Controversy building over proposed Township 19 landfill

A proposal for an 18-acre landfill for the disposal of construction and demolition debris in Township 19 has started to generate some controversy, with dump opponents organizing to stop the project. The plans are now being reviewed by the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Marion Transfer Station Inc. (MTS), a quasi-municipal corporation made up of 15 communities and the unorganized territories in Washington County, has been operating a construction and demolition debris landfill in Marion Township since 1999, but it is now nearing the end of its useful life. The board of directors is proposing to locate a larger facility in nearby Township 14, while keeping the transfer station in Marion. The 4,500-acre site is in the middle of an area bounded by Route 191 to the west, the East Ridge Road to the east, Cathance Lake to the north and Marion Township to the south. The landfill itself would be near Porcupine Mountain.

The MTS plans to purchase the land, which has an asking price of $1 million, from Lakeville Shores Inc., a subsidiary of H.C. Haynes Inc., a logging contractor based in Winn, according to Dean Bradshaw of Dennysville. Bradshaw, who is both a director on the Marion Transfer Station board and a paid consultant for the project, recuses himself during discussion and votes on the project by the board of directors, to avoid a conflict of interest.

The landfill would occupy 18 acres on the 4,500-acre site, with most of the acreage being used to buffer the project from other land uses. Under the land purchase agreement, Haynes would be able to harvest wood from the land for the next 50 years, and the wooded buffer could be used for hiking, hunting, snowmobiling and ATV riding. MTS will invite comments on other compatible uses for the site.

The landfill's capacity would be approximately 1 million cubic yards. With a rate of fill of about 30,000 tons per year, its service life would be 30 years. Bradshaw says the amount is about the same as that which has been hauled in the past to the MTS construction and demolition debris site. For comparison, the West Old Town Landfill occupies 68 acres and has a capacity of 3.3 million cubic yards, and the Pine Tree Landfill in Hampden took in over 600,000 tons during 2005.

Nancy Oden of Jonesboro, an environmental activist who spearheaded the opposition to the proposed incinerator ash dump in Township 30 in the late 1980s, claims that most of the waste will be coming from out of state, but Bradshaw says the landfill would not be accepting any waste from outside of Maine. He says the debris would only be from eastern Maine, noting that the price per ton becomes too high if the waste is shipped from a greater distance. "We accept from two haulers," he says, with construction and demolition debris coming from Washington County and the Bangor and Mount Desert Island areas.

Oden also maintains that hazardous waste comes in with demolition debris. "It's anything that was in a building," she says, claiming it can include plastics and asbestos. "Nobody's checking to see if the waste is clean." She says that because the landfill will be lined to protect groundwater it must include special or toxic waste.

Bradshaw says the waste can include anything in a building when it is demolished. Minor amounts of asbestos can be accepted, but not the waste from an asbestos abatement removal job. No pesticides are allowed, and the landfill operator would watch that only the types of waste set forth in the operating requirements for the landfill would be accepted.

The DEP has a broad definition for construction and demolition debris, which includes land-clearing debris and wood waste but excludes flammable asbestos, hazardous and special wastes. However, the department would not be inspecting the loads brought in to the landfill, says Karen Knuuti, an environmental specialist with the DEP. That responsibility lies with the landfill operator. While the DEP licenses the type of waste and the size and location of the operation, it cannot require that out-of-state waste not be accepted.

Oden is also concerned that the landfill would create an industrial zone in woods situated directly above numerous streams and lakes. Bradshaw says the DEP's siting criteria restrict how close the landfill can be to bodies of water, aquifers and fault lines. He says there are no aquifers nearby. He also notes that there would be no burning of waste at the proposed landfill.

The $2.9 million project would be financed from MTS funds with some loan funding needed during the construction phase. MTS members towns and territories would be charged a rate based on break-even costs. Non-members towns and cities would be charged a higher fee, but below the rate in the Bangor area. In time, landfill revenue is expected to pay off the loans, and the remaining income would be used for solid waste management activities, such as enhancing the MTS recycling program.

LURC and DEP review
LURC received the application for rezoning 190 acres of the land for industrial use on April 20. LURC may hold a public hearing on the request, and is required to hold one if five or more individuals request one.

The two criteria for rezoning are a demonstration of need and a requirement for no adverse impact, according to Jeremy Paré, a senior planner with LURC. He says the review process will be lengthy. If the rezoning is approved, then LURC would consider issuing a permit for the landfill, and the permit would include any required performance standards.

The project developers have also applied for a determination of public benefit with the DEP. If that determination is made, then an application will need to be submitted for a secure landfill, which requires a liner and leachate collection system, because of the size of the project, according to Karen Knuuti. The DEP's review could be for a year and a half or longer, and people may comment during the review and also may request that a public hearing be held.

The Washington County Commissioners agreed at a meeting on April 6 to send a letter in support of the zoning change, while not indicating support for the project itself.

Meanwhile, Oden says she is re-awakening the Clean Water Coalition, the group that was successful in opposing the Township 30 dump. "We're hoping to stop it with the LURC rezoning," she says. Bradshaw agrees that "the real battle" will be with the rezoning request.