P.J. Keating Co.
v. Town of Acushnet , 104 Mass. App.
Ct. 65, 233 N.E.
3d 1097 (2024), review denied , 2024 WL 3346086 (Mass. June 27, 2024). In P.
J. Keating Co. v.
Town of Acushnet , the Board of Health (the “Board”) of the town of Acushnet, MA (the “Town”) had issued a cease-and-desist order requiring P.J. Keating (“PJK”), a long-time operator of a hot-mix asphalt plant in the Town, to halt its operations due to the spread of noxious fumes and odors beyond PJK’s property.
Although PJK’s property was zoned for industrial use, it had recently constructed a new asphalt plant on its property closer to residential neighborhoods. Soon after PJK commenced operations at its new plant in 2021, Acushnet residents began experiencing adverse physical symptoms, such as headaches, nausea, and dizziness, and filed numerous complaints with the Board. Following an investigation, the Board confirmed the presence of “nuisance odors” at residences close to the plant as well as at the Town’s senior center.
The Board then, pursuant to G.L. c.
111, § 122, ordered PJK to cease and desist from operating its plan and to remedy the cause of the odors. In June 2022, the Board held an evidentiary hearing and heard testimony from numerous residents concerning the plant’s adverse effects. The Board ultimately determined that the plant posed a public nuisance that impaired neighboring property owners from enjoying their properties and issued an order requiring PJK to cease and desi.
