By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
SAUGUS — Alliance for Health & the Environment, a coalition of environmental organizations and public officials, has requested a Special Town Meeting for Monday, Feb. 6 to amend bylaws related to ash landfills, so the Planning Board will meet Thursday before making a recommendation on three proposed articles.
Chairman Peter Rossetti said the panel needs to advise Town Meeting to either support or reject the proposed zoning changes before the town can take any action.
The Alliance is opposed to the expansion of Wheelabrator Saugus, an energy-from-waste facility that provides disposal of up to 1,500 tons per day of waste from 10 Massachusetts communities.
If approved by Town Meeting, definitions will be added to the town’s zoning bylaws for “ash,” “landfill” and “ash landfill.” An addition would be made to the Environmental Performance Standards section that restricts the elevation of a landfill to 50 feet above mean sea level.
“No new landfill or new ash landfill shall be established in or adjacent to an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and no existing landfill or ash landfill shall be expanded in or adjacent to an Area of Critical Environmental Concern.”
The third article would alter the Table of Use Regulations under Zoning By-Laws, Article V, Section 5.6, by adding the principal use “landfill/ash landfill” to only be allowed in areas with industrial zoning and would require a special permit.
More than 450 Saugus residents signed a petition in support of the meeting, well over the required 200 to hold a special meeting.
“A substantially similar zoning amendment was adopted by the Saugus Town Meeting in 2003 and annulled by the Land Court in 2005,” said James Connolly, Wheelabrator vice president of environmental health and safety. “In addition to being clearly illegal, the articles, if passed by Town Meeting, would threaten our ability to keep providing environmental and economic benefits and will result in unnecessary and costly litigation for Saugus taxpayers.
“We remain strongly opposed to these articles and it remains our preference to have a meaningful discussion with the town on how it ca most benefit from our continued operation,” Connelly said.
In a Jan. 6 letter to the Saugus Board of Selectmen, John Daukas of Goodwin Procter law firm on behalf of Wheelabrator wrote in objection to the request for a Town Meeting.
“As the proposed amendment is patently illegal for the reasons found by the court in 2005, it would be improper for the Town Meeting to consider let alone adopt it,” Daukas wrote. “Therefore, if the Town Meeting adopts the proposed amendment, Wheelabrator immediately will file suit to once again have the restriction struck down as null and void, and will seek to recover its legal fees and any associated costs or damages from the town.”
Rep. RoseLee Vincent (D-Revere), who heads the Alliance, said Wheelabrator is bullying residents by attempting to “stomp on the town’s right to control its own zoning ordinances.”
“Sadly, this company is trying to silence the town into remaining complacent about the unlined ash landfill that was supposed to close over 20 years ago,” Vincent said. “The residents of Saugus, especially the Town Meeting Members, should not be intimidated by threats. The time is now to right this wrong and stand up for the public health of the community. What is happening in Saugus is exactly why the term environmental justice was created.”
Veronica Eady, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, said in a letter to officials that Town Meeting has a right to exercise tis authority to amend the bylaws and prevent the future expansion of Wheelabrator’s landfill beyond 50 feet.
“The residents of Saugus absolutely have the right to impose reasonable restrictions on landfills in their town in order to protect public health and the environment,” Eady wrote.
Thursday’s meeting will begin at 7 p.m.
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Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte
