Braintree chemical fire reignites calls for public health and safety improvements

Braintree Town Councilor Elizabeth Maglio got the call she had long worried about just before 10:30 p.m. It was the mayor, Charles Kokoros. 'That's when he told me: ‘Two-alarm fire, Clean Harbors,' " she said. The Clean Harbors facility in East Braintree is the largest hazardous waste disposal center in New England. It sits on the Fore River and handles toxic and dangerous materials from chemical companies, hospitals and other commercial businesses. And on Feb. 16, it caught fire. Maglio's call with the mayor was brief, but it was enough time for her to start worrying about worst-case scenarios: What if the fire spread to the nearby fuel tanks? There's a fertilizer plant a few thousand feet away, could it get there? And what about the natural gas compressor station on the other side of the river? For years, she'd been trying to warn others that the high concentration of industrial infrastructure in the area posed significant health and safety risks to residents.