Marion Transfer Station prepares for rate hike

The 16 member communities of the Marion Transfer Station are looking at significant adjustments in 2011, when they face both the closing of their construction debris and demolition (CDD) site and a likely overall expansion in recycling programs.
"We are planning for some changes in operations," says Dean Preston, the supervisor for Washington County's Unorganized Territories, one of the 16 members of the nonprofit, quasi-municipal organization. "We need to be proactive and see what those impacts will be, in terms of costs, operations, days open, personnel. We'll have to make some adjustments."
The group's next meeting, which is open to the public, is at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 14, at the Pembroke Elementary School. At the last meeting, the representative from one town "attended" via the use of teleconference technology. That is expected to become an option for all future meetings, especially with winter weather ahead.
The pending filling up of the CDD site has been hastened by the delivery of more than 800 pounds of debris from the old Calais Regional Hospital since October. Marion Transfer Station site manager Milan Jamieson can't say whether the CDD landfill will reach a closing point in February or October or sometime in between ( but plans need to be in place for the day that happens.
"We have been taking about 400 tons a month of the hospital debris, and I got some as recently as last week," Jamieson said. "That would put us on a cycle of closing sooner, in 2011, rather than in 2012."
Once the CDD site is closed and covered, member communities will be asked to pay higher rates. Jamieson says the CDD prices would increase from $45 per ton now to $120 per ton. New CDD waste will be shipped to southwest New Brunswick, where Lawrence Station has had a relationship with Marion Transfer Station for at least 10 years. "It's hard to say when we will fill up, but the day that we need to start trucking it to Canada is the day when the rates will go up," Jamieson says.
Located centrally along Route 191 in Marion Township, the transfer station handles about 6,000 tons of municipal solid waste each year, as well as between 20,000 and 30,000 tons of construction and demolition debris. It has been in operation since 1992. Marion Transfer Station's member communities are Charlotte, Cooper, Cutler, Dennysville, East Machias, Eastport, Lubec, Machiasport, Meddybemps, Northfield, Pembroke, Perry, Robbinston, Wesley and the Unorganized Territories of Washington County.
Recycling expansion planned
Parallel to the pending closing of the transfer station's CDD site is the board's exploration of expanding its recycling capabilities. The Marion Transfer Station always has been a place for some recycling efforts, but member communities can look forward to bigger plans ahead. "We've always done recycling," Preston says. "But we've been challenged because we're rural; because, because, because ( there are all kinds of reasons."
Currently, Marion Transfer Station handles a significant amount of tires destined for recycling, although taking tires isn't particularly revenue-producing.
Jamieson, the Marion manager, also delivers cardboard, paper and tossed-out televisions and computers to the Machias Bay Area Transfer Station in Machias. But more recycling options at Marion could reconfigure the revenue streams for the station.
Preston will seek the board's approval on December 14 to approach the Washington County tax increment financing fund for a planning grant to look into recycling possibilities. "If we can capture some of those funds, maybe we can move forward next summer to maybe build a recycling facility, or be able to facilitate more contracts," Preston says.
TIF money is available for economic development within the Unorganized Territories through an act of the Maine Legislature. The program is administered by the Washington County government with the assistance of Sunrise County Economic Council. The TIF program, which will spread hundreds of thousands of dollars across the county's UT for the next 20 years, is the result of financial agreements with developers of wind farm projects in northern Washington County.
"We do know that the more recycling we can do, the healthier we all are," Preston says. "We know that recycling saves money, so whatever pounds we can pull out of the mainline waste stream would be good."
Member communities now pay Marion Transfer Station $120 a ton to handle their towns' trash, or six cents per pound.
Marion Transfer Station's new emphasis on recycling coincides with a county-wide effort in 2011 that will develop programs to permanently increase recycling rates from Danforth to Steuben. The Washington County Council of Governments (WCCOG) is carrying out the work plan for a $42,385 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for solid waste management initiatives.
After the award was announced in July, WCCOG started in October to coordinate with residents, transfer station managers and municipalities to make recycling ( and proper disposal of hazardous household wastes ( a priority in 2011. WCCOG wants to establish systems and networks to sustain higher rates of recycling county-wide, including the communities that are served by the Marion Transfer Station.