Board of Health Votes 4-0 to Track Ash Landfill Closure at Every Meeting

Board of Health · Meeting of March 3, 2026

Saugus Board of Health votes 4-0 to place ash landfill closure updates on every future monthly agenda. The Landfill Closure Committee, represented by members Deborah Panetta and Peter Mnugian, presented eight tabbed documents Tuesday showing that Winn Waste Innovations' unlined ash monofill must close no later than November 1, 2027, cannot expand beyond 50 feet above mean sea level, and had only about 32,000 cubic yards of capacity remaining as of the most recent annual report. A MassDEP email confirmed the 10-year permit clock began November 1, 2017.

A Brown and Caldwell progress report put remaining site life at 0.42 to 1.5 years from October 2025. The committee asked the board to add a standing closure subagenda item each month, include closure discussions in official minutes, and invite Brown and Caldwell to present their timeline directly to the board, all of which the board agreed to pursue. Public Health Director John R.

Fralick, III separately informed the board that a new Tech Environmental monitoring contract proposal arrived the morning of the meeting and will be discussed at the April 6 meeting.

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Source: the Board of Health meeting of March 3, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.