In a letter to state Reps. Jessica Giannino and Jeffrey Turco, both Revere Democrats, the Department of Environmental Protection reaffirmed their position that, based on the information currently before it, WIN Waste Innovations’ proposed expansion of its ash monofil cannot go forward as it is located in an area of critical environmental concern (ACEC).
The letter, dated March 14, is written by Acting MassDEP Commissioner Gary Moran. It essentially restates the content of a letter that former commissioner Martin Suuberg wrote to Turco in November 2021. In that letter, Suuberg wrote, “based upon the information presently before MassDEP, the facility fails to meet the necessary site suitability criteria to allow for expansion within the ACEC and therefore would not receive a positive site suitability determination.”
Moran’s letter was sparked by a conversation Giannino and Turco, both staunch opponents of the expansion, had with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in February, according to a copy of the document obtained by The Item.
However, Suuberg noted that no official proposal was before the department at the time, which Moran reaffirmed Tuesday.
In a statement, WIN Waste Vice President Environmental Jim Connolly said the company intends to present an “engineering concept and potential permitting pathways” to the DEP when a proposal for expansion is “fully developed.” He added that the company did not know what project concepts Moran’s letter was based on.
WIN Waste is set to come before the Board of Selectmen at either its March 21 meeting or its first meeting in April to present a revised Host Community Agreement (HCA) proposal. This comes after the board voted to table the agreement in January pending a request from members for additional information. An earlier version of the agreement cleared the board by a 3-2 vote.
As part of the HCA process, WIN would have to earn a positive site suitability determination from MassDEP in order to go forward with the proposed vertical expansion of the ash landfill. But, state law prohibits the company from doing so because the fill is located in Rumney Marsh, designated by the state as an area of critical environmental concern.
Connolly said the company is “fully aware” that any modifications to allow continued use of the fill would need to “satisfy a thorough permitting process.”
“Our long track record of strict and unwavering adherence to the environmental controls in our operating permit demonstrate our absolute commitment to any and all regulatory requirements laid out by MassDEP,” he said.
Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Debra Panetta, a staunch opponent of the company’s expansion, said in a statement that she believes the town should proceed as if the landfill were going to close in the coming years and establish a closure committee in response.
The board’s chairman, Anthony Cogliano, is one of the chief proponents of the HCA and a co-chair of the landfill committee that hammered out the terms of the initial agreement. He said he believes MassDEP’s view will change once the company formulates its plan and the HCA is finalized.
He added that he believed the revised agreement would be a “bigger, [more] substantial win for the town of Saugus.”
But, Panetta said it was her belief that town officials should “focus on getting just financial compensation from WIN,” arguing the waste-to-energy plant adjacent to the fill has a negative environmental impact.
“The town’s compensation should not be tied to the landfill issues as that is on track for closure,” she said. “It’s important to remember that WIN Waste Saugus is the oldest incinerator in the nation.”
