Majority of City Council signs onto letter supporting WIN Waste opinion from MassDEP

  With one exception, the City Council, last Monday night, signed onto a letter presented by Councillors Jessica Ann Giannino and Richard Serino supporting a recent legal analysis against permitting a vertical expansion at the WIN Waste Innovations ash landfill in Saugus. City Council President Anthony Zambuto was the lone dissenting voice on signing onto the letter.

  The motion from Giannino and Serino is tied to a letter that state Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Commissioner Martin Suuberg recently sent to state Representative Jeffrey Turco concerning expansion of the WIN Waste facility, which was formerly known as Wheelabrator.

  “There was a meeting with Suuberg weeks ago, and the result of that meeting was that Representative Turco said, ‘I want something in writing that says this is what this call summarizes and these are our findings and beliefs,’” said Giannino. “Because Representative Turco asked, we got a letter from Suuberg addressed to him, stating his findings, and there were some big takeaways from that.”

  Among the takeaways, said Giannino, is that because the landfill is located in marshland that is an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) MassDEP will not allow any farther expansion.

  “What they are doing right now – think of it like a W – there are peaks and there are valleys; they are just filling all the valleys because they are allowed to,” said Giannino. “Eventually, when this maxes out, there is nothing left to fill, and they can only go higher. This letter from Suuberg said they basically agree that they should not be allowed to put anymore in once they max out at what they have.”

  Giannino, who is also a State Representative, said she and Turco will be submitting a letter in support of Suuberg’s recent statement to the City Council, as well as to the state Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR).

  “Alongside the legal issues of expansion, there are numerous environmental and health issues as well,” the letter from Giannino and Serino states. “Wheelabrator’s ash landfill is located within a one-mile radius of Environmental Justice communities in Saugus, and its impacts extend well beyond Saugus to neighboring Environmental Justice communities in Revere and Lynn. For decades, these communities have been burdened by pollution and nitrogen oxides being emitted by Wheelabrator.”

  Zambuto said some people see the letter differently than the assessment given by Giannino and Serino. “All it did, in my opinion, is state the obvious: that it is in an ACEC area, and that would be a major hurdle to expand the ash landfill,” said Zambuto. “So the bottom line is that nothing has changed but that you can interpret it anyway you want, so I interpret it as status quo.”