TLA-Holbrook Sues Town Over Alleged Collusion to Stop Transfer Station Project

Proposed site of TLA-Holbrook solid waste transfer station

TLA-Holbrook (TLA), the corporation attempting to construct a solid waste transfer station in Holbrook, is suing numerous boards and town officials in what it claims was a coordinated, unlawful attempt to stop the project.

The 300-page lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleges that the Conservation Commission, Planning Board, and Select Board colluded to stop TLA’s project. All three boards, including current and past members, are listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

“The Town’s boards refused reasonable extension requests for previously issued approvals, forcing TLA to reapply for permits for substantially the same project,” the lawsuit says. “TLA was then subject to drawn-out, illegal, unfair, and inconsistent treatment at the hands of the Holbrook Conservation Commission and Holbrook Planning Board, all instigated by the Select Board.”

In the lawsuit, TLA claims the Town’s attitude toward the project shifted dramatically after Pam Campanella, Patty Conway, and Katie Goldrick were elected to the Select Board.

“Extensions of previously approved permits were denied on pretextual grounds. Previously granted permits were denied for the identical project. Select Board members pressured members of other municipal boards to deny projects,” the lawsuit says.

When reached for comment, Campanella said she is “not commenting during open active litigation.”

TLA also claims the Select Board, which is responsible for appointing people to the Conservation Commission, “intentionally filled the Commission with appointed individuals who opposed TLA’s project.”

TLA’s complaints of Select Board pressure are partially based on an affidavit from Laura Bugay, an engineer representing TLA.

In her affidavit, Bugay describes a conversation she had with current Conservation Commission Chair Fred White in the fall of 2024, where White said the Select Board was pressuring the Commission to deny the project.

In an email to HCAM News, White said he “cannot answer any question at this time” due to the ongoing litigation.

In her affidavit, Bugay claims that “Commissioner White informed me that the Select Board Chair, whom I know from my experience on the Project was Katie Goldrick at the time, was ‘pushing’ the new Commission Chair, William Conrad, to deny the project.”

When asked for comment, Goldrick, whose Select Board term ended this month, said she “cannot discuss matters in litigation.”

Bugay also claims White told her that “the Select Board pressured Commissioner Frank Duggan to vote against TLA’s Project using Commissioner Duggan’s need for municipal approval of his own project in Holbrook, Massachusetts as leverage against him.”

Requests for comment sent to Frank Duggan went unanswered.

KP Law, the firm representing the Town in the lawsuit, said the Town will defend itself against TLA's claims.

“The Town of Holbrook Select Board, Planning Board, Conservation Commission, and the individuals named as defendants in the federal lawsuit filed by TLA-Holbrook LLC, will vigorously defend against the allegations and claims made against them. We will not be commenting further on this matter because of the pending litigation,” KP Law said in a statement.

Also mentioned in the lawsuit is the lease TLA signed with the Town for the land where the project would be built. The Select Board attempted to terminate the lease, signed in 2009, in April of last year.

TLA claims the lease is still valid and that “the Town’s actions constituted a breach of contract.”

A lawsuit regarding the attempt to terminate the lease, which is separate from the federal lawsuit, is currently pending in Massachusetts Land Court.

The transfer station, if constructed, would be located on Philips Road, abutting the Baird & McGuire Superfund Site. The project aims to build a 1,000 ton-per-day municipal solid waste transfer station to transport waste by rail.

HCAM News Disclosure: Fred White is a member of HCAM’s Board of Directors and serves as its president. He is named in the TLA-Holbrook lawsuit in his capacity as a member of the Holbrook Conservation Commission. HCAM is not a party to the litigation and has no financial interest in the TLA project. HCAM maintains editorial independence in its news coverage.