LANDFILL ODOR COMPLAINT
HOW TO FILE A LANDFILL ODOR COMPLAINT
Princeton resident complaints about odors related to the Fitchburg-Westminster Landfill may be registered in the following ways:
Call the Fitchburg-Westminster Landfill 24-Hour Odor Complaint Hotline at (866) 987-0985.
Complaints should be called in within one (1) hour of odor observation.
Complaints are managed by a third-party consultant, Williamson Environmental, LLC.
You will be asked to provide the following information:
Your name
Location at which the odor was observed
Time odor was observed
Description of the odor
Rate the strength of the odor on a scale of 1 to 5 (weakest to strongest)
Whether the third-party consultant has permission to go on your property (if the location the odor was observed is your property)
Your email address (if you’d like a copy of the consultant’s report shared with you)
With the call, the third-party consultant will be sent to the location to make and record observations as to odor intensity and hydrogen sulfide levels. Starting in October, the consultant is based in offices at the landfill from 7a to 5p, which should result in a quicker complaint response time.
This is the primary complaint option. Complaints made to the hotline are sent to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, as well as the Boards of Health in the Town of Princeton, Town of Westminster and City of Fitchburg—allowing for regulatory review and creation of a regulatory record that could be used in enforcement cases.
Call Westminster Board of Health Agent Abby Conlin at 978-874-7409.
Ms. Conlin has offered to travel to Princeton to timely make her own observations in response to odor complaints. She will need the same information as required under Option 1, above. This is a secondary complaint option that may allow for an additional regulatory observation and action. You may also email Ms. Conlin at aconlin@westminster-ma.gov
Call and/or email complaints to the Town of Princeton Board of Health via Board of Health Executive Assistant Terri Longtine at 978-464-2104 and/or tlongtine@town.princeton.ma.us
The Board of Health has statutory duties to, among other things, protect the public health and the environment in relation to sanitary landfills and garbage and is authorized to investigate nuisances. Complaints made to the Landfill’s 24-Hour Odor Complaint Hotline are also shared with the Board of Health.