proposed too near your community, Maple Avenue Elementary School, and a lovely residential neighborhood where I was raised.
As a child, I played in Meadow Brook, mesmerized by crayfish, amidst majestic pines. I rode either a cardboard box or my sled, depending on the season, down Marshall’s hill, both beside the proposed C&D site. With grave concern for others in this neighborhood today, especially the children, a permit will allow C&D contaminates that include lead (measured in micrograms that harm children’s nervous systems), PFAS “forever chemicals”, mercury, asbestos, etc. that can lead to immune and reproductive disorders, impaired brain functioning, cancers, etc.
The economic impact will be unforgiving: damaged roads and bridges, reduced property values and higher taxes as the proposed 77 trucks a day travel through our communities while the out-of-state operators of this site, Acuity, rake in the big bucks with one of the largest dump and ship operations in New England because NH has reduced regulations governing C&D operations compared to other surrounding states. This makes us a target.
Maybe you live in Claremont or Newport, Charlestown or Cornish, Ascutney or Springfield, Plainfield or Sunapee or any of the many beautiful communities surrounding Claremont. Please come to oppose Acuity’s permit on Mar. 6th at 6 PM at the Claremont Opera House. But please come early to make your heart-song known by writing what you love on one of our pink, cardstock heart blanks.

02/23/2025

Please show up Thursday, March 6th at 6 PM at the Claremont Opera House to show NH Dept. of Environmental Services (DES) that we don't want a massive, toxic construction and demolition (C&D) debris operation going through our communities! This is a regional issue, not just for Claremont. These proposed 50 to 80 trucks a day full of toxic materials will be going through your communities, too. This public hearing was rescheduled due to the snowstorm that prevented it's happening on Feb. 6th.

Your voice matters! You can tell NH DES that the small plot of land proposed for the huge C&D operation by out-of-state business owners who say they want to use for "recycling" C&D isn't even big enough for the truck traffic, let alone an appropriate sorting facility. The adjacent wetlands will be polluted as well as the air beside an elementary school and residential neighborhoods.

Even if you do not wish to speak, your presence will show that you are not interested in this facility and out-of-state company's financial gain (Acuity Management from Massachusetts) which will poison our air and water, raise our taxes for road repairs, and reduce our property values.

This C&D operation is against Claremont Zoning ordinances. The City Planner says NO! The Zoning Board supports the Planner's position. DES is supposed to support local zoning decisions. They can deny this permit, which isn't even adequately prepared.

Toxics like PFAS forever-chemicals associated with cancers, lead (with childhood poisoning measured in micrograms and it is likely that 30 tons of lead contaminated debris would be flowing through our communities annually), mercury, and other dangerous toxic chemicals. These toxics are harmful to child development and cause immune and reproductive systems disorders.

This is a regressive move in waste management. There is a facility in Epping, NH that uses 40 acres to appropriately sort and recycle C&D. This proposed site in Claremont is 1.3 acres, not even enough for all the truck traffic that would be needed to accommodate the proposal.

NH is beginning to reevaluate its outdated waste management regulations. Other New England states regulations are much more protective of the public. This C&D operation would be a disaster for multiple reasons, and is not in our region's best interest. Our county, Sullivan, is trying to rebrand our area to be a destination for tourism. This operation would generate the wrong health impacts for ourselves and our children, the wrong inadequate site that Claremont zoning will not permit, the wrong economic move for our taxes due to the negative impact on our roads and bridges bringing higher taxes, the wrong direction for property values, the wrong toxic pollution for our wetlands, aquifer, air and wildlife.

Please be part of the movement to say NO to Acuity's proposal!
Come Thursday, March 6th at 6 PM, to the Claremont Opera House, Claremont, NH! Your presence matters! For more information or a fact sheet, please call 603-504-8379. You can also write in your statement by email to: [email protected] or by post to NHDES-SWMB, Atten: Jason Evancic, PO Box 95, Concord, NH 03302. Written comments must be received by 4 PM on March 20th.