Acadia Disposal District representative and former selectman leads charge
Mar 11, 2026
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Havana.
SOUTHWEST HARBOR—An appeal has been filed to overturn the town’s recent Planning Board approval of the Trundy Farms Subdivision.
That subdivision was proposed by Southwest Harbor Planning Board Vice Chair Ben Lee Worcester and underwent multiple meetings as some board members worried about potential contaminants coming from a close by landfill that Worcester’s family also owns.
The subdivision also inspired a citizens’ initiative for new soil testing requirements for builds that require Planning Board approval within .5 miles of state-determined “uncontrolled” sites. Southwest Harbor voters passed the soil standard changes 554-187 in November 2025.
The town’s Planning Board had a split recommendation over the soil standards referendum.
The town’s Planning Board is now looking to revise those new rules. Any revision will have to go back before the voters.
The Select Board hopes to have a special meeting by April 10 on those proposed revisions. A Planning Board meeting with a public hearing is scheduled for March 30. It will also likely be on the Select Board’s March 24 agenda.
Within Southwest Harbor, the only site considered “uncontrolled” and not remediated by the state is the Worcester Associates landfill property, which is between Long Pond and the Marshall Brook Road and began in the 1930s with an open burning dump that was used by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and then the town. It has polluted ground water in the area.
Last Thursday, James “Jim” Vallette, who represents the town for the Acadia Disposal District, filed an appeal to overturn the subdivision near that landfill’s approval. Vallette is also a former Select Board member.
Vallette argues that he has standing to do so because of his position on the district board, which requires him to “ensure the environmentally sound management of municipal solid wastes. Any development that disturbs pollution from the historic landfill risks compounding the problem which I am mandated to deal with,” he wrote in an email.
He’s challenging the Planning Board’s February 2025 decision on the grounds that abutters (including the town) were never sent proper notification about the application, that there were allegedly illegal meetings between Worcester and members of the Planning Board, and that he believes the board should have sought outside counsel after the Worcesters’ attorney appeared for his clients at a meeting in December 2025.
After months of discussions, the subdivision been approved by the town’s planning board, after the board unanimously accepted the newest soil test on the property by the six-acre Worcester Landfill off the Long Pond Road in Southwest Harbor.
RECENT BRIEFS AND PRESS RELEASES
To see all the press releases, click here. To see our news, click here. For the full archive, click here. All of these are on our dedicated website.
You can help us keep going (if you want, no pressure). It really helps.
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlyDiscover more from Bar Harbor Story
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.