‘Ungodly’: Stench from River Street recycling plant draws strong complaints
Health Director Eric Badger said he had experienced the stench on nine separate visits to the site around A-Plus Waste & Recycling Services on River Street. Photo by Christian Uva
Health Director Eric Badger said he had experienced the stench on nine separate visits to the site around A-Plus Waste & Recycling Services on River Street. Photo by Christian Uva
MIDDLEBORO — River Street homeowners have said they have to keep their windows closed. A strong stench coming from the nearby A-Plus Waste & Recycling Services has lingered in their neighborhood for years. They said it sticks to their clothes and fills their cars and houses.
“This odor is like rotten milk, vomit, bad cheese, trash,” said Jamie Meserve, who lives across the street from the facility. “And it’s an intensity that’s out of this world.”
River Street residents spoke about the detrimental effects the stench has had on their lives at the Oct. 26 Middleboro Select Board meeting.
Kristen Flannery teared up as she told the Select Board how her daughter and her cousins vomited from the smell after playing outside.
Residents have contacted the town government hundreds of times, according to Jamie Meserve, but nothing has come out of it. Flannery said one official stood on her lawn and said they couldn’t smell what she smelled.
“We are here because we need more than acknowledgement. This is a problem,” she said.
A-Plus operates in a former brick factory surrounded by a residential neighborhood. The facility, owned by Ronald High, was shut down in 2016 by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection due to the odor. But in 2022, the DEP permitted High to reopen the facility. Residents said that same year, the Select Board dropped a lawsuit against High that would block him from reopening the facility.
Jason Meserve, Jamie Meserve’s husband, said that all of their family photos between 2016 and 2022 were taken outside when the smell was gone. After 2022, though, they were all taken inside. “That’s kind of representative of how your life is changed by a facility like that,” he said.
Flannery and Judi Tracey said they have experienced threats and blackmail attempts by High in an effort to keep them from speaking out.
Tracey described the 19 years she’s lived across the street from A-Plus as “hell.” She said she hasn’t moved because she “cannot live with myself if I put another family through that hell.”
High was not present at the meeting.
Health Officer Eric Badger said that while the facility adheres with DEP guidelines, the odor is too bad to endure. He recommended the town go through legal processes to deal with the issue.
Select Board Chair Teresa Farley said the Select Board will hold an executive session to discuss how to go forward.
“I’m really kind of embarrassed and ashamed that the town hasn’t taken a step to do something, and that it’s taken years for this to finally come to a boiling point,” said Select Board member Tracie Craig-McGee.
