Environmental park plans back on in Saugus

SAUGUS – Selectmen Chairman Scott Crabtree said plans for an environmental park at Bristow Park in Saugus are back on the table, more than two months after the Department of Environmental Protection rejected the idea as part of a settlement with the Wheelabrator trash-burning facility.?It?ll be a benefit for the residents down in Precinct 10 that have Wheelabrator in their backyard,” said Crabtree.The board submitted the idea for an environmental research park over the summer as part of the Wheelabrator settlement with the Attorney General?s office, which saw Saugus receive $261,000 of a $7.5 million settlement.It was announced in May that the trash-burning facility would pay out the $7.5 million to surrounding communities for alleged environmental violations, and as stipulated in the settlement, a portion of that money is to go toward Supplemental Environmental Projects, or SEPs.Saugus was originally slated for a $200,000 Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHARM) after the DEP rejected the park idea in November. However, the new plan has $100,000 going toward the CHARM and $100,000 going toward what is now being called a “recycled park.”?It was a revised project that Wheelabrator came up with,” said DEP spokesman Ed Collette. “Originally it was an environmental research park with air monitoring and research into wetlands. As we reviewed that idea, we thought, ?Who was going to be doing the research, who?s going to operate it and maintain it?? There were a lot of questions. We encouraged Wheelabrator to reach out to the town and refine it, which we think they have.”According to a letter from Michael O?Friel, Vice President and General Counsel for Wheelabrator, the park will be made up of recycled materials that will “serve an educational function and promote good recycling habits in children.”Plans for the air monitoring and other research components were scrapped, said Collette.?We didn?t think it really had a nexus to some of the violations there,” said Collette. “We think this will be a better way to go. It will have placards about why it?s important to have this type of material. It was a refocus that we thought worked well and it seems like Wheelabrator and the town have come to a good agreement.”The CHARM will be located at the recycling drop-off center in Saugus, and will be used to recycle large items like mattresses, TVs and appliances.Crabtree said the CHARM will be a “huge asset” for Saugus.?We?re very supportive of that and we think that will be a benefit to Saugus residents,” said Crabtree. “It keeps it out of the green bags and out of the incinerators and gives people the opportunity to drop it off at all different times. It?s all good for the environment.”Collette said the projects are supposed to be completed over the next two years.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].