“I refuse to cower every time someone threatens a lawsuit, but if someone wants to bring the fight, we are right at home.”
Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald remarks, quoted in The Item’s Dec. 17 edition, refer to the response the town plans to file in federal court in January to a lawsuit brought by Aggregate Industries-Northeast Industries, Inc.
Aggregate has dug rock out of a giant quarry straddling the Swampscott-Salem line for more than a century and the company’s lawsuit claims the earth-removal permit the town issued to Aggregate in June makes large sections of the quarry unusable.
Aggregate’s lawsuit claims former Select Board Chairman Peter Spellios’ “bias” and “personal animus toward Aggregate” prompted the town to issue a permit more restrictive than state and federal laws governing quarry operations.
Aggregate’s complaint said Spellios is “seriously biased against Aggregate and viewed Aggregate as an outside pariah … and publicly made his bias against Aggregate part of his personal political platform.”
In defense of Spellios, Fitzgerald told The Item, “It is patently unfair for Aggregate to attack any elected officials for having the courage to stand up to and take on a multinational conglomerate.”
Aggregate is in business to make money and its court filing says restrictions imposed by the town’s earth-removal permit will cost the company $34 million in lost revenue over the next 19 years.
In underscoring the town’s commitment to fight Aggregate in federal court, Fitzgerald stated: “Our job is to protect.” But that obligation also extends to the town taxpayer’s wallet and pocketbook.
Aggregate is seeking court-ordered damages and compensation for company legal costs. Even if the court does not order the town to pay those costs, battling Aggregate in federal court is going to be an expensive proposition for the town.
In our view, there is a better way to resolve town-company differences over the earth-removal permit. Both sides should sit down and review the permit and find common ground for a compromise.
Aggregate should be given an opportunity to point out overly-restrictive language in the permit. Town officials are rightly obliged to seek solutions to what Fitzgerald termed “quality-of-life” concerns, including dust and vibrations associated with Aggregate’s operation.
The forum for resolving differences between the town and the firm is not an expensive, drawn-out court fight. Level-headed conversation can lead to consensus between both sides and save the town and taxpayers money.
