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Location: 276 Federal Road, Carver, MA, Map 13 Lot 1-2-A 

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  • Owner:  AD Makepeace Cranberry

  • Volume of Earth Removed: 488,769 cubic yards. Makepeace supplies aggregate from its lands such as this site to its subsidiary Read Custom Soils, LLC located at 46 Federal Road, Carver about ¼ mile away. AD Makepeace - Read Custom Soils is known as the largest aggregate mining, sales and distribution operation east of the Mississippi River. This report identifies 17 mining sites operated by A.D. Makepeace Cranberry and an estimated total volume of  28 million cubic yards of sand and gravel.  Makepeace employs 60 independent truck operators to transport the aggregate materials throughout New England.  

  • Trucking company operators that haul aggregate for A.D. Makepeace Co. include Shurtleff Sand & Stone whose sole owner and operator was a member of the Carver Earth Removal Committee (ERC) for decades. Other ERC past and present members do business with A.D. Makepeace. The solar project was approved in 2013. Work commenced sometime between June 2014 and May 2015.  The site was unnecessarily leveled with industrial sorting equipment brought in to more efficiently facilitate the commercial sale of sand. A map from May 2015, site clearing at 276 Federal Road shows sorting equipment. The elevation change on the site was not as great as other locations but the extent of removal and grading was not necessary for solar. Prior to excavation the site was a fairly high hill, with elevation differences between 30 and 50 feet from the nearby bog.

  • Permit: The Carver Earth Removal Committee issued a permit for part of the 85 acre site. This site is one of six that are the subject of a Damage to the Environment lawsuit brought by Ten Residents under the Citizen Suit law.

  • Area Impacted: 85 Acres

  • Claimed Reason for Mining: Solar project. Phase I obtained earth removal permit for 176,143 cubic yards; Phase II did not.

  • Water Supply: Yes, over the Plymouth Carver Sole Source Aquifer. See, Affidavit of Scott Horsley. 

  • Wetlands and Waterways: Yes; Wankinko River. See, Affidavit of Scott Horsley. 

  • Archaeological Impacts:  Yes. A Massachusetts Historical Commission letter about the site dated 4/11/2019 states the site is “archaeologically significant” and a full archeological study is required. The MHC refuses to disclose whether the study was done and if so the results and whether any Indigenous cultural sites were impacted. The site is within the 6,500 acre Tihonet Mixed Use Development Area (TMUD) designated under Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act MEPA Certificate 13940. The Massachusetts Historical Commission classified the entire area as archaeologically significant. MEPA and MHC allowed AD Makepeace to side step full MEPA review and issued a sign off to the Damage to the Environment in 2023.  STPB Comments to MEPA May 23, 2022, MEPA Certificate 13940: “The significance of the entire TMUD Project was explicitly acknowledged by Massachusetts Historical Commission as recently as 2020: “The archeological reconnaissance survey conducted in 2007 for the overall ADM project indicates that the project impact area is archaeologically sensitive.” 10/30/2020 Letter from MHC to Borrego Solar for ADM Makepeace solar project in TMUD area. ADM has ignored and manipulated the MHC review process and cut the public out. The SRP has failed and continues to fail to provide meaningful opportunity for public input and comment for the Wampanoag people.”

  • Environmental Justice Population: Yes (Income)

  • Ecosystem Impacts: Destroyed 85 acres of BioMap2 NHESP Core Habitat and Natural Community

  • Public Subsidies: A.D. Makepeace receives large agricultural subsidies from the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Agriculture for “cranberry farming”. The company also benefits from the technical assistance provided to “cranberry growers” by the UMass Cranberry Extension Service, a taxpayer funded program to help the cranberry industry. In April 2023, the Extension Service broke ground on an $8 million expansion of the Cranberry Station in East Wareham. A.D. Makpeace’s CEO and President and Board Chair were in attendance.

  • A.D. Makepeace also benefits from electricity ratepayer subsidies for solar by leasing its land such as this site for solar projects that are subsidized under the state SMART Solar Program administered by Mass. Department of Energy Resources. U.S. Department of Energy federal subsidies are provided to DOER for the state’s solar program.

  • A.D. Makepeace keeps most of its land in “Chapter 61” which allows landowners to pay much lower real estate taxes if they do not develop their land. This land was in Chapter 61A for decades and A.D. Makepeace paid almost no real estate taxes. It appears it kept the land in Chapter 61A while mining and until it obtained the solar permits.  Cranberry companies also claim tax incentives for “revitalization” of bogs under state law.

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