BOSTON — State Rep. Jessica Giannino, who represents two precincts in Saugus and areas of Revere, testified before the legislature’s Joint Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources on three bills she filed, all of which are related in some way to the operations of the WIN Waste Innovations facility that straddles both communities.
The three bills — H816, H817, and H818 — would allow local boards of health within half a mile of facilities like WIN’s to “adopt reasonable rules and regulations” regarding their operations, forbid establishment or expansion of a landfill in an area of critical environmental concern, and shutter the Saugus facility by the end of 2026.
Giannino’s testimony Wednesday afternoon comes in the wake of an equipment malfunction at the Saugus plant Monday evening that resulted in the facility emitting a loud noise that reverberated throughout the town and areas of Lynn and Revere, a fact she noted during her testimony.
Giannino explained that H816 would give the boards of health in Lynn and Revere the ability to hold WIN accountable for its operations. She said the disturbance Monday almost certainly violated Revere’s loud-noise ordinances, but that the city has no way to take any action against the company.
H817 would specifically bar the company from expanding its ash monofill as it is actively seeking to do, as the facility is located in Rumney Marsh, a state-designated area of critical environmental concern. That bill would also bar the construction of any new landfill, monofill, or ash landfill in ACECs.
The final bill, H818, was dubbed by Giannino the most important of the trio she filed. That bill calls for the Saugus plant to be closed by Dec. 31, 2026, when the final two of the five drainage valleys at the landfill are filled to a 2% valley slope, or the point when the company has disposed of 450,000 tons of ash or other material at the ash landfill during a period beginning on Jan. 1, 2023, whichever comes first.
Giannino referenced the incident Monday night in her testimony, saying she heard the noise emitted by the facility from her backyard, which is more than three miles away.
“I didn’t know what to do and so did many people. We didn’t know whether we should evacuate, we didn’t know what was happening,” she told the committee, which she serves as a member of.
And, while the company said the equipment that malfunctioned Monday evening works more than 99% of the time, Giannino said that the 1% of the time when things do go wrong is the most troubling.
“It’s my goal that we hold Wheelabrator and WIN Waste more accountable,” she said. “Apologies are great, accountability is necessary.”
The committee’s Senate co-chair, Rebecca Rausch, noted that H818 received a favorable report from the body during the previous legislative session and asked Giannino if any of the language in the bill had changed. Giannino said the only changes were related to the dates.
Following the hearing, Giannino said Wednesday marked the first time the bills had been heard, though she had filed them in the previous legislative session.
“While it is quite difficult to predict outcomes, I can assure you that I have emphasized the importance of these issues to leadership and will continue to do so,” she said, noting that the legislature isn’t the only body with the power to take action. “The (Department of Environmental Protection) has the ability to act as well — there are multiple tools at their disposal. Pressure there can certainly help get things moving too.”
In a statement, WIN Waste Innovations Senior Director of Communications and Community Mary Urban defended the company’s operations.
“The WIN Waste Innovations waste-to-energy facility not only disposes of waste safely, reliably, and locally, but generates renewable energy that powers thousands of local homes,” Urban said. “The waste-to-energy industry is among the most closely regulated industries in the world, and it is the EPA’s preferred method of waste disposal. WIN Waste is in compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations. WIN Waste meets these standards by continually testing, monitoring, and investing in our facilities for repairs and maintenance.”
The committee also heard testimony from acting Revere Mayor Patrick Keefe. He called for the plant to be shut down, saying the company had shown “disrespect and utter disregard” for residents.
“The WIN Waste Facility… is unsafe, and its lack of emergency operational procedures is unacceptable. The residents of Revere should never have to endure up to 30 minutes of continuous noise at levels loud enough to reverberate across four districts of our city, frightening family pets and causing harm to those already anxious,” Keefe said. “Plants just like this one have been shut down all over the country, and Massachusetts has forbidden anything like it to be built again.”
Keefe was not the only elected official at the local level to testify before the committee in support of Giannino’s bills. Members also heard from Saugus Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Debra Panetta, a longtime opponent of the company, and a pair of Town Meeting members from Precinct 10, the closest of the town’s precincts to the facility.
Panetta said passing all three bills is in the “best interest of our town and the surrounding communities.”
“The health and well-being of our Saugus residents and neighbors has always been my top priority,” she said.
Town Meeting members Peter Manoogian and Martin Costello both delivered harsh criticisms of the company.
“This plant needs to close,” Costello concluded after offering a lengthy history of noise incidents at the facility dating back decades.
“Saugus has been the dumping ground for Eastern Massachusetts since the 1960s. It’s time for someone else to step up to the plate,” Manoogian said. “This needs to stop. It’s an outrage.”
