SAUGUS — The Massachusetts Appeals Court denied an appeal from the Board of Health on March 2 and validated a permit that allows WIN Waste Innovations to deposit ash at its landfill.
The permit was issued on April 9, 2018 by the state Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). It allowed WIN Waste Innovations (formerly known as Wheelabrator Saugus) to reduce the slope of two of the valley landfills to have more capacity to store ash, which would then be generated at a waste-to-energy plant that is adjacent to the site. The reason for the modification of the permit was due to rising capacity levels.
In response, the Board of Health (BOH) filed an appeal to a Superior Court against the permit on May 2 of that year. On July 26, 2019, the Superior Court upheld the MassDEP decision. On Aug. 26, 2019, the BOH again appealed the ruling to the state Appeals Court.
The BOH made three arguments against the permit. The first argued that there was no valid site assignment permitting the dumping of ash at the facility.
The Appeals Court disagreed with this assertion and said that the site’s original assignment that took place in 1955 allowed for the facility to accept ash for disposal.
The court cited the state sanitary code and its section on campground regulations that defined the term “rubbish” to include combustible and noncombustible waste material, which included ash.
The second argument the BOH made against the permit was that this act of depositing ash at the monofill, or landfill, was a threat to public safety, health or the environment, or endangered species and their habitat.
The BOH said that the facility is located in the Rumney Marsh, a designated area of critical environmental concern. To prevent ash waste from entering the marsh, the facility has what is known as a slurry wall, a deep wall structure made of concrete, reinforced concrete or binding agents in the building ground to ensure groundwater protection from the ash waste.
This led to the BOH’s third argument that the slurry wall was not an effective protective measure, as it did not use traditional plastic lining in its structure, but rather dirt and clay.
MassDEP said the BOH did not show piezometer measurements that the slurry wall has failed and the marsh is threatened. The court agreed with this assessment and sided with MassDEP, saying it was, “at least as effective as a traditional liner.”
If it so chooses, the BOH may appeal the ruling to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
During a BOH meeting Monday night, James Connolly, vice president of WIN Environmental, said he was pleased with the Appeals Court allowing the permit to stand and he hoped to have more conversations with the Landfill Committee and the BOH.
“We are very pleased that the Appeals Court has reaffirmed that the DEP’s issuance of the permit is based on our having a valid site assignment and supported by substantial evidence that the modification to the monofill is not a threat to public safety, health, the environment,” Connolly said. “We look forward to continuing the positive and productive conversations we have held with the Board of Health and the Landfill Committee for the past 15 months and working in partnership with Saugus and the other communities we serve.”
BOH Chair William Heffernan agreed with Connolly in having more good-faith collaboration between the BOH and the WIN Waste Innovations.
“Hopefully we can enter a time of peace here, work collaboratively together and try to make a difference in the community,” Heffernan said.
