Editorials | Opinion

Editorial: Juniper Ridge expansion bid sullied by loophole

Posted on Oct. 26, 2011, at 10:18 p.m.

As has become customary, the state-owned, Casella Waste Systems-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill, one of the company’s finest accoutrements located on the Old Town-Alton town line — is raising quite the stink for central Maine locals.

And the majesty of distain only stands to intensify if Casella’s request for a massive expansion — from a maximum of 10 million cubic yards of waste to 32 million — continue to its firm footing in a loophole in state law.

Monday’s “public benefits determination” meeting, where community members were encouraged to gather and voice concerns about the Casella request, resonated with an aggressive fervor as palpable as the stench of burning garbage. The crowd was an estimated, approximated 200 strong.

One sentiment was touted in particular by living in the shadows of Juniper’s waste: Trash going into the dump needs to be audited, but soon.

A fact sheet provided by the Trash Tracking Network, a group of local residents who have charged themselves with monitoring the landfill, compares Lewiston-based KTI Biofuels’ assessment of the yearly traffic in and out of the facility with the assessment of Rep. Bob Duchesne, D-Hudson.

KTI Biofuels is a Lewiston-based Casella subsidiary. According to statistics from Casella, construction and demolition debris (CDD) from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine is processed there before being either landfilled or recycled. After CDD from outside Maine is processed, it can be labeled “in-state waste.”

So, even though Juniper Ridge Landfill can’t accept out-of-state waste, the state has no standard for what qualifies as in-state waste. (Even when it, you know, comes from Massachusetts.)

As Charles Leithiser of Old Town declared during the meeting, “This waste only switches from one truck to another but indeed becomes in-state waste when it switches tucks.”

Casella and Duchesne agree waste generated in Massachusetts accounted for 85 percent of that CDD, while waste generated in Maine accounted for 8 percent.

According to KTI, 47 percent of the CDD that entered the facility in 2010 ended up in Juniper Ridge Landfill. Duchesne says 91 percent of that CDD ended up at Juniper Ridge.

It is clear there exists no definitive criteria for defining in-state and out-of-state waste — for Casella, the trucks (and the money they bring) are the defining factor.

But simply transferring trash over to a vehicle registered to a Maine company doesn’t change the origin of the lifted goods. It’s downright dishonest — and that’s why the public is incensed.

If someone disallowed the deposit of out-of-state waste into the Juniper Ridge Landfill, there may not be a need for any sort of expansion, if there is already.

In the upcoming legislative session, lawmakers must work to close the loopholes that allow corporate enrichment at this community’s expense. At Monday’s meeting, Jennifer Rose of Portland told Casella officials to “come back when you have friends.”

They do have friends, but not in the public. For now, their friends are only in high places.

Soon, we’ll see who wants to come down to the public’s level.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 26th, 2011, 10:18 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.