CUMBERLAND -- Residents who forced a Providence company to withdraw plans for a proposed recycling plant this week prompted the state Department of Environmental Management and town officials to scrutinize Fleet Construction, a local business proposing to construct a similar plant.

But the business' owner says all the fuss about his proposal -- which has yet to be reviewed by the town's Zoning and Planning boards -- is nothing short of harassment.

The state DEM issued a letter of noncompliance to Fleet Construction on Tuesday for the storage of solid waste on its property after a resident's complaint prompted an inspection, according to spokeswoman Stephanie Powell.

The company, which has been in town five years, has 30 days to remove approximately 15 yards of "grass clippings, treated wood, tree waste, and mixed solid wastes" before the company faces state sanction, Powell said.

Town building and zoning official Mark Favreau inspected the company's operation at 24 Martin St. Monday and found nothing out of the ordinary, according to David Fernandes, Mayor David S. Iwuc's executive assistant.

Favreau inspected the property at Iwuc's request after his office received an anonymous complaint, Fernandes said.

The scrutiny over Fleet Construction's operations comes as the company -- doing business as New England Dispose -- wants to construct a 100,000-square-foot facility on its property where it would sort and process construction materials such as sand, gravel, concrete, asphalt, and wood before shipping them out of state via the nearby Providence-Worcester rail line.

That proposal and an appeal filed by residents Walter and Renee Ducharme late last month will be considered by the town Zoning Board of Appeals Sept. 14.

But company owner Peter Calcagni said yesterday that residents' concerns are preempting town review of his proposal.

Calcagni expressed frustration with the local opposition, which he says takes discussion away from the bigger problem of the state not having a place to send waste material if the state landfill closes in five years, as state officials estimate.

"We need to have the proper time to explain to local people the project. That time hasn't come yet. This is the right thing to do with this property at this time," he said. "When the landfill closes, where's all the trash going to go? [The Town of] Johnston doesn't want it. We need to recycle. It needs to go out of state."

Calcagni said he had not received the letter of noncompliance from the state DEM, but said that any materials stored on the site are temporary and in small quantities.

"It is an industrial area. We are a permitted use," he said. "The [state] DEM, the building inspector, the mayor, who came in March, it's all because of some guy. There is a name for this -- it's called harassment."

The Ducharmes, who led resident opposition that forced Coastal Recycling, of Providence, this week to announce that it would not build a recycling facility at 1226 Mendon Rd., said they were not involved in alerting state and town officials to possible issues at Fleet Construction.

Opposition to recycling plants in town is "beyond us," Walter Ducharme said. "There are so many environmental and quality of life impacts that all citizens of Cumberland should be concerned."

The couple, whose residence at 1270 Mendon Rd. does not abut Fleet's property, contends in its appeal that the company's proposed structure is not permitted under the town zoning code for the site, which is zoned Industrial One, or Light Industrial.

They also argue that increased truck traffic from the facility would reduce property values and increase health risks from diesel emissions.

Iwuc said it was not appropriate to comment on Fleet's proposal until after it is reviewed by the town Zoning and Planning Boards.

"It is not fair to make a judgment until all questions have been answered. This is not a one-sided system. The company is following the letter of the law," he said.

He said that he found "nothing wrong" with the company's current construction operation.

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