Landfill officials make effort to quell commissioners' concerns

Eight directors of the Marion Transfer Station (MTS), manager Milan Jamieson, and general counsel for MTS, Dennis Mahar, met with Washington County Commissioners immediately after their regular meeting of November 1. Billed as a "conversation" between the two boards, the meeting grew out of a letter commissioners had sent to the directors in August withdrawing their previous support for a proposed new landfill in Township 14. In their letter, the commissioners raised concerns about MTS management practices as well as the proposed location of the new construction and demolition debris landfill, but they noted that their doubts could be resolved if MTS officials provided satisfactory responses to commissioners' questions.

Chairman Chris Gardner opened the meeting with a statement of guidelines the commission established for the discussion. "This is not a public hearing," he said, and there will be "no public input, no questions or statements unless solicited" by the commission or MTS representatives. "Violators will be asked to leave," he added.

The wide-ranging session lasted nearly two hours, with Dean Bradshaw, MTS director from Dennysville and project engineer for the proposed new landfill, responding to most of the questions posed by commissioners. Bradshaw, a licensed professional engineer, has stated previously that he recuses himself from voting on any issues before the board related to the project for which he provides paid services. Near the end of the meeting, Bradshaw said he plans to "go back to being a regular board member," and the project management will now be handled by CES Inc. of Machias.

Commissioner Kevin Shorey raised the issue of "how quickly the current facility is filling up. The original business plan six or seven years ago called for 20 years" as a life span for the landfill in Marion, he said. Bradshaw explained, "Twenty years is basically the allowable life. We didn't know then what the fill rate would be and made projections of way [less] volume than we would use."

Bradshaw said the board decided from the outset to accept waste from the Bangor area "to help pay the bills" and "made a commitment to take Washington County construction debris." In addition, the board agreed to take waste from two handlers, DM&J and Mark Wright, whose territory includes Hancock and Penobscot counties.

Bradshaw continued, "Our consultant, CES, says we need to protect against future leachate, 'by closing the present [unlined] site and building a lined landfill.' We would then have an impervious barrier to gather the leachate.

"We have 33,000 to 40,000 cubic yards left in Marion C that's three to five years to get to a new facility. We have a closing plan ready to submit [to the Department of Environmental Protection]. We made the decision to collect outside revenue to finance the new facility. We think that's good management.

When Gardner noted that an MTS report in 2005 indicated that 16,000 cubic yards of capacity remained, Bradshaw replied, "CES tells us the number. They admit that one year they didn't get it right." While MTS officials listed a "need" in their application for a capacity of up to 40,000 cubic yards per year, Bradshaw acknowledged, "We would be happy with 20,000 per year.

Bradshaw noted that while the MTS is not "competitive" with other landfills, the board needs to "build a business plan that depends on heavy inputs from haulers. The minimum capital cost of a new lined landfill is expensive. The first cell costs $2 million." Attorney Mahar interjected, "The board has to build in room for growth for the unknown," noting as an example, "Part of the old Calais hospital is to be demolished; that has to go somewhere. They have to build extra capacity into their business plan.

Gardner argued, "The original purpose of MTS was to take construction landfill to augment tipping fees for the 16 communities for 20 years C not to provide a demo landfill for the state of Maine." Bradshaw replied, "The subsidy to the member communities is still in place C though the cost per ton has recently gone from $100 to $125 to reflect costs.

Gardner referred to a letter dated May 8, 2006, from Karen Knuuti of the DEP addressed to representatives of MTS and CES. The writer poses a number of questions regarding MTS' legal status as a corporation, policy on out-of-state waste, landfill density, needs to be served, plans to meet state and regional refuse goals, and other matters related to MTS' application to DEP for approval of a new landfill. Asked about the status of a reply to Knuuti's letter, Bradshaw said it has not yet been sent, but "CES is working on it.

The corporate structure of Marion Transfer Station Inc. was clarified by attorney Mahar, who said it was originally authorized by the legislature "in a special provision under the Nonprofit Corporations Act. The members are Washington County and the 16 communities.

The commissioners asked Bradshaw about the history of the MTS decision about three years ago to search for a new landfill site. The engineer explained they acted on the advice of CES: "We began looking for an additional six acres with prodding from the DEP and the consultant." Shorey noted, "That's an ambiguous 'we;' there are 16 member entities. How many voted on this to say it was a good idea?" Gardner added, "There has to be a certain level of trust, even though you're a special nonprofit. You have to be very transparent. You have to go the extra step, not simply make a multi-million dollar decision without an up or down vote.

Minutes of the MTS directors' meeting for September 14, 2004, were submitted to commissioners, and a copy was obtained by The Quoddy Tides. A motion is recorded to purchase the land for a $500,000 down payment, with the balance financed by the owner for $50,000 per year at no interest for 10 years. According to the minutes, it was passed "7 for, 1 against," with Lubec opposed. Recorded in the affirmative were Unorganized Territory, Eastport, Meddybemps, Dennysville, Perry, Charlotte and Pembroke.

Bradshaw reviewed how he strived to acquaint the public and its representatives with the need for a new landfill. He noted he spoke to commissioners, to watershed councils, to the Quoddy Regional Land Trust and others. "I went to everyone who seemed to have an interest; I tried to brief each group.

"But," Gardner countered, "you did that after the decision was made to proceed. There was no prior discussion in public. The MTS board made the decision on a 7-1 vote. That's not even a plurality." Bradshaw explained the difficulty of getting community representatives out to meetings: "Some never show up. I interpret that as people happy with our actions." Bradshaw submitted a packet of letters from the member towns indicating their support for the new landfill. He also made a case to the commissioners that the county "should take over the landfill.

"We've learned a lot in seven and a half years," Bradshaw said. "In the future, something else beside burying waste or burning it will probably be developed, and when it does, we'll move in that direction. Right now, our only choice is to build a lined landfill or ship it to Old Town. And if we build our own, we have to have sufficient income to do it.

Shorey returned to his concern about the proposed location of the landfill "on an elevation between two major watersheds." Bradshaw discussed the geology of the county and the paucity of topsoil "because of the glacial impact," saying, "Everywhere you look, you find water. We have to work with the terrain we have." He noted that the chosen site offers the advantage of "30 to 40 feet of basal till deposit under it. We looked at 16 to 18 sites, had a geologist visit them." Some were ruled out, for various reasons, and "all but three or four big industrially-owned" parcels were found suitable. "This may not be the best site, but it's the best we found," he added. Shorey wondered if filling at the present site could be slowed to give more time to search for a better site, but Bradshaw said, "We want to retain our relationship" with the haulers.

In his only question, commissioner John Crowley asked, "Was it your original intent to use the site as a test basis to see if it was a money-making situation for the towns involved?" Bradshaw did not provide a direct response but reviewed the history of the landfill in the years since towns closed the individual dumps they once operated.

As the meeting came to a close, Shorey summarized his views: "I question the rate of filling; I'm still troubled about the location. I now understand why it has to be done, and I appreciate the steps being taken to close out the present landfill. I question the policy of accepting debris from out of state." The commissioner also sympathized with MTS' difficulty getting member towns to attend meetings. "I think it's a travesty the other towns aren't here," he said.

Gardner asked for additional information, including a statement of the original "goals and missions" established for MTS; a copy of the organization's policy or vote regarding a quorum for meetings; results of water quality testing that was started and interrupted before completion, along with some assurances from DEP of acceptable results; a copy of MTS' response to Knuuti's letter on behalf of the DEP; and evidence of changes in MTS operations to "reinstill public trust."

Gardner said the commission "reserves our right to consider this further. Our concerns are out there. When we know what we're thinking, you'll hear it." He made a special point of commending MTS manager Milan Jamieson, saying, "He has done an excellent job keeping me informed; he doesn't always tell me what I want to hear, but he does tell me the truth.

In addition to Bradshaw, the other MTS directors present included chairman Dennis Bryant of Charlotte, Stuart Shotwell of Cooper, Richard Adams of Perry, Bob Chase of East Machias, subchairman John Pope of Whiting, Lloyd "Johnny" Leighton of Pembroke, and Dean Preston, representing the Unorganized Territory.