Press Release  Attorney General's Office Announces Proposed Settlement With Minerals Processing Facility In The Town Of Adams Over Alleged State And Federal Environmental Violations

Boston — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s Office announced a proposed consent decree with Specialty Minerals Inc. (Specialty Minerals), a minerals processing facility at the base of Mount Greylock in the town of Adams. Pending approval by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the settlement will resolve allegations that Specialty Minerals violated the Federal Clean Water Act and Massachusetts laws protecting water, wetlands, and rare species by, among other incidents, discharging cloudy wastewater into the Hoosic River in November 2021, which turned the river white and damaged protected habitat of numerous state-listed rare species for more than ten miles downstream.  Once approved, most of the settlement would fund multiple projects to benefit water quality, including infrastructure improvements and native plantings to mitigate stormwater impacts in the Hoosic River Watershed.   

Specialty Minerals is a Delaware corporation headquartered in New York that operates a large lime quarry, minerals processing facility, and attendant industrial wastewater treatment facility, in the town of Adams along the Hoosic River. The neighborhood downstream of the Specialty Minerals facility has been identified by the Commonwealth as an environmental justice community disproportionately subjected to environmental harms and risks.  

According to the Commonwealth’s complaint, filed alongside the proposed settlement, Specialty Minerals allegedly violated its federal and state wastewater discharge permits and multiple federal and state laws by releasing highly alkaline turbid wastewater from its wastewater facility into the Hoosic River, turning the river white from bank to bank and damaging protected habitat of numerous state-listed rare species for more than ten miles downstream, to the Vermont border. The complaint also alleges other violations of federal and state law stemming from improper operation of the wastewater treatment plant, months of cloudy discharges into the river in 2022, failure to conduct required quarterly monitoring of stormwater during rain events, and another release of white, cloudy wastewater into the river in January 2023.   

“We allege that this company violated its permits, disregarded federal and state law, and put the Hoosic River—a resource cherished by the Adams community—at risk,” said AG Campbell. “I am grateful for this collaboration with our state agency partners and committed to holding polluters accountable and working to bring resources back to communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harms.”   

 “Specialty Minerals’s November 2021 release caused damage to the Hoosic River ecosystem and was just one of a number of releases uncovered by our investigation of the facility,” said Commissioner Bonnie Heiple of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). “We appreciate the Attorney General’s strong stand for protection of this waterway and support the investment of settlement funds into local restoration and mitigation projects.” 

“The Hoosic River is vitally important—both for people and nature. An important coldwater fishery, its waters support countless native species, and many protected under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act,” said Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Tom O’Shea. “We appreciate the Attorney General’s commitment to upholding the Commonwealth’s strong environmental protections that safeguard our fish and wildlife and ensure all people have access to a clean, healthy environment.”   

If approved by the Court, the consent decree will require Specialty Minerals to pay a total of $299,000, which includes payments to the town of Adams and three community groups in Northern Berkshire County that will be used to benefit water quality and prevent stormwater impacts.  Specifically, the proposed settlement provides for: 

• $50,000 to the town of Adams for infrastructure improvements in a tributary of the Hoosic River;  
• $50,000 to Hoosic River Revival for stormwater mitigation projects;  

• $50,000 to Hoosic River Watershed Association for a native plant garden and other projects to mitigate stormwater impacts and benefit water quality; and 
• $50,000 to Sonrisas to fund invasive plant removal and native plant habitat establishment at Finca Luna Búho, a community land project that centers the voices and prioritizes the decision-making of those living in marginalization. 

The proposed settlement, if approved, will also provide $30,000 in civil assessments to the Commonwealth’s Natural Heritage Endangered Species Fund and $20,000 in civil penalties for violation of state law, as well as $49,000 to offset the costs of the AG’s enforcement efforts. 

Additionally, the proposed consent decree provides for significant injunctive relief requiring Specialty Minerals to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility and operating and maintenance procedures and to clean up lime sediment deposits from a discharge channel leading from the wastewater facility to the Hoosic River. 

In her strategic plan, AG Campbell pledged to fight for environmental justice by ensuring that all residents can live in healthy and safe communities, especially those in low-income communities, rural communities, and communities of color disproportionately harmed by environmental degradation.   

This matter was handled by Deputy Bureau Chief Turner Smith and Assistant Attorneys General Julia Jonas-Day and Emily Field, of AG Campbell’s Energy and Environment Bureau, with assistance from Bureau of Air & Waste Deputy Regional Director Eva Tor, Chief Regional Counsel Christine LeBel, Bureau of Water Resources Acting Deputy Regional Director Saadi Motamedi, Wastewater Management Section Chief Matthew Sokop, Wastewater Management Section Environmental Engineer Daniel Kurpaska, Wetlands and Waterways Section Chief Michael McHugh, Solid Waste Section Chief Daniel Hall, former Wastewater Management Section Environmental Engineer John Bourcier, former Deputy Regional Director for the Bureau of Water Resources Brian Harrington, and Solid Waste Section Environmental Analyst Lawrence Hanson, all of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Western Regional Office, and Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game General Counsel Jennifer Sulla, and Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Assistant Director of Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Jesse Leddick, Aquatic Biologist Leanda Fontaine Gagnon, Western District Manager Andrew Madden, Senior Endangered Species Review Biologist Misty-Anne Marold, and Assistant Director of Fisheries Todd Richards.   

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