Environment
The food waste recycling plant reportedly violated several state environmental laws, affecting residents miles away.
A Grafton-based food waste recycling company will be fined up to $250,000 after Attorney General Andrea Campbell pursued allegations that it violated state environmental laws.
Feedback Earth Inc. has been ordered to pay the penalties following a consent judgment entered Dec. 17 in Suffolk County Superior Court, according to a statement from Campbell’s office. The company allegedly violated the Massachusetts Clean Air Act and the Massachusetts Solid Waste Management Act by “installing unauthorized machinery, processing unapproved feedstocks, and emitting rancid odors” which reportedly affected Grafton residents up to 4.4 miles away from the facility.
“Communities should not have to suffer the consequences of businesses prioritizing profits over compliance with our reasonable environmental laws and regulations,” Campbell said in the statement. “This settlement holds Feedback Earth accountable for harming our residents and puts other companies on notice that we will not tolerate business practices that threaten people’s right to breathe fresh air.”
Campbell’s office first sued Feedback Earth in October 2024 in response to claims that Grafton communities had been impacted for months by “noxious odors” so intense that they forced residents to stay indoors and keep their windows closed. An inspection detail conducted later that month by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration yielded a citation for lacking “suitable facilities” in case of emergency for employees who were working with “injurious corrosive materials.”
Feedback Earth allegedly had a pattern of unsanitary conditions and environmental permit violations despite enforcement efforts by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). Furthermore, residents claimed that the company made it challenging to report violations by changing the complaint hotline, directing them to MassDEP’s hotline, and making “unannounced visits” to their homes, according to Campbell’s office.
The facility, located at 109 Creeper Hill Road, was sold in September to an entity managed by the owner of Service Plus Disposal, another Grafton-based waste management company, according to the Worcester Business Journal. The company has since ceased operation permanently, Campbell’s office said.
Of the settlement funds, $110,000 will be used to contribute to the Massachusetts Environmental Justice Fund, which addresses environmental harms in disadvantaged communities statewide, according to the attorney general’s office. Up to $30,000 of the total fine may be suspended for two years if Feedback Earth complies with the agreement terms.
“Clean air is a fundamental right and today, the residents in Grafton can breathe a little easier,” MassDEP Commissioner Bonnie Heiple said in the statement.
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