A drone image shows a ship at Brayton Point along with a pile of scrap metal. (9:30 a.m. March 22)

At around 7 p.m. Monday night, the clanging sound of scrap metal being loaded onto a ship at Brayton Point in Somerset appeared to come to a halt.

According to neighbors, Eastern Metal Recycling filled a waiting ship to the brim with scrap metal and then began to shut down the operation, complying with a deadline set by Land Court Judge Robert Foster. The ship was still tied up at the Brayton Point dock Tuesday morning, but it’s expected to be leaving soon. 

The shutdown of the scrap metal operation is the culmination – at least for now – of one of the most divisive issues in Somerset’s history. The St. Louis-based owner of Brayton Point tore down the old coal-fired power plant that long operated there with the plan of transforming the property into a staging area for the emerging offshore wind industry. But lengthy delays in the federal permitting of offshore wind farms prompted the property’s owner to lease part of the property to Eastern Metal Recycling and a road salt distribution company. 

Neighbors complained about the truck traffic, the noise, and the metal dust plaguing their neighborhood, and ultimately prevailed at the ballot box (gaining control of the Select Board and other town agencies) and in court.

Foster ruled on March 8 that “dust from the scrap metal operation is leaving the site and being blown into the neighborhood, where it causes harm to the property and health of the residents.” He gave the scrap metal operation until Monday night to shut down. 

A sign near Brayton Point in Somerset thanking Land Court Judge Robert Foster for his decision shutting down the scrap metal export operation.

Kathy Souza, a neighbor of Brayton Point, a member of the Somerset Select Board, and one of the named parties in the lawsuit that brought the scrap metal operation to a halt, said on Tuesday morning that she assumes the ship will go out at high tide around midday. She said she walked down to the water around 6:30 a.m. and could see a pile of scrap metal behind the ship. A picture taken from a drone at 9:30 a.m. showed a pile of scrap remaining.

Officials with Commercial Development Inc., the St. Louis company that owns Brayton Point, did not respond to queries about whether the scrap metal export operation was being closed down for good. 

At a recent court hearing, company officials said they had hired an engineering company to take all sorts of sound and dust measurements during the ship loading process to gather evidence for an appeal to the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals that the scrap metal operation should be given a second chance.

Such a request is likely to face strong opposition in Somerset. Souza and two other parties to the lawsuit — Nancy Thomas and Nicole McDonald — say the final loading process moved much more slowly than usual to reduce noise and dust levels the engineering firm was tracking. Company officials said the loading procedures had not changed.

Attorney General Maura Healey’s office has been investigating possible environmental violations at Brayton Point for months, but so far no action has been taken.

BRUCE MOHL

 

FROM COMMONWEALTH

Capuano praises Baker: Former congressman Michael Capuano lauds Gov. Charlie Baker’s political courage for not taking the easy way out and instead pushing ahead with the Green Line extension project to Somerville and Medford. The lifelong Democrat also said he voted for the Republican for governor. Read more.

Markey backs Arroyo: US Sen. Edward Markey endorses Ricardo Arroyo in the Democratic primary for Suffolk County district attorney. His challenger is Kevin Hayden, who was appointed to the post on an interim basis by Gov. Charlie Baker. Read more.

Benchmark called impractical: Steve Walsh, the president of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, claims the state’s health care cost benchmark is impractical and unfair at a time when inflation is rising rapidly. Read more.

OPINION

Don’t stick it to business: Christopher Carlozzi, the president of the National Federation of Independent Business, says businesses shouldn’t get stuck with the state’s unemployment insurance bill. He says businesses aren’t to blame for the state-mandated shutdowns. Read more.

 

FROM AROUND THE WEB

 

BEACON HILL

Gov. Charlie Baker’s bill to criminalize “revenge porn” remains at a standstill on Beacon Hill. (Boston University Statehouse Program)

It’s been slow going for efforts to legalize sports betting in Massachusetts, despite the fact that it faces no organized opposition. (Boston Globe)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

Anti-vaccine protesters apparently set out to send City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo a message, but did so by gathering outside the Hyde Park home of his mother, remaining there, Arroyo said, even after she said the District 5 city councilor doesn’t live there. (Boston Globe) 

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Insurers oppose a proposed ballot question that would require a certain percentage of dental insurance premium dollars go toward clinical care, not administrative expenses. (Eagle-Tribune)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson will face questioning today from senators today. (Washington Post) The New York Times fact-checks Republican claims made about Jackson’s record. 

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Two development teams are vying for the right to remake a long-vacant Roxbury parcel. (Boston Globe) 

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

A Maine landfill set aside for in-state trash is filling up with debris from Massachusetts and other states. (Maine Public Radio)

PASSINGS

Peter Stefan, a longtime Worcester mortician who buried the poor and unwanted, including one of the Boston Marathon bombers, has died. (Telegram & Gazette)