A man who moved to Maine with dreams of opening an animal sanctuary is now being sued by the state for allegedly damaging a stream and clearing vegetation without permission.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is suing Robert Altieri for three violations of the state’s laws to protect natural resources that he allegedly committed when he started work to build a home in Milford. The state filed the lawsuit Dec. 30 in Bangor District Court.
Altieri, who moved to Maine from Connecticut, built a driveway across and in Otter Stream and cleared land without permits or approval from the Maine DEP, according to the lawsuit. He told the Bangor Daily News he built a 30-foot-wide driveway and cleared land.
The property had wetlands and habitat for “high value” inland waterfowl and wading birds, the lawsuit said. It has two streams, one unnamed, and abuts Otter Chain Ponds.
Altieri said he’s accused of tearing up wetlands and disturbing salmon in the Otter Chain Ponds, but that everyone knows there haven’t been salmon there in years.
The lawsuit shows the limitations of what homeowners can do to their property without inspections and permits from the state. Altieri said he thought he did everything he needed to do, but the Maine DEP contends he did not have the proper permits.
Altieri bought the property off Blueberry Lane in Milford on Nov. 7, 2024. He dreamed of opening an animal sanctuary and pouring all of his money into that project. He mainly wanted to help dogs but was interested in helping “horses, cows, tigers, whatever.”
He said he went through a title company, got permission from the town of Milford and hired a contractor that is licensed to deal with waterways.
Altieri contends that the contractor wasn’t doing his job correctly and fired him.
A survey from an environmental company Altieri hired showed 14,359 square feet of fill were placed on the property and 23,286 square feet of vegetation were removed, according to the lawsuit.
Altieri provided audio recordings from December 2024, in which he is talking about trees that need to go. A chainsaw can be heard running in the background.
A complaint about what was happening on the land was made to the Maine DEP before Jan. 8, 2025, which is the date the department visited the land for the first time, the lawsuit said. Altieri said he believes it was made by the contractor he fired.
When the department visited the property, there was a recently installed driveway across the stream that had no culvert, blocking passage of fish. There was also a large pile of loose gravel and a new septic system in place.
There were no erosion and sediment controls, the lawsuit said.
The department sent a notice of violation for failing to comply with those controls on Aug. 1 and Milford issued a stop work order on Sept. 3, the lawsuit said. On Nov. 3, Altieri emailed the department saying he still planned to start construction in spring 2026.
Altieri is accused of one count each of altering, filling, and removing vegetation from a protected natural resource without first obtaining a permit from the department; construction, repair, or alteration of a permanent structure in protected natural resource without first obtaining a permit from the department; and filling, displacing, or exposing soil without control measures to prevent unreasonable erosion of soil or sediment into protected natural resource.
The state wants a judge to order Altieri to install erosion and sediment control and submit a detailed restoration plan that includes removal of all fill.
He said he doesn’t plan to tear out the driveway and the bridge because it would cost $100,000.
He would walk away from the land before he does that, he said. He now lives in Littleton but still owns the Milford property.
However, planting trees to replace the ones that were cut down is fine with him, he said.
“I’m just tired of these people, lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits,” Altieri said. “I’m tired of it.”