Page 6 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, AUGUST 26, 2022 Letter of Opposition Members of Revere state legislative delegation urge Saugus to reject any further expansion of the WIN ash landfi ll in Saugus (Editor’s Note: Three Revere state legislators requested publication of the following letter, which they recently sent to Saugus Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano and Saugus Board of Health Chair William Heffernan, the cochairs of the Board of Health Landfi ll Subcommittee.) Dear Co-Chairs Cogliano and Heff ernan: We are writing to voice our strong opposition and to respectfully request that the Town of Saugus not entertain any further expansion of the WIN Saugus ash landfi ll. As some background, our community hosts the Commonwealth’s only unlined ash landfi ll that is still in operation. The WIN Saugus ash landfill is completely surrounded by the Rumney Marsh, which is an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Furthermore, constituents of ours live directly across the Pines River, which is less than a half mile from Jeff rey R. Turco State Representative this unbuff ered and unlined landfi ll. This landfi ll was never meant to be a forever solution and was scheduled to stop accepting ash in December of 1996. Yet time and time again, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection allowed them to expand, using a consent order as a loophole. Local offi cials in Saugus and Revere, including the Saugus Board of Selectmen and Revere City Council, have gone on record multiple times supporting closure of this ash landfi ll. Even more disturbing, environmental experts agree that the WIN Saugus ash landfi ll poses a risk to both public and environmental health because of its location, contaminants in the ash, and lack of state-of-the-art environmental protections. Due to its location within a dynamic coastal environment, the WIN Saugus ash landfi ll will be increasingly impacted by sea level rise and associated storm surge in the future. Jessica Ann Giannino State Representative Additionally, because fl y ash, which contains high levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and other pollutants have been disposed of throughout the Saugus ash landfi ll, any leaching or breach could pose a signifi cant risk to public health and contamination of critical resource areas. Long-term integrity of the WIN Saugus ash landfill is hampered by the fact that this is the only ash landfi ll in the state that does not have a ‘state of the art’ liner. In 2018, after a two-year process, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection approved a fi - nal plan to allow WIN Saugus to deposit an additional estimated 500,000 tons of ash into its landfi ll over the course of five to ten years. During 2016’s MEPA process, over 1,000 residents in both Saugus and Revere weighed in on their opposition to this proposal. To date, there is specLETTER OF OPPOSITION | SEE PAGE 7 Monogram D4 Double siding Cedar impression half rounds Harvey Vinyl 64 Replacement Windows Custom Aluminum Trim work Windows & Doors Top quality Vinyl Siding! •Vinyl Siding •Carpentry Work •Decks •Roofing •Free Estimates •Replacement Windows •Fully Licensed •Fully Insured
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