CONCORD — A longtime waste management company based in Orange faces six felony charges for allegedly falsifying annual facility reports, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office announced last week.
If found guilty, Hammond Grinding and Recycling, which specializes in construction and demolition debris, faces up to a $25,000 fine on each of the charges. The fee is based on state statute.
The charges allege that between March 2020 and March 2023 the company failed to report to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, or NHDES, that it exceeded allotted permit capacity for unprocessed debris, according to a news release sent out by the Attorney General’s Office.
Three other charges allege that in March of 2021, 2022 and 2023 the company submitted an annual facility report to NHDES allegedly detailing fabricated quantities of waste received by the facility, and falsely reported that the company was in compliance with the terms of their permit.
The facility is owned by Fred Hammond and located on Route 4 near Mirror Lake — where it’s been for over 90 years, according to the company’s website. A 20-foot-tall bearded, wooden lumberjack greets visitors at the entrance.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the company declined to comment. Enfield attorney Curtis E. Payne, who is representing the company, also declined request to comment.
The company sorts recyclable material from construction and demolition debris, grinding the rest and shipping it off to be used as cover at landfills, including the Lebanon Solid Waste Facility.
This summer, NHDES contacted the Lebanon facility to let them know that they were mentioned in the company’s plan to dispose of backlogged debris, a move necessary to bring it back into compliance with its permit, said Erica Douglas, the city’s solid waste manager.
“We were part of their clean up plan,” Douglas said. “They needed help catching up on grinding so we took some of it to help. But DES didn’t make it sound like it was a big deal.”
Douglas hadn’t previously heard that felony charges were filed against the company, she said.
In 2013, Hammond Recycling and Grinding was contracted by the town of Hartford to demolish and haul away buildings damaged beyond repair in Tropical Storm Irene. In 2019, the company left the town, and those who use its transfer station, in a bind when it said it would no longer provide the services that allowed the facility to accept construction debris.
While the charges were brought by the Attorney General’s Office, NHDES retains oversight of the operations of the company, said Melissa Fales, assistant attorney general of the office’s environmental protection bureau, in an interview with the Valley News.
Hammond Grinding and Recycling currently retains its permit to operate as a solid waste facility, according to public records from NHDES, and the facility remains open for business.
The company is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in the Grafton County Superior Court on Feb. 20 at 9 a.m.
Frances Mize is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at fmize@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.
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