Carver Conservation Commission Orders Legacy Stables to Pull Manure Pile Back from River

CARVER -- July 23, 2025, Carver Conservation Commission orders Legacy Stables manure pile away from the Lubiantic River and demands a wetlands survey before a long-term plan can be approved. Conservation Agent David Hall presented aerial and ground-level evidence that a large horse manure pile at the South Carver stable on Rochester Road had accumulated over roughly a year and a half within 50 feet of the river at its closest point, raising concerns about nutrient runoff and infiltration through sandy soils into the shallow water table. The pile had been largely removed by the July 21 site visit in response to a Board of Health complaint, but Hall recommended the commission require an immediate 65-foot setback, enhanced erosion controls, and pile covering during storm events as interim measures. Neighbors described what appeared to be a drainage ditch leading toward the river, and one abutting cranberry bog owner said flooding regularly reaches her property. The commission separately voted unanimously to recommend the town exercise its Chapter 61A right of first refusal on Lot 1 of Indian Street at a purchase price of $150,000, in line with a prior Planning Board recommendation, and issued a unanimous negative determination on a water treatment plant application from Pine Tree Village Residents Association at 52 Wareham Street, a project designed to treat iron, manganese, and PFAS levels that are expected to exceed the EPA's new 4-parts-per-trillion standard for PFOA and PFOS.