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THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAy, SEpTEmbER 26, 2025 Page 9 JUSTICE | FROM Page 1 landfill. “I appreciated the opportunity to meet with community leaders and hear their concerns,” Belén Power said in a statement to The Revere Advocate. “Engaging in dialogue with those most affected by energy and environmental issues is important. These conversations help ensure that decisions reflect the needs of residents who live, work, and raise families in the neighborhood,” she said. “Meaningful engagement involves continuous communication between state agencies and all communities, especially those who live in environmental justice communities.” Saugus, Revere and Lynn are each home to several neighborhoods classified by the state as “environmental justice populations” – based on criteria like income level, minority population and language proficiency – which are within close proximity to the WIN Waste plant and the ash landfill. To qualify as an “environmental justice population,” one or more must apply: the annual median household income is not more than 65 percent of the statewide annual median household income, minorities comprise 40 percent of the population in the neighborhood and 25 percent or more of households lack English language proficiency. Belén Power’s office provided some background highlighting the current circumstances which do not allow for expansion of the ash landfill: ● The landfill sits within Rumney Marsh, a protected Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). ● MassDEP has no plans to amend regulations to allow landfill expansion into the ACEC. ● MassDEP issued two letters (Nov. 2021 and Mar. 2023) affirming MassDEP’s position on landfill expansion. ● Expansion of the landfill into the ACEC would require a modification to the facility’s site assignment and approval from MassDEP and the Saugus Board of Health. ● Based on the information and knowledge of the site before MassDEP, the facility fails to meet the necessary site suitability criteria to allow expanA message from Revere environmental activist Loretta LaCentra and a photo of state Undersecretary for Environmental Justice & Equity María Belén Power meeting with a group of local leaders from three communities. This was taken from the Saugus, Revere & Lynn MA Residents Opposed to Wheelabrator Ash Expansion Facebook page. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate) sion within the ACEC. “An important step” State Rep. Jessica Ann Giannino (D-Revere) called last week’s informal gathering at locations near the plant significant for the three communities that are affected by WIN Waste operations. “Last week’s meeting with Undersecretary Maria Belén Power was an important step in bringing state and local leaders together with residents to address the environmental justice concerns tied to the WIN Waste incinerator and ash landfill in Saugus,” said Rep. Giannino, whose 16th Suffolk District includes Precincts 3 and 10 in Saugus. “For fifty years, this facility has impacted the health and quality of life of families in Saugus, Lynn, and Revere. It was significant to have so many leaders at the table, united in the belief that our communities deserve stronger protections, better monitoring, and a real path toward zero-waste solutions. We must ensure that no community is left carrying the burden of pollution for another fifty years,” she said. Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Peter Manoogian is a longtime critic of the WIN Waste Innovations plant operations dating back several ownerships. Manoogian called Belén Power “the point person for the Healey Administration on environmental justice issues.” “The Governor and her administration have stated that they believe that environmental justice must be more than a concept and they want to engage with its foremost advocates and those most deeply impacted by environmental pollution and empower them to create the change we need,” Manoogian said. “The meeting allowed Ms. Beline to meet those advocates from Saugus, Lynn, and Revere. These three environmental justice communities that surround this antiquated incinerator and its unlined adjacent 50’ landfill have been burdened for far too long,” he said. “She is now aware of the issue with the unlined ash landfill. More importantly, when WIN tries to change the law or regulations to allow for a 100-foot tall ash landfill rather than the 50’ that is the current maximum height, she will be able to articulate our concerns and point out that any such expansion is counter to the stated goals of the Healey administration, the DEP, and the Secretary of Environmental Affairs. Prominent leaders from three communities Those attending the meeting included the following: Rep. Giannino; Manoogian; Cindy Luppi, National Field Director for Clean Water Action; Bernette Dawson, the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Community Organizer for Slingshot; Loretta LaCentra, an Alliance for Health & The Environment organizer and a Revere environmental activist; state Rep. Jeffrey Turco (D-Winthrop) of the 19th Suffolk District; state Rep. Sean Reid (D-Lynn) of the 11th Essex District; Revere Mayor Patrick Keefe; Saugus Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree; Saugus Selectman Michael Serino; Joseph Dorant, a Saugus Board of Health member; Angela Guarino-Sawaya, a Revere Ward 5 Councillor; Juan Jaramillo, a Revere Councillor-at-Large; Nicole McClain, a Lynn Councillor-at-Large; Stacey HermanDorant, a Saugus Town Meeting member from Precinct 1; Stephanie Shalkoski, a Saugus Town Meeting member from Precinct 4 and a Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment board member; Mary Kinsell, a Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment board member; Carmen Osuna, a Lynn Environmental activist; and Evan Smith, a Lynn Environmental activist. Board of Selectman Chair Debra Panetta, who is also president of the Saugus River Watershed Council, was unable to attend last week’s meeting. But she sent a letter to Belén Power expressing her concerns. “Many residents, including Town officials, have been requesting a final closure timeline of the WIN Waste Saugus ash landfill since 1996, which is when it was originally supposed to close. They have received numerous extensions from the MA DEP, and they have no intention of ever closing,” Panetta said. “Town Meeting voted to create a WIN Waste Closure Committee, where WIN Waste representatives refused to attend. The Committee reached out to them prior to every meeting and stressed the importance on having a closure plan regardless on when they closed,” she said. “Currently, they send ½ their ash to Shrewsbury every day in order to keep the Saugus ash landfill open longer. Since January, the Board of Health has requested documentation showing that they are sending Shrewsbury ½ of their daily ash, but WIN Waste has yet to give the Board of Health this verification. “We have many people with health issues, including respiratory illnesses, that live in this area. Being the oldest incinerator in the nation, WIN Waste Saugus cannot even make the emission standard for nitrogen oxide, where they need to purchase emission credit to come into compliance with the state regulations. That does not help the people in Saugus, Revere, Lynn, and the other surrounding communities.” The WIN position remains pro-ash landfill “Mary Urban, Sr. Director of Communications & Community, WIN Waste Innovations, gave the following statement: “With waste disposal options in the state ever decreasing, we remain hopeful that the Town will collaborate with us on the continued use of our monofill while keeping thousands of unnecessary tractor trailers off the road each year. It is widely accepted that waste-to-energy is the most environmentally conscious method of waste disposal and it has been proven that our power-generation facility and ash monofill consistently operate in compliance JUSTICE | SEE Page 15

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