The acting mayor of Revere, Massachusetts, is calling for the closure of a trash-burning facility in neighboring Saugus after a loud, explosion-like noise Monday night.
The Saugus Fire Department said the sound was the result of a turbine malfunction at Wheelabrator Saugus, a WIN Waste Innovations facility, and that there was no danger to the public.
But people in the have long complained about noise from the plant.
"The events of last night are just the latest example of the disrespect and utter disregard for people by the leaders at Win Waste Management," Acting Revere Mayor Patrick Keefe Jr. said in a statement Tuesday. "The Win Waste Facility at 200 Salem Turnpike is unsafe, and its lack of emergency operational procedures is unacceptable. The Residents of Revere should never have to endure up to 30 minutes of continuous noise at levels loud enough to reverberate across four districts of our city — frightening family pets and causing harm to those already anxious, with no accountability from the company responsible."
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Keefe went on to say that the incerator is the oldest of its kind in the U.S.
"Plants just like this one have been shut down all over the country, and Massachusetts has forbidden anything like it to be built again," he said. "Win Waste gobbled up dozens of local waste companies, and the leadership continues to make billions through record profits while the people they are neighbors to live in fear of the next issue at their aging facility."
Residents told NBC10 Boston in 2019 about how loud the plant had gotten in recent days.
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"It sounds like a train or a jet engine starting," said longtime resident Joan Beaton.
"It sounds like a whistling noise coming from like a jet engine," added Armen Missakiane.
