Politics & Government
DEP Investigating Noyes for Environmental Violations
Restaurateur's truck driving to Gerry Island may have breached his probation.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is investigating whether Peter Noyes, who is seeking a permit to , has violated his probation for previous environmental issues.
Noyes, who was given an enforcement order Thursday by the Marblehead Conservation Commission for driving a large truck onto the island and other possible damage to the protected coastal bank, is under a three-year probation for previous environmental violations. One of the conditions of his probation is to commit no environmental infractions, according to a memo in the Conservation Commission's files.
The town is limited to assessing $300 in fines for violations of its environmental laws. But the DEP can issue fines in the thousands of dollars, said William Lanphear, the town engineering and conservation administrator.
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The conservation commission has scheduled a hearing on June 9 to consider Noyes' proposal for Gerry Island. Anticipating that a large number of people will attend, the commission has scheduled the hearing in the auditorium. , opponents to Noyes' proposal spilled outside the basement hearing room at the Mary Alley Building.
Commission chairman Walter Haug and Lanphear toured the island Wednesday with DEP officers Ron Stelline and Pamela Merrill.
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They observed “oil leakage from the truck on the coastal bank, rocks repositioned on the coastal bank to accommodate the entry of the truck up a steep incline, removal of vegetation to allow passage of the truck, erection of tents, parking of the truck, grazing of goats, dumping of rotting floats,” the memo said.
The DEP officers told the commission to order Noyes to remove the truck from the island. They also told the commission to issue enforcement orders to Noyes and island owner Ted Moore.
Noyes, who owns the Rockmore Floating Restaurant and the Hannah Glover, has told the commission he wants to store boats on the island. He has applied to the commission for a permit to reconstruct seawalls on the island. To facilitate the construction, he has proposed to build a 30-foot by 60-foot pad with three-inch thick gravel for unloading boats or trucks.
The commission has not granted any permits and is reviewing his proposal to determine if his activities might impact the island and its coastal bank.
