Neighbors along Nashua Road in Pepperell say a foul, lingering odor from a composting operation behind their homes has made it hard to even step outside this summer, and the town has now taken the site's owner to court over it. Gavin Santos, 17, said the stench has made it difficult to enjoy his backyard this summer, while resident Colin Taylor described the odor as something that has become difficult to tolerate outdoors.
The Town of Pepperell has identified an unpermitted commercial composting operation as the source of the odor, according to the town. As reported by Boston 25 News, the operation has received shellfish refuse and other organic material, and the town went to Superior Court over the composting operation. The site sits at 57 Nashua Road and is operated by Al Somma in his capacity as trustee of Stump N' Stone Realty Trust, per the Town of Pepperell.
Resident Ali Baninaser said the smell causes dizziness when he is outside, and he told the station that it has forced neighbors to keep windows closed and stay indoors with their families. Neighbor Bob Palmer, who recorded large compost piles and a front-loader moving and turning them over, described the amount of material at the site as crazy. Palmer said he would be surprised if the issue were resolved by the end of 2026, according to the same account.
How the Case Reached Superior Court
Pepperell filed its civil action on July 16, alleging the composting operation began without municipal zoning authorization or required state permits around November 2025. The town's outside counsel, KP Law, P.C., represented Pepperell in seeking a permanent injunction against the site's trustee, the town notes. Before turning to the courts, local authorities issued three separate Cease and Desist orders through the Zoning Enforcement Officer and Board of Health, followed by a state-level Cease and Desist order from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on July 24, per the town.
Pepperell also assessed daily civil fines against the property owner before taking the matter to court, and issued those fines after unsuccessful attempts to stop the operation on its own, the town says. MassDEP visited the composting site as part of the escalating enforcement effort, per Pepperell.
Owner's Defense and the Zoning Fight
During a May 12 Board of Health hearing, legal counsel representing the property owner argued that the site operates as part of normal contractor material storage and denied using raw fish, maintaining that only shellfish shells were being used, according to town records. Board members at that hearing noted fluctuating odor levels during initial inspections and sought a formal zoning determination. Boston 25 News reported that the attorney representing the composting operation's owner had not responded to a request for comment.
The 57 Nashua Road parcel sits within Pepperell's Industrial zoning district along the Nashua River, abutting a Recreation Residential zone and positioned across the river from Urban and Suburban Residential districts, according to the town. Pepperell's zoning bylaws prohibit commercial composting in all zoning districts unless explicitly exempted by state law, the town notes, a detail that helps explain how a single site's odor problem has spread into neighborhoods on both sides of the river.
Removal Deadline Looms as Fall Approaches
The composting operation's owner agreed on July 30 to stop bringing in material and remove what had already accumulated at the site. Per the Town of Pepperell, the owner will remove the material already at the site by September 28. Town officials have cautioned that the court-ordered removal could temporarily intensify local odors as settled organic materials are disturbed and loaded for transport, and they noted that material accumulated over several months would require a substantial timeframe to clear completely.
The dispute unfolds against a backdrop of tightening state rules on organic waste. Massachusetts has required businesses generating more than 0.5 tons of food waste per week to divert it from landfills since November 2022, and organic materials make up roughly 22% of the state's solid waste stream, according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. State regulations under 310 CMR 16.00 require commercial composting facilities to secure local board of health site assignments and state permits, with setback and odor-management requirements meant to prevent exactly the kind of nuisance Nashua Road residents describe.
Pepperell has been down this road before. The town settled another major fight in May 2026, when Mass Composting Group Inc. withdrew its proposal to deposit 3.2 million cubic yards of materials at a 49-acre former gravel pit after years of Land Court and Appeals Court litigation, according to the town. A comparable dispute in Middleborough saw MassDEP revoke a composting facility's operating permit in 2016 after years of odor complaints, which pushed neighboring homeowners into filing a private nuisance lawsuit in Plymouth County Superior Court, as reported by Waste 360.
For now, residents like Santos, Taylor and Baninaser are left waiting out the summer with their windows shut, watching to see whether the September 28 deadline actually clears the piles that have overtaken their neighborhood's air.
