The ash landfill argument rages on

A new landfill committee created by Town Meeting plans for the days after closure while WIN Waste Innovations still hopes the state and town will support extending its life

By Mark E. Vogler

SAUGUS – The town’s newly created Ash Landfill Closure Committee has put the state on notice that the Town of Saugus has no interest in expanding the life of the ash landfill after it reaches capacity near WIN Waste Innovation’s trash-to-energy plant on Route 107. “As this landfill approaches capacity, it is the stated desire of Saugus Town Meeting to explore other economic uses of the site which could include a large solar farm, something Town Meeting has already authorized through a zoning overlay amendment,” the committee chair, Peter Manoogian, wrote in a recent letter to Mark Fairbrother, the Northeast Region Solid Waste Chief of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“We therefore wish it to be known that Saugus is not supporting any expansion of the ash landfill, and we are opposed to any amendments to the ACEC (Area of Critical Environmental Concern) prohibitions on siting a solid waste facility in an ACEC. Any suggestion by WIN that Saugus is in the process of negotiating for more ash is completely false,” Manoogian wrote in a letter that was approved by the committee unanimously last month.

The letter corroborates what MassDEP officials have already confirmed several times in recent years – that expansion would not be allowed under existing state regulations. But WIN Waste has not given up on the possibility of the life of the ash landfill being extended at least another 20 years – the time period stipulated in the Host Community Agreement (HCA) approved on a 3-2 nonbinding vote of the Board of Selectmen last year.

“While we appreciate the recommendations on potential uses for our property, it’s important to keep in mind that the predecessor to this closure committee, the landfill committee, spent 18 months doing the exact opposite of everything the closure committee is doing: The landfill committee worked with WIN in an effort to maximize the economic and environmental benefits of our monofill operations,” Mary Urban, Sr. Director of Communications & Community, said in a statement to The Saugus Advocate this week, responding to the Ash Landfill Closure Committee’s letter

“Our waste-to-energy facility and monofill play a critical role in the state’s waste-disposal infrastructure, which is under growing pressure due to decreased capacity,” Urban said. “There are many people in the town and the region who understand our integral role in local, reliable and sustainable waste disposal and we hope to shift the conversation to again focus on how to sustain this asset, which includes the crucial conservation work being done at WIN Waste’s Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary.”

WIN Waste continues to point to the tentative HCA approved by a majority of the five sitting selectmen as evidence that town officials are amenable to a deal that would allow expansion of the ash landfill in return for compensation and other conditions. Selectmen Jeff Cicolini and Corinne Riley at the time of the nonbinding vote said they supported the HCA as a precautionary measure in case the state weakens environmental regulations related to the landfill.

In fact, the HCA has no legal basis, under state law and under the Town of Saugus Charter. Furthermore, any HCA would have to be negotiated by the town manager and wouldn’t take effect unless the state allows the company to expand its ash landfill. If the state loosens the regulations at the ash landfill, the Board of Health would have authority to conduct site modification hearings to ultimately decide whether and how expansion of the ash landfill would proceed. Saugus would receive $20 million over the next 20 years while WIN Waste could continue use of the ash landfill, according to the hypothetical HCA supported by a majority of the selectmen.

WIN is currently trucking 50 percent of its ash to a landfill in Shrewsbury to prolong the life of its ash landfill in Saugus. Meanwhile, WIN has declined repeated invitations by the landfill closure committee to attend and participate in the meetings as a nonvoting member.

Here is the full letter that Manoogian wrote to MassDEP’s Northeast Regional Solid Waste Chief on Sept. 22:

During the 2024 Saugus Annual Town Meeting it was unanimously voted to create The Ash Landfill Closure Committee. The Saugus Town Meeting is responsible to develop land use policies and zoning amendments. Although Town Meeting voted to include WIN on this committee, the company has refused to participate.

As you know the WIN Ash Landfill on Route 107 in Saugus has been operating under a consent order for nearly 25 years. This committee believes that Saugus should receive the same benefits and protections afforded to other Massachusetts communities. Without a consent order, the WIN ash landfill would not meet the Commonwealth’s Ash Management and Disposal Policy.

As this landfill approaches capacity, it is the stated desire of Saugus Town Meeting to explore other economic uses of the site which could include a large solar farm, something Town Meeting has already authorized through a zoning overlay amendment.

We therefore wish it to be known that Saugus is not supporting any expansion of the ash landfill, and we are opposed to any amendments to the ACEC prohibitions on siting a solid waste facility in an ACEC. Any suggestion by WIN that Saugus is in the process of negotiating for more ash is completely false.