Wheelabrator To Pay over $100K to City

Wheelabrator will be paying the city $114,346 as a result of a settlement resolving environmental violations allegedly committed by the operator of municipal waste incinerators, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced Friday.

Wheelabrator Saugus and Wheelabrator North Andover allegedly committed multiple violations of the Hazardous Waste Management Act by failing to properly treat and dispose of ash, and the Clean Air Act by failing to contain fugitive ash, according to Coakley's office.

As part of a $7.5 million settlement reached on May 2 with AG Coakley’s Office and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, $3.5 million from a “Municipal Relief Fund” is being distributed by the AG’s Office to towns that paid Wheelabrator for trash incineration services in 2009, Coakley said.

The Commonwealth alleged that the environmental violations gave rise to liability to the municipalities that contracted with Wheelabrator for trash disposal. 

Peabody is receiving $114,346 based on the alleged violations committed by Wheelabrator, Coakley's office said.

“These recoveries are rightfully owed to communities that contracted with Wheelabrator,” AG Coakley said. “Especially during these times when municipalities are dealing with difficult budget cuts, these refunds should help support essential services.”

 “This very creative settlement allows the Commonwealth to provide monies from the Municipal Relief Fund to communities that trusted Wheelabrator to manage municipal trash properly in accordance with our environmental regulations,” said MassDEP Commissioner Kenneth L. Kimmell. “Wheelabrator must be held accountable to its contract communities and get its operations in Massachusetts back on track.  One hundred percent compliance with our environmental regulations is the only acceptable outcome for Wheelabrator.”   

 Under the terms of the comprehensive settlement announced on May 2, Wheelabrator agreed to pay a total of $7.5 million, directed as follows:

• $4.5 million to create a Municipal Relief Fund, $3.5 million of which the AG’s Office will distribute to municipalities, after paying a statutory  share to the whistleblowers who brought the matter to the government’s attention;
• Two payments totaling $2 million for civil penalties arising from multiple environmental violations;
• $500,000 donation to the Massachusetts Natural Resource Damages Trust; and
• $500,000 for a supplemental environmental project or projects, to be approved by MassDEP and the AGO, designed to improve the environment in the vicinity of Wheelabrator facilities.

 The Muncipal Relief Fund arose out of the Attorney General’s contention that Wheelabrator’s environmental violations at the two facilities created liability to the municipalities who paid Wheelabrator for services.  The funds are not restricted - each municipality will determine how to use the money, Coakley's office said.   

In addition to the monetary component of the May 2 settlement, Wheelabrator must immediately hire an independent environmental auditor to monitor the company’s compliance with environmental regulations.  The company will be subject to unannounced inspections by the auditor for the next three years.

This case is the result of a comprehensive investigation that was conducted by the Massachusetts Environmental Strike Force in response to credible information provided to the Attorney General’s office by whistleblowers.

 The Massachusetts Environmental Strike Force is an interagency unit, which is overseen by AG Coakley, MassDEP Commissioner Kimmell and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard Sullivan. The Strike Force is comprises prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office, Environmental Police and State Police Officers assigned to the Attorney General’s Office, and attorneys, investigators and engineers from the MassDEP.  The Strike Force investigates and prosecutes cases involving harm or risk to the state’s water, air or land, and that pose a significant threat to human health.

Information in this report was used from a press release distributed by AG Martha Coakley's office.