Lawn signs sharing the message “Stop The Seekonk Asphalt Plant” are growing more common across Barrington, but according to the town’s solicitor, there is not too much local officials can do to halt the construction of the facility.

During the council meeting on March 1, Michael Ursillo told members of the council that the Seekonk asphalt plant site is located about 2,800 feet away from Barrington. Mr. Ursillo said the town would need to be located within 300 feet of the proposed plant in order to have “legal standing.”

The property for the proposed asphalt plant is located at 45 Industrial Way, a short walk from Four Town Farm and abutting a residential neighborhood in Seekonk.

Mr. Ursillo said the asphalt plant has been deemed a suitable use for the industrial zone in which it is being sited. He said the Seekonk Planning Board has already approved the project, and there were just two more “stops” before the developer could begin building the facility.

First, the developer must gain approval from the Seekonk Conservation Commission. The plan application was initially supposed to go before the Seekonk Conservation Commission on Feb. 8, but the developer withdrew it and is now revising the plan. A new meeting date has not been set.

The final stop, Mr. Ursillo said, is before the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to review the plan for the asphalt plant’s emissions. 

The attorney said Barrington is limited in its options, adding that local officials could certainly communicate with Seekonk’s leaders and express their concerns and opposition to the project.

Barrington Town Council President Michael Carroll recommended that the council send a letter to the Seekonk Conservation Commission and Board of Selectmen. He said the letter could ask that Seekonk officials give some consideration to the plant’s impact upon Barrington residents. (The council had previously voted to send a letter, but when the conservation commission meeting was canceled, the council decided to hold off.)

Mr. Carroll said that while the town does not have legal standing, local residents have every right to weigh in on the matter. He said that there is power, and then there is influence — the voice of Barrington residents combined with concerned residents in Rehoboth, Swansea and Seekonk could be important.

A question was raised asking if the plant pollutes Barrington’s air and water would that change whether the town could have legal standing. Mr. Ursillo said it would be difficult to prove that the facility would pollute Barrington’s air and water in the future. He said that there would have to be an injury that is provable, not something that is anticipated.

Mr. Ursillo praised the question, stating that it is good to think “outside the box.”

Mr. Carroll said local legislators are also working on the issue.

He later made a motion to write a letter to the Seekonk Conservation Commission and Board of Selectmen. The council approved the motion, 5-0.