SAUGUS — A radioactive-materials incident that occurred earlier this month at WIN Waste Innovations, formerly known as Wheelabrator Saugus, was caused by trace amounts of radioactive activity found in private household waste, Town Public Health Director John Fralick confirmed.
On April 13, Fralick said he was contacted by several community members and plant representatives about a situation at the facility involving radioactive materials.
Early that morning, Fralick said a waste hauler from Somerville tipped the waste-to-energy facility’s drive-through scanners — used to detect radioactive materials — which caused them to go off.
The truck was quickly segregated from the rest of the facility and searched, and WIN Waste Innovations Asset Manager John Rice said the material was later determined to be medical waste commonly associated with cancer treatments.
“We discovered and isolated a low-level radioactive material coming from a residential waste load entering our scale,” Rice said. “We quickly isolated the load and found trace amounts of radioactive material that are occasionally found in household waste, often in forms of material used in medical treatments.”
He said the waste was turned over to a company that specializes in the handling and disposal of such material.
“We notified the appropriate authorities … including the (Massachusetts) Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Saugus Health Department,” he said. “These steps are all consistent with state regulations, and all protocols and procedures were followed appropriately to handle this hazardous waste.
“The system acted appropriately, and we did exactly what we were supposed to do.”
Board of Health Chair William Heffernan said he plans to take a “deep dive” into the incident with further questions during the board’s next regular meeting, which has yet to be scheduled.
Fralick told The Item radioactive levels from the waste were low enough to ensure there was no threat of contamination to the rest of the truck’s haul.
“The protocol Wheelabrator has in place prevented any contaminated medical waste from entering the facility,” he said.
