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Location: Off Black Cat Road, Map 90 Lots 17-01, 17-03, 20-01, 21-01
(Area is estimated, locations need to be confirmed)

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  • Owner:  EJ Pontiff Cranberries, Inc. 

  • Volume of Earth Removed: 896,000 cubic yards according to permits issued by the ZBA to E.J. Pontiff Cranberries, Inc. for this approximate area

  • Permit: Yes. Permits granted by Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals:

  • 2008: issued to EJ Pontiff Cranberries, Inc. Case #3479 to remove 206,000 cubic yards to build a cranberry bog and tailwater recovery pond 

  • 2010: issued to EJ Pontiff Cranberries Case  #3580 for 434,000 cubic yards for cranberry bog expansion; on June 4, 2014 the ZBA issued an extension of the permit for 2 years, to 2016, for a total of 6 years of mining. 

  • 2012: issued to EJ Pontiff Cranberries Case # 3677 for 256,000 cubic yards for cranberry bog expansion. A 2012 letter from Pontiff’s engineer describing the project as removal of 256,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel to create 3.6 acres of bogs is here.  As of September 9, 2015 this site was active.

  • A summary of Pontiff’s permits is here the company’s brief to the ZBA in 2012 (this application was withdrawn and resubmitted)

  • Eric Pontiff is the sole officer and director of E.J. Pontiff Cranberries, Inc. The organization also operates under the name of Cedar Meadow Cranberry, LLC, Cedar Meadow Cranberry, In (104 Tremont Street, Carver MA) and other corporations and LLCs. Pontiff and his companies have ties with A.D. Makepeace Cranberry Co. through sand and gravel mining and real estate development. An EJ Pontiff-related company is building houses at AD Makepeace’s Red Brook Development in Plymouth MA. Below: excerpt from MA Secretary of State listing some of the Eric J. Pontiff entities.

  • Area Impacted: 50+  acres

  • Wetlands: Yes. A 2012 letter from Pontiff’s engineer states a wetlands permit is needed from the Conservation Commission. There is no record of a wetlands filing. 

  • Claimed Reason for Mining: create cranberry bog, tailwater recovery pond

  • Solar: Installed solar on forested land strip mined under the ruse of creating a cranberry bog. Shown by Google Earth photos. No cranberries under the solar installation. Excerpt from Borrego Solar application to Plymouth Planning Board showing location of the solar. Solar application here.

  • Plymouth Carver Sole Source Aquifer: Yes. 

  • Wetlands and Waterways: Yes.

Mined around the pond, into the aquifer, to create a pond. Above figure shows the area mined for solar installation. 

  • Archaeological Impacts: Unknown

  • Ecosystem: Unknown

  • Public Subsidies:  E.J. Pontiff Cranberries, Inc. and the affiliated company Cedar Meadow Cranberry received $276,000.00 in MDAR Cranberry Revitalization grants from 2019 through 2022.

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