Effingham—October 17, 2024—A whistleblower’s letter alleging violations of state environmental laws at Ossipee Lake Camping Area was received by DES’s Legal Department last October and forwarded the same day to the agency’s wetlands and land resources management officials.

A year later, the agency has made little progress following up on the allegations, according to emails obtained by Ossipee Lake Alliance through a public records request made after repeated informal requests for information went unacknowledged.

In its forwarding email, DES’s Legal Department described the allegations as “fluid spills, contaminated fill, septic issues, and wetlands/shoreland violations.”

The allegations came from Martin Casey, who lived at the campground for years and was its groundskeeper. He said he helped spread 20 truckloads of dirt from the former Boyle’s Market gas station on the campground’s beach and playground.

Casey also said he helped dispose of environmentally hazardous materials around the property by burning it in bonfires, which he said he documented with pictures and video. He said the materials included construction and electrical debris, tires and old gas and oil.

Robert Kline, one of the owners of the Leavitt Bay business, confirmed last year that the soil transfer took place, but disputed the number of truckloads used on the beach, and said it was not used on the playground. He has not publicly commented on the alleged fires.

DES’s initial internal review of Casey’s letter said the “vast majority” of the allegations had to do with the campground’s septic systems, although the septic systems are not mentioned again in subsequent agency emails.

The review described the gas station fill as “sand from a local commercial property,” and said reusing it would not be “illegal or improper in and of itself.”

The email goes on to say that “a little bit” of naphthalene, a potential carcinogen, was found in the soil when the previous owners of Boyles Market closed and removed the gas station in 2015. It further noted that the standard for permissible amounts of naphthalene in soil has increased since the gas station’s closure.

In regard to the alleged burning, the email stated that the agency could not open up a case without further substantiation of the allegations.

Several weeks later, an inspector with the Subsurface Systems Bureau asked a supervisor whether he should conduct a site visit and inspection, and whether it was ok to ask Casey to submit his photos of the fires.

The supervisor replied that he thought the issues might already have been addressed. He said he would get back to the inspector, but there were no further emails on the matter, and Casey said this week that no one from DES has ever contacted him.

An Environmental Loophole
An investigation by Ossipee Lake Alliance in the wake of Casey’s allegations last year found that the state allows property owners to use their own judgement about contamination when removing soil from a former gas station so it can be repurposed as fill elsewhere.

That is in stark contrast to neighboring states. In Maine, for example, fill material from a former gas station cannot be used in a residential setting even if the source site was never documented to contain contaminants. Massachusetts and Connecticut have similar regulations.

While the transfer of gas station fill to Ossipee Lake Camping Area may have been legally permissible, its use on the beach may have violated N.H. RSA 482-A.

RSA 482-A allows beaches to be replenished in non-tidal areas if it involves less than 10 cubic yards of sand and takes place no more than once every six years. The replenishment requires wetlands permitting and must be for an existing, legal beach.

Casey said that in addition to replenishing the beach, the campground dumped a truckload of stone into Leavitt Bay to smooth out the boat ramp to address camper complaints. He alleged the work was performed at night because the business did not have a permit.

DES’s only written communication with the campground regarding Casey’s allegations is in a letter dated July 29 stating it had received a complaint about replenishing the beach and could not find a permit for the work.

The letter instructed the campground to provide evidence of a permit or else dispute the allegation within 20 days. A DES official this week said the campground has not responded.

Regarding burning hazardous materials, Effingham’s Fire Chief investigated Casey’s allegations within days of receiving them last year. He visited the site and took pictures in addition to what Casey had provided.

Details of the town’s investigation have not been made public, but the Fire Chief said the business was informed that the open burning of toxic materials is illegal.