SAUGUS – The Alliance for Health and Environment is elated that this week, the Town of Saugus took the first steps to prevent further expansion of any landfill in the Town by passing three responsible zoning by-laws which would limit the vertical height of a landfill to 50 feet.  After being recommended favorably by the Saugus Planning Board on Thursday evening, members of Town Meeting voted to ratify the articles during a special meeting Monday night.  While not targeted to any specific business or site, these by-law changes will keep the Wheelabrator Saugus ash landfill adjacent to the Rumney Marshes Area of Critical Environmental Concern from expanding beyond a height of 50 feet.  

Kirstie Pecci, an attorney with Conservation Law Foundation, agreed that the by-laws were sensible and well within the Town’s zoning powers.  “When our air and water suffer, our people suffer -- it’s as simple as that,” said Pecci. "If we allow landfills to be built higher and higher with no end in sight, then we are telling our neighbors that their health and their safety don’t matter. Last night, the Town of Saugus stood on the side of families and communities by placing limits on the future build out of landfills. There is still work to be done in managing toxic methane emissions, groundwater contamination, and other serious health issues that accompany these sites, but the by-laws established last night are an important step in the right direction.”

“The Alliance appreciates the fact Saugus community leaders are taking steps that will protect environmental resources in Saugus, as well as surrounding neighborhoods, including in Revere,” said State Representative RoseLee Vincent.  “Saugus has the right to govern itself, and I applaud and thank those Town Meeting members who stood up to do the right thing by adopting these very reasonable zoning changes.  Now, Wheelabrator has an opportunity to become a good neighbor to the Town by participating in a process that will eventually lead to final closure of the ash landfill.”

“As a Town Meeting Member and as President of Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE), I am very pleased and encouraged by the vote of Town Meeting, which passed all three articles to define landfills and impose reasonable conditions to help protect the environment and the public health,” said Saugus resident Ann Devlin. “With SAVE's long history of working to provide a better quality of life in Saugus through environmental action and concern, this is a great step in working toward those goals.”  

“These by-laws were the next logical step for the town to safeguard its citizens, where our main concern is the health, welfare, and safety of our Saugus citizens and our neighboring communities,” said Saugus Board of Selectman Chairwoman Deb Panetta. “I sincerely appreciate the vote taken by Town Meeting Monday night.”

“By approving local by-law changes, Saugus has taken a leadership role in protecting critical environmental resources and public health for the future,” said Saugus River Watershed Council Executive Director Joan LeBlanc.  “With anticipated sea level rise and increasingly intense coastal storms, it’s extremely important to shift the focus from expanding disposal of contaminated ash at this vulnerable coastal site to ensuring that our valuable marshes, waterways and local beaches are protected from risks related to the millions of tons of ash already on the site.”

"Ash landfills are chock-full of toxic heavy metals like mercury," said Ben Weilerstein, organizer at Toxics Action Center, "so Saugus families will be safer with these new by-laws. The people of Saugus have spoken and are taking action. Mass DEP should hear them loud and clear: unlined dumps are dirty and dangerous!"

Candidates running for Selectmen, Debra Panetta, Scott A. Brazis, Jeff Cicolini, Mark Mitchell and Jennifer Perry D'Eon are against extending the ash landfill and have voted as such while serving as selectmen.  During their recent term, they also went on record in support of  State Representative RoseLee Vincent’s Bill preventing the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)  from allowing more ash dumping.

Candidate Paul Allan, who is also running to regain his seat in the selectmen’s race, as he was recalled in March of this year, has publicly stated he is opposed to the Vincent legislation. While serving as selectman, he did not support Panetta's effort to reaffirm a previous board's policy in opposition to Wheelabrator expansion and participated in a private tour hosted by Wheelabrator in 2013 along with the other three now recalled Selectmen he served with.

Candidate for a seat on the selectmen’s board Matthew Canterbury, toured the plant and publicly declared the concerns about Wheelabrator as "misnomers."

Another challenger in the selectmen’s race is Tim Shea.  Shea has avoided all public forums, has not publicly stated his position on town issues and has not commented on the Wheelabrator Bill but his campaign signs are at the same locations as selectmen candidates Paul Allen and Matt Canterbury.