[mcdude]

Laconia Daily Sun - Tuesday Nov. 6

State gives Baldi 15 days to submit plan for removal of buried saloon debris from dive-in property

LACONIA — The New Hampshire Department of Environmental has granted Larry Baldi 15 days to prepare and present a written plan for removing construction debris left from the demolition of the Wide Open Saloon from the Weirs Beach Drive-In Theater property, where it was recently buried.
Baldi, doing business as Baldi Leasing, is the husband of Brandi Baldi, the registered owner of the Wide Open Saloon, and the son of Patricia Baldi, who owns the Weirs Beach Drive-In Theater.
On September 17, 2010 the Wide Open Saloon was severely damaged by fire. In the two years that followed its charred remains cast a pall over The Weirs while Baldi pursued various strands of litigation, including a suit against her fire insurance carrier. Ultimately the city and Brandi Baldi reached a settlement and this September the building was finally demolished.
However, anonymous sources informed city officials and DES that the debris was not seen leaving the property while an area of the adjacent lot was excavated and backfilled, prompting an investigation.
After visiting the site last week, Ray Reimold of the special investigations section of the waste management division of DES, immediately notified Baldi, who admitted to burying the debris, that he had violated regulatory requirements for managing solid and hazardous waste. In his report, Reimold explained that the plan must include a definite timeline for excavating the site and removing the debris, specifying who will transport the material and to which licensed facility it will be taken. Moreover, since the site, like much of The Weirs, may contain Native American artifacts of archaeological significance, the plan must also indicate how issues raised by the Division of Historical Resources will be addressed.
Failure to comply could lead to formal enforcement actions, including administrative penalties or referral to the Department of Justice, which could pursue civil and criminal penalties.
Meanwhile, documentation attached to Reimold's report confirms that in July, Universal Abatement Services of Lawrence, Massachusetts removed all asbestos from the remains of the Wide Open Saloon, which was earlier identified by Smith & Wessel Associates of Spencer, Massachusetts. The city required confirmation that asbestos had been surveyed, removed and properly disposed of prior to granting the demolition permit to raze what remained of the building.