A new DEP estimate says WIN Waste’s ash landfill could last four to five more years

By Mark E. Vogler

The ash landfill located adjacent to WIN Waste Innovation’s waste-to-energy facility on Route 107 was estimated to reach full capacity by late next year or early 2026. WIN began trucking ash to a company disposal site in Shrewsbury in April in an effort to prolong the landfill’s life. A state Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) official said recently that the ash landfill located adjacent to WIN Waste Innovation’s waste-to-energy facility on Route 107 could last up to five more years.

Mark Fairbrother, Solid Waste Section Chief of the MassDEP Northeast Regional Office in Woburn, noted that about 50 percent of the ash generated at the WIN plant is being transferred for off-site disposal. “Based on this, the estimated site life of the landfill is approximately 4-5 years,” Fairbrother wrote in an email last week.

“This estimate is based on the calculated remaining air space divided by the past 3-year average estimated capacity utilized,” he said.

But a permit which allows WIN to stage and transport ash is due to expire on Nov. 1, 2027 – about three years from now. “This permit is only valid for the time period it takes for the Landfill to reach its approved limits or a fixed term of ten (10) years from the effective date of this permit, whichever term expires first,” according to the first condition of the permit issued Nov. 1, 2017.

Peter Manoogian, who chairs the town’s Ash Landfill Closure Committee, said he doesn’t agree with the recent four-to-five year site life estimate. “The Town of Saugus is relying on the Nov. 1, 2017 permit that clearly states that the ash landfill can only be used for a period not to exceed 10 years,” Manoogian said.

“This means that WIN Waste should be planning now for imminent closure. The Ash Landfill Closure Committee is ready to discuss plans for these acres that will benefit both the Town and WIN economically without posing additional environmental burdens and unreasonable risks which no other host community experiences,” he said.

WIN Waste won’t participate in talks

Since the Annual Town Meeting created the Ash Landfill Closure Committee in the spring, WIN has rejected numerous verbal and written invitations to participate in the committee discussions. “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,” WIN’s Director of Communications & Community, Mary Urban, said in a statement last month.

“The landfill committee worked with WIN in an effort to maximize the economic and environmental benefits of our monofill operations. 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.”

Committee appeals to WIN CEO

The committee recently followed through on its decision to invite WIN CEO Dan Mayo to meet members for a discussion either here in Saugus or at the company’s headquarters in Portsmouth, N.H. The letter members sent out recently includes a Nov. 29 deadline for a response.

Here is the letter to Mayo crafted by the committee:

  In May 2024, the Saugus Town Meeting voted to create the Ash Landfill Closure Committee. The Town voted to include WIN on this committee. WIN has been invited to each meeting, and to date, has refused to participate. It is fitting that on this day, one day before an election that has exhibited divisiveness throughout our country, that we have voted to reach out directly to you to bring about communication and collaboration to resolve this long-standing issue for WIN and the Town of Saugus.

  We are unsure if you have been appraised of our many efforts to engage WIN in discussion of the now imminent closure of the ash landfill. The State has made it clear that there is no pathway to vertical or horizontal expansion in the absence of precedent setting major policy changes or legislative action.

  Our hope is that we can come together to discuss a more sustainable and appropriate economic approach to these acres. WIN representatives have often spoken of the company’s environmental awareness, and wish to be a good neighbor. An opportunity presents itself; both Saugus and WIN would benefit from a collaborative approach to the closure of the ash landfill. Such an approach could possibly yield greater benefits to each party much further into the future than your company’s current proposal.

   In conclusion, we invite you personally to engage in a conversation with us. Such a conversation can take place either in Saugus or Portsmouth at a time convenient for you. We hope you believe this is as important as Saugus does and will agree to the dialogue.

  Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to receiving your response by November 29th.

An unofficial 20-year plan to store the ash

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. 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 allowed 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.