Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
Imagine a stereotypical morning in New York City — the sidewalks swamped with hustling business people, cyclists weaving through taxi-clad traffic.
Somewhere within this stock image of NYC chaos, your average Joe crumples the wrapper around the remains of his egg sandwich and tosses it into a construction site trash can.
Although this kind of happening is better known for keeping uncreative directors in Hollywood, with the recent proposal to construct a seven-mile gas pipeline between the Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town and the University of Maine Steam Plant, it’s also the kind of stuff that could be keeping you warm at night.
On Sept. 20, UMaine President Robert Kennedy co-signed a “business term sheet” with Casella Waste Systems, Inc., which set tentative terms for the building of the pipeline which will allow the burning of methane-rich landfill gas to generate heat. The dilemma with this lies in a checkered past of similar ventures where the smell, pollution and origins of waste burning have all warranted complaints from Mainers.
The state-owned, Casella-operated landfill was bought by the state in 2004 to handle waste, namely construction and demolition debris — but only from in-state sources. However, the lack of an iron clad definition of in-state waste in the statutes has led to a situation where any waste processed in Maine becomes Maine waste.
Is this the source of power we want heating our buildings? Absolutely not, especially if we pride ourselves as a state and university rooted in the green initiative.
The best way to learn and improve is through the exploration of past mistakes. In this case, the university should re-evaluate the motives behind Casella business procedures, heed the cautionary tale of Biddeford’s Maine Energy Recovery Company, and listen to the concerns of students and Old Town and Orono residents.
And as student citizens of Maine, it is up to you to make a stink, or live with the foul odor that silence is sure to render.
Bangor Daily News