How the Story Changed
A fact-based record of how official claims about the Four Hills project evolved — documented with exact quotes and timestamps from ZBA hearings.
Why this page exists
Over five ZBA hearings and months of public records requests, the story of what's being built at Four Hills Landfill has changed significantly. Each revision expanded the project's scope, frequency, and regional reach — always after the previous version was presented to residents and the board. This page documents those changes with exact quotes, timestamps, and sources so you can verify everything for yourself.
At a Glance
Teak Drive Waterline & Corridor
The infrastructure routed through the residential neighborhood
| Topic | What They Said | What We Know Now |
|---|---|---|
| Road Access | Gated driveway + water line from Teak Drive | DENIED 5-0 by ZBA — community win |
| Traffic Impact | "Very minimal use" — Dan Hudson (City Engineer) compared fire trucks to trash pickup | One fire truck pass = 10,000x a car's road damage. Hudson knows this — he's a professional engineer. |
| Habitat Quality | "Highest rank habitat in the region" — Brendan Quigley (Environmental Consultant), ZBA Oct 2025 | Same consultant, same property: "marginal habitat" (Conservation Commission, Feb 2026) |
| After Denial | "We just have the water line here tonight... much much less of an impact" — Andy Prolman (City Attorney), Nov 25 | Permanent 20ft cleared corridor — no trees can ever be replanted (roots would damage pipe) |
| Why It Moved | Not explained in original application | DPW garage needs the space where fire training currently sits — fire training must relocate |
| Water Specs | 12-inch pipe, 3,500+ GPM (Oct 2025) | Changed three times: 12" → 10" → 8". Initially asked for double what was needed. |
| HDD Alternative | Underground option proposed by residents: same cost, no trees, no wetland impact | Dismissed by Conservation Commission without serious evaluation |
| Road in Budget | Road denied 5-0 — Andy Prolman (City Attorney) said it was off the table | 20-foot clearing degrades wetlands → creates "material change" → City can re-apply for the road. Already in CIP budget. |
Fire Department Training Facility
What's actually being built at the landfill site
| Topic | What They Said | What We Know Now |
|---|---|---|
| What It Is | Fire training — "clean wood and hay" | "All-hazards agency" — includes hazmat and chemical response training (City's own CIP document) |
| Structures | "Just shipping containers, nothing dug into the ground" (Lorac, Oct 14 [52:42]) | $1.98M complex: concrete pads, live-fire building, classroom, SCBA compressor, septic, lighting, fencing |
| Usage Frequency | "Once or twice a week" — Chief Buxton (Fire Chief) to ZBA | "Five days a week for six weeks" + "two to three days per week rest of year" (Fire Chief to Conservation Commission) |
| Who Uses It | Mostly Nashua — other towns "approximately six times per year" | Upwards of 12 departments expected — a full-time regional training facility open daily |
| PFAS | "Clean wood and hay" — Chief Buxton (Fire Chief) — PFAS never mentioned at any ZBA hearing | PFAS confirmed by NHDES Director to NH Senate (Feb 2026) |
| PFAS Testing | Not discussed at any hearing | State asked for testing ~5-6 years ago — City ignored it until they needed to build |
| Formal Approval | Water line advanced through ZBA and Conservation Commission | The $1.98M facility the water line serves was never formally proposed to any board |
The Board's Own Words
"This is really buried in a residential neighborhood. I can't get past the degree to which the character of this neighborhood would change irreparably."
The ZBA denied because this project would "change the character irreparably." Everything that has happened since — PFAS contamination confirmed by the state, expansion to daily "all-hazards" operations with 12+ departments, a permanent 20-foot clearing through pristine wetlands with endangered species — makes that case even stronger. A zero-impact underground alternative exists at the same cost, yet the city dismissed it without serious evaluation.
Full road access from Teak Drive denied 5-0 by ZBA
City proposes gated driveway and water line from Teak Drive to Four Hills Landfill
The original application included a full access road (described as a "gated driveway") plus a water line running from Teak Drive through the residential neighborhood to the landfill.
Residents pack the hearing room and push back
Community members turned out in force, raising concerns about traffic, neighborhood character, environmental impacts, and the expanding scope of the project.
ZBA DENIES the application unanimously, 5-0
The board denied the special exception on criteria 2 (traffic) and 5 (neighborhood character). Board chairman: "this is really buried in a residential neighborhood. I can't get past the degree to which the character of this neighborhood would change irreparably."
Why it matters: This was a direct result of community organizing. Residents showed up, spoke up, and the board listened. The road was denied — but the City came back weeks later with "just the water line," which opponents warned would become the road by another name.
Dan Hudson told the ZBA fire truck traffic was "very minimal" — then contradicted himself in the same testimony
Dan Hudson (City Engineer): "What the chief has described to me is very minimal use. Actually, I can't think of a use where there would be less access to a property."
The City's own engineer told the ZBA that a fire training facility generating daily heavy vehicle traffic would have minimal impact on residential streets.
Hudson: "We expect trash pickup... those are pretty heavy vehicles. Fire trucks need to go everywhere in the City."
Hudson equated 40,000-lb fire apparatus to regular garbage trucks and claimed "multiple axles distribute the load." As a professional engineer, he knows the AASHTO Fourth Power Law: one pass of a loaded fire truck does 10,000–16,000 times the pavement damage of a car. He told the board the opposite.
Same testimony, Hudson admitted: "the more frequent use of a heavy vehicle tends to degrade the roads faster"
In the same hearing, Hudson contradicted his own conclusion. He acknowledged that heavy vehicles degrade roads — then told the board he had "no concerns about the structure of this street being suitable for this use."
Why it matters: Dan Hudson is a professional City engineer. He knows that a 40,000-lb fire truck does not compare to a garbage truck — the AASHTO Fourth Power Law is engineering 101. He told the ZBA otherwise, with a straight face. If the City's own engineer will misrepresent basic, provable engineering facts to a public board, what else has been misrepresented throughout this process?
Same consultant, same property — "highest rank" at ZBA, "marginal" at Conservation Commission
Brendan Quigley (Gove Environmental Services): "The entire landfill property is shaded green, which is highest rank habitat in the region"
The City's own environmental consultant described the habitat quality in the strongest possible terms — "highest rank" — when presenting to the ZBA about wildlife on the property.
Same consultant Brendan Quigley: area of impact is "marginal habitat, with young white pine and other roadside species"
Four months later, the same consultant described the same property as "marginal habitat" when presenting to the Conservation Commission — a board where minimizing impact helps the City's case.
Why it matters: The City's own environmental consultant described the same property as "highest rank habitat" at the ZBA (when wildlife impact supported denial arguments from residents) and "marginal habitat" at the Conservation Commission (when minimizing impact supported the City's approval request). The characterization changed to match the audience.
Never once mentioned at ZBA — now confirmed by the state
Fire Chief: "We burn only clean wood and hay. And that is all strictly enforced."
The Fire Chief assured the board that training materials were safe and natural.
Fire Chief Buxton: "We can only burn clean wood, like pallets and hay."
The same "clean wood and hay" claim was repeated at a later hearing. The words "PFAS," "AFFF," and "forever chemicals" were never spoken in any of the five ZBA hearings.
$236,800 PFAS investigation contract approved (Memo #26-127)
The City approved a quarter-million-dollar PFAS investigation for the landfill site — proving contamination concerns were legitimate all along.
NHDES Director Wimsatt confirms PFAS to NH Senate
The state's top environmental official confirmed PFAS contamination at the Four Hills site to the New Hampshire Senate.
Why it matters: The words "PFAS," "forever chemicals," and "AFFF" were never spoken in any of the five ZBA hearings. The City repeatedly said "clean wood and hay" while the site was contaminated with forever chemicals that the state had been asking them to investigate for years.
Denied 5-0 by ZBA — but "emergency vehicle-only access connection" appears in the CIP budget
ZBA denies road access from Teak Drive, 5-0
The board unanimously denied the special exception for a gated driveway and water line from Teak Drive.
City returns with "just the water line" — road dropped
Attorney Prolman presented a reduced application. The road was supposedly off the table.
Finance Committee CIP request includes "the construction of an emergency vehicle-only access connection to Teak Drive"
The $1.98M CIP budget request for the fire training facility relocation includes an "emergency vehicle-only access connection to Teak Drive." The document also states: "Road Access construction to be performed by others utilizing separate budget." Whether this will actually be pursued is unclear, but it is in the City's capital budget request.
Prolman tells Conservation Commission: road speculation is "inaccurate and somewhat mis-leading"
Despite the CIP document explicitly including "emergency vehicle-only access connection to Teak Drive" with "Road Access construction to be performed by others utilizing separate budget," Prolman told the Conservation Commission that "the speculation that this will turn into a road is inaccurate and somewhat mis-leading." The budget document says otherwise.
Why it matters: The road was denied 5-0. The City said it was off the table. But here's the strategy: the ZBA only allows re-application if there is enough "material change in circumstances." The 20-foot permanent clearing — where no trees can ever be replanted — creates exactly that. Once the corridor is built and the wetlands are no longer pristine, the City can return to the ZBA in a couple of years and argue that conditions have materially changed, justifying the road expansion they were denied. The 20-foot clearing is not just a water line corridor — it's a foot in the door. And an "emergency vehicle-only access connection to Teak Drive" is already in the CIP budget, with its cost split into a separate budget line.
From "just the water line" to a displaced fire training facility nobody approved
Attorney Prolman: "we just have the water line here tonight. So, we have much much less of an impact"
After the 5-0 denial, the City returned with a reduced application — waterline only. The road was dropped, but the 20-foot cleared corridor remained. The City stated it must be permanently cleared because tree roots would damage the buried pipe — meaning no trees can ever be replanted along the 1,100-foot route.
Same hearing, attorney reveals: "the DPW garage is going where the fire training facility is now"
It emerged that the fire training facility must relocate because the DPW garage needs the space. This connection was never disclosed in the original application.
But Fire Chief had told the ZBA: "the garage placement of the DPW is not driving this. We could exist with the addition of the garage over there."
Rody Arantes played a recording of Fire Chief Buxton from Oct 14 that directly contradicted the attorney's explanation of why the project was necessary.
Alderman Greg: "This maintenance garage represents phase two of our DPW facilities project. We successfully completed phase one, the new administrative building."
The DPW garage expansion is a separate project — but it needs the space where the fire training facility currently sits, forcing the fire training relocation to Teak Drive. The same attorney (Prolman) then said: "We are not here for having to do anything with Teak Drive" — contradicting his Nov 25 statement that fire training had to move for the garage.
Why it matters: The DPW garage expansion needs the space where fire training currently sits — that is the only reason the fire training facility must relocate to the area near Teak Drive. But these connected projects went to different boards at different times, and no single body has ever reviewed the cumulative impact on the neighborhood.
From "just shipping containers" to a $2 million all-hazards complex
Mike Lorac: "We were told that it's just simply going to be steel shipping containers. Nothing dug into the ground."
This is what neighbors were told when the project was first described to them informally — simple, temporary structures.
Fire Chief requested hydrants for live fire training, 3,500+ GPM flow, and described year-round regional multi-department use
The infrastructure being requested — fire hydrants, high-flow water supply, a permanent 20-foot cleared corridor where no trees can ever be replanted — tells a different story than "just shipping containers."
Finance Committee CIP reveals full scope: $1,980,000 for concrete pads, live-fire building, mobile classroom, SCBA compressor, septic, lighting, fencing, propane UST
The City's own capital budget request lists: concrete pads for a new live-fire training building, mobile classroom, SCBA compressor and fill station, septic system, perimeter fence and gate, site lighting, and propane UST for heating. Water main and road access are separate budgets on top of this. The document also confirms: "the Fire Service has transitioned from just fighting fires to an all-hazards agency."
Why it matters: Residents were told "just shipping containers." The City's own CIP request shows a $1.98M all-hazards training complex with concrete pads, a live-fire building, classroom, septic, lighting, fencing, and more — with the water line and road access budgeted separately on top. The total project cost across all budget lines has never been disclosed.
State asked for testing 5-6 years ago — City ignored it
NHDES requests PFAS testing at Four Hills site
The state environmental agency asked the City to investigate PFAS contamination at the landfill.
City takes no action on PFAS testing for approximately 5 years
Despite the state's request, the City took no action to test for PFAS near a residential neighborhood with private wells.
City finally approves PFAS investigation — but only because they need it for DPW garage
The timing is no coincidence: the City approved testing when they needed environmental clearance for their DPW construction project, not out of concern for residents.
Why it matters: The City knew about potential PFAS contamination for years and did nothing until they needed the site for their own construction project. Residents on well water near the site were never warned.
A cheaper, less destructive underground option — proposed and dismissed
John Collins warns: "it's just a water line 20 ft. It's easy just to increase that and put a road"
Residents flagged that the 20-foot cleared corridor — permanently cleared because tree roots would damage the pipe — would easily become a road. They called it "phase one of road development."
HDD alternative submitted to Conservation Commission: 800–850 feet underground, no trees removed, equal or lower cost
Henniker Directional Drilling — the same HDD contractor the City used to drill a pump force main under the Nashua River — provided a quote at equal or lower cost per foot. The route is 800–850 feet (vs. the City's 1,200–1,300 foot surface route), avoids all wetland and buffer impacts, and eliminates removal of 100+ trees.
Prolman claims HDD would cost "$150–$600 per foot" based on a same-day casual conversation with City engineer
The ZBA had told Prolman to look into HDD. He was given a full month. Instead of getting an actual quote or engineering study, he waited until the day of the meeting and casually asked City engineer Dan Hudson. Prolman reported Hudson said Henniker quoted "$150–$600 per foot depending on whether ledge is encountered." Residents already had an actual quote from Henniker at $250/ft — matching the City's own trench cost.
Conservation Commission approves conventional plan 6-0; Prolman: "they would find another reason to object"
Rody Arantes told the commission the neighborhood would be fully satisfied with HDD even if it only covered the first 500 feet — past the visible trees. Attorney Prolman responded: "If we did directional boring, they would find another reason to object. I don't believe this at all." Commission Chair Dutzy added: "No matter what the city does the residents are not going to be happy... you do not want this anywhere near you." The commission voted 6-0 to approve the conventional plan. After the vote, they discussed re-visiting horizontal drilling.
Why it matters: A proven, cost-competitive underground alternative exists that eliminates all wetland impacts, saves 100+ trees, and avoids creating a permanent 20-foot cleared corridor. The same contractor has done more complex work for the City (under the Nashua River). Residents even offered a compromise — HDD for just the first 500 feet, since there are virtually no trees beyond that point. Same price per foot either way. It was dismissed without serious consideration.
Pipe specs changed three times — City initially asked for double what was needed
Water service connection for fire training
Presented as a straightforward utility connection.
12-inch pipe required for 3,500+ GPM fire flow — tapped from Teak Drive because the landfill has no water service
The landfill has no existing water infrastructure, so the City needs to extend a water main from the Teak Drive neighborhood. At the ZBA hearing, they specified a 12-inch pipe and 3,500+ GPM — major infrastructure routed through a residential area. These numbers were presented as firm requirements.
George Stergion: "They're laying 8" at Teak"
Just weeks after the City told the ZBA they needed a 12-inch pipe and 3,500+ GPM, George Stergion revealed the City had already specified 8-inch pipe for the Teak Drive project.
Prolman reveals Pennichuck initially wanted 10-inch — then presents letter saying 8-inch is sufficient
At the CC meeting, Prolman admitted: "At first Pennichuck did say they thought they needed a 10" line." He then presented a Pennichuck letter confirming 8-inch provides the needed pressure. This is a third specification — the pipe size changed from 12" (ZBA) → 10" (Pennichuck initial) → 8" (final). The original 12-inch/3,500 GPM was never properly calculated.
Why it matters: The pipe size changed three times: 12" → 10" → 8". The City told the ZBA they needed a 12-inch pipe delivering 3,500+ GPM — roughly double what was actually required. This wasn't careful engineering — it was a number thrown out without proper calculation. Each revision shrank the specs closer to what a basic review would have determined from the start. The result: months of public hearings based on inflated infrastructure requirements that overstated the complexity and cost of the project.
Three different answers in the same hearing
Fire Chief to ZBA: "on the average week, we send companies to the drill yard once or twice a week"
The Fire Chief minimized the frequency when speaking directly to the board.
Written application: "two to three days per week"
Board member Shaw caught the discrepancy immediately: "the two to three times a week actually sounds a little more than what I felt like you just described."
But Fire Chief told Conservation Commission: "five days a week for a six-week period and two to three days per week for the rest of the year"
When speaking to the Conservation Commission — a different, less public venue — the Fire Chief gave a much higher number. Alderman Jetty brought this contradiction to the ZBA's attention.
Shaw's motion to deny cited frequency: "two to three times a week...is just not tenable for the kind of quiet residential neighborhood"
Even the lower, minimized frequency was enough for the board to deny the application.
Why it matters: The frequency changed depending on the audience. The Fire Chief told the ZBA "once or twice," the application said "two to three," and the Conservation Commission was told "five days a week for six weeks." Even the lowest number was grounds for denial.
Advancing infrastructure to a facility that hasn't even been formally proposed
City applies for water line from Teak Drive to the landfill
The City went to the ZBA and Conservation Commission to get approval for a water line connection — but the fire training facility relocation itself was never formally proposed to any board.
Finance Committee CIP reveals $1.98M fire training facility — the project the water line is for
The CIP request shows the full project: concrete pads, live-fire building, mobile classroom, septic, lighting, fencing. This is the facility the water line would serve — but it has never been submitted for approval. The water line is being advanced first, establishing infrastructure that makes the facility a fait accompli.
Why it matters: The City is seeking approval for a water line to a facility that hasn't been formally proposed. No board has reviewed the fire training facility relocation as a whole project. By advancing the water line and road access first, the City builds the infrastructure — and then the facility becomes inevitable.
From Nashua-only to a regional facility with upwards of 12 departments
Fire Chief: "We are a regional facility. Other departments do come and utilize the training facility from time to time."
The Fire Chief acknowledged regional use but framed it as occasional and informal.
Application: "approximately six times per year for abutting towns"
The written application put a specific — and low — number on outside town usage.
Dan Rogers (supporter) listed Merrimack, Hollis, Tyngsboro + "many other fire departments" already using it
A supporter inadvertently revealed that many departments were already using the facility regularly.
Shaw: "there's basically about maybe five or six other fire departments that I think are already expected to be using it besides Nashua"
During deliberation, Shaw noted the scale was already larger than presented. Bashek added: "if this were just for the Nashua Fire Department, I think I would support it, but the unknown is what it's going to attract from other communities."
City officials and engineers indicate upwards of 12 departments expected to use the expanded facility
After the hearings, residents learned from City officials that the expanded facility is expected to serve upwards of 12 fire departments — far beyond the "six times per year for abutting towns" presented in the application.
Why it matters: Board member Bashek said he would have supported it if it were Nashua-only. The application said "six times per year for abutting towns," Shaw counted 5-6 departments during the hearing, and City officials now indicate upwards of 12 departments are expected to use the expanded facility.
How HDD Actually Works — And Why the City's Concerns Don't Hold Up
Installation video, HDPE pipe lifespan comparison, and trenchless repair methods that make the "hard to maintain" argument obsolete.
Watch the ZBA Hearings
All five ZBA hearings are publicly available. Watch how the story evolved meeting by meeting.
See the pattern?
Every time residents push back, the story changes — but the project only gets bigger. Help us hold officials accountable by sharing this page and submitting public comments.