Whately ZBA Orders Site Visit, Expert Review of Bay State Blasting ANFO Silo Plan

WHATELY -- May 7, 2026, Whately's Zoning Board of Appeals continued a public hearing on Bay State Blasting's bid to store ANFO emulsion in a new above-ground silo at 71 Chestnut Plain Road, setting a site visit for May 16 and a next hearing date of June 4 with no decision reached. The company, represented by land use consultant Rob Levesque of Levesque Associates and attorney Tom Reedy of Bacon and Wilson, is seeking to consolidate up to 180,000 pounds of permitted explosive storage into a single 65,000-pound stainless-steel silo with 110-percent secondary containment, a switch from the dry, solid explosives historically stored at the site. ZBA Chair Debra Carney and member Roger Lipton pressed for evidence that the change would not increase groundwater contamination risk under the town's pre-existing nonconforming use bylaw, and Lipton said he "didn't hear any science about that at all." Planning Board Chair Brant Chaykas, attending as a citizen, directed the board to aquifer protection bylaw section 171-32(J), which conditionally permits above-ground liquid petroleum and hazardous material storage, and flagged an unresolved question of whether ANFO qualifies as a liquid petroleum product under MGL Chapter 21E. The board agreed to pursue a third-party peer review paid by the applicant under MGL Chapter 40A Section 53G and approved the February 5 meeting minutes unanimously before adjourning.