Sep 08, 2022

New report: “The Need to Enforce: Waste Ban Regulations in Massachusetts”

“We need to move away from burying and burning, and towards reducing, reusing, and composting,” said Staci Rubin of Conservation Law Foundation. “A sustainable future means reducing burdens on communities of color and low-income residents who shoulder the brunt of waste disposal. We don’t need to invent any new technologies, we just need the Commonwealth to devote resources to education and enforcement.”

Smoke coming out of smokestacks.
Nov 21, 2019

Noise Control at Wheelabrator Saugus

“It’s about time the state got around to addressing one of many severe public health issues posed by the Wheelabrator Saugus facility,” said Kirstie Pecci, Director of the Zero Waste Project at CLF. “But requiring a study is totally inadequate and does nothing to compensate the community for the suffering this facility caused all summer. The community will only be protected when this toxic facility shuts down for good.”

Wheelabrator Power Plant Photo
Mar 23, 2018

Deadline Looms for Decision on Expansion of Dangerous Landfill in Saugus

As we close out a month in which the Massachusetts coast was hit with three nor’easters – and narrowly missed a fourth – Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is still considering whether to allow Wheelabrator to continue dumping huge quantities of ash from its trash incinerator into its adjacent landfill in Saugus. The Agency’s… Continue reading Deadline Looms for Decision on Expansion of Dangerous Landfill in Saugus

Nov 06, 2017

Landfills, Incinerators, and Waste Disposal: Not a Necessary Evil, Just Evil

What if I told you that I wanted to build a facility in your town that would cost taxpayers a lot to construct, but create only a few low-quality jobs? Once operational, it would contaminate the air and groundwater and poison neighbors’ wells for decades. What’s more, this contamination would be largely ignored, and probably… Continue reading Landfills, Incinerators, and Waste Disposal: Not a Necessary Evil, Just Evil

Apr 22, 2017

Talking Trash

CLF Launches Zero-Waste Project to Tackle Massachusetts’s Trash Problem On a Monday night in February, more than 100 people crowded into the Sturbridge, Massachusetts, town hall for an emergency meeting of the town’s Board of Health. Nineteen wells in the Sturbridge neighborhood closest to the massive Southbridge Landfill had just tested high for lead –… Continue reading Talking Trash

Landfill in Saugus, MA