Page 6 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, July 12, 2024 INVITATION | FROM Page 5 meeting is set for 6:15 p.m. on Sept. 16 in the fi rst-fl oor conference room at Saugus Town Hall. “At this time, they’re not going to attend,” Manoogian told the five-member committee. Manoogian reminded members that representatives of the Aggregate Industries Saugus Quarry had also initially rejected off ers to participate in closure of its quarry, but later joined in the closure committee talks with the town. Manoogian broached the question as to whether the Town Meeting-created panel should continue to meet despite WIN’s refusal to participate in the proceedings. It was unanimous that the committee continue with its work as endorsed nearly unanimously by Town Meeting. “Maybe they will change their minds,” Panetta told her colleagues. “They’re going to have to close. Let’s have the discussion,” Panetta said. Saugus Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Carla A. Scuzzarella, another Town Meeting member appointed to the committee, agreed that the committee should proceed with its work. “I think we should continue and keep inviting them,” Scuzzarella said. “We can’t ignore the fact that we need a plan [for closure],” she said. Selectman Michael Serino, a longtime participant in talks between the town and WIN over issues involving the incinerator and ash landfill, J& • Reliable Mowing Service • Spring & Fall Cleanups • Mulch & Edging • Sod or Seed Lawns • Shrub Planting & Trimming • Water & Sewer Repairs Joe Pierotti, Jr. stressed that it is important for him and fellow committee members to move forward — with or without WIN’s involvement. “I say we continue,” Serino said. “The state has been after WIN to develop a post-closure plan,” he added. Saugus Town Administrative Aide Jeanette Meredith, Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree’s designate to the committee, said she will “keep reaching out” to local WIN representative Jack Walsh to get WIN to participate in the committee’s activities. Most of the seats in the small conference room were taken by citizens from Lynn, Revere, Saugus and the Boston area. They included several Saugus Town Meeting members, a representative of S LANDSCAPE & MASONRY CO. Masonry - Asphalt • Brick or Block Steps • Brick or Block Walls • Concrete or Brick Paver Patios & Walkways • Brick Re-Pointing • Asphalt Paving www.JandSlandscape-masonry.com • Senior Discount • Free Estimates • Licensed & Insured 617-389-1490 Designing and Constructing Ideas that are “Grounds for Success” Landscaping the Saugus Board of Health and members of regional environmental groups that have been monitoring WIN-related activities. There is no “end date” on the committee’s existence, according to Manoogian, who authored the article that created the committee. “We will give a report to Town Meeting every time Town Meeting convenes,” Manoogian said. The committee’s ongoing agenda Manoogian stressed that it is important for the committee to act as a fact-fi nding body to provide the town with important information related to the ash landfi ll and potential alternative uses of the landfi ll once the state has established a specifi c deadline for its closure. “We need to become familiar with everything that’s related to this landfi ll,” Manoogian told committee members. “Information gathering — what’s out there in the public realm. Maybe another person will go down to DEP with me to look at what’s in the public realm,” he said. Several committee members expressed concerns with WIN’s reluctance to give up hopes of future expansion of the ash landfi ll — an unlikely scenario, considering the current position of the state Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). The last two state DEP commissioners have said that no expansion of the ash landfi ll would be allowed under the current state environmental regulations. Members also said they wonder about WIN’s continued support of a nonbinding Host Community Agreement (HCA), which selectmen supported a year ago on a 3-2 vote as a precautionary measure in case the state weakens environmental regulations related to the landfi ll. That 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 landfi ll. If the state loosens the regulations at the ash landfill, the Board of Health would have authority to conduct site modifi cation hearings to ultimately decide whether and how expansion of the ash landfi ll would proceed. Saugus would receive $20 million over the next 20 years while WIN Waste could continue use of the ash landfi ll, according to the hypothetical HCA supported by a majority of the selectmen. “Selectmen have no authority to engage in a Host Community Agreement,” Manoogian told the Ash Landfi ll Closure Committee last week. “It’s like they’re [WIN officials] trying to turn the tables backwards to suit themselves. It doesn’t make sense,” Manoogian said. “Fortunately, the town manager has said he doesn’t have authority to do this [negotiate an HCA at the present time]. I think they’re hoping there will be a groundswell of support to give them what they want,” he said. Manoogian reminded the committee that WIN is so committed to continued use of the ash landfill that this past spring it began trucking ash to a company disposal site in Shrewsbury in an eff ort to prolong the life of the ash landfi ll. The company announced that six trucks a day were leaving the plant, traveling from Route 107 South to Route 60 East to Route 1A South to Route 90 West. WIN Waste offi cials told the Board of Health that the trucks would transport about 4,500 tons of ash off site per month, adding life to a landfi ll that one company offi cial said last year was expected to reach its capacity by the end of 2025. “They’re taking 50 percent of the ash out every week,” Manoogian said. He added that he believes company offi cials are “hoping that something will happen … the town government will change,” enabling the company to expand the ash landfi ll for several decades. “I know this — they’ll never give up,” Manoogian said. “Neither will we,” he added.
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