Wheelabrator Plants Environmental Hazards or Environmental Caretakers?

by Daniel Saulnier

The Environmental Science program is known for going on several interesting field trips throughout the year. The sophomore class has gone on three field trips thus far this year. Among the trips was a visit to the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) in Danvers; ESRI is the developer of the mapping software used in the Environmental Technologies Program for studying Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The sophomores have also gone on hiking trips in New Hampshire. Perhaps one of the most environmentally controversial trips was to the Wheelabrator plant in Saugus.

The plant is a waste-to-Energy Plant that claims to provide environmentally safe disposal of municipal solid waste while providing clean electricity to local utilities.

As the class approached the facility we saw a large industrial building with tall smoke stacks. Surely, this could not possibly be environmentally safe? At this point the class knew this was where waste products were incinerated and disposed of. Initially as we saw the plant some of us were outraged. From what we could see, all around the plant was barren grassland with a river running through it. We were all thinking the same thing, was this the land fill and was the waste seeping into the river, contaminating it? Some of the students asked Mr. Saulnier why he was taking us to a place that pollutes the environment rather than someplace that is trying to conserve it. When we got to the building we went into an office where we met with a representative of the plant who told us about all the steps that were taken to prevent environmentally hazardous chemicals from entering into the atmosphere. One of the students asked about the smoke stacks. We found out that it was not smoke that we were seeing but water vapor. Most of the students were impressed that that measures were taken to protect the environment.
There was one major problem that was brought up about the chemicals that were released into the air. The Wheelabrator plant in Saugus can only reduce the amount of nitrogen oxide, or smog, they produce by 50%. They can legally do this because they buy NOx credits. The government puts restrictions on how much nitrogen oxide can be emitted. But the government also allows a source that emits nitrogen oxide to transfer ownership of the emission reduction to another party. Several environmentalists believe it is wrong to “pay for pollution.” A representative from the plant said that they are trying to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxide they are emitting.
We also found out that the Wheelabrator plant is able to produce electrical energy from the burning of waste products they receive. The waste first goes into an incinerator. All of the students were able to see the inside of the incinerator and many of them agreed it was the “coolest” part of the field trip. The boiler then absorbs the heat from the incinerator and converts it into steam. The steam then goes through a turbine generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy into electrical energy which is then sent to the New England Power Company.

The Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary is located directly next to the plant. This wildlife sanctuary is owned by Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. and consists of 207 acres of land. Part of the sanctuary is used as a landfill for current ashes and old waste that was not incinerated. There is a very large amount of soil that is placed over this waste so that animals would not be able to burrow their way into the waste. Walls in the ground that surround the perimeter of the sanctuary prevent any water that may have been contaminated by the waste from seeping into the surrounding land and river. There are a group of people that are working hard to make the sanctuary a suitable place for animals to live. They are currently eliminating invasive plant species by introducing other plant species. There are 17 state-listed endangered or threatened bird species that they are particularly trying to target as the sanctuary is located right over several bird species’ migratory path. The sanctuary may not be complete for some time but it will be well worh the effort to see this landfill become an adequate habitat to plant and animal species that need this space. For more information on Wheelabrator plants go to there official website at http://www.wheelabratortechnologies.com