Incinerator could help waste woes

PRESQUE ISLE — If Jim Barresi has his way Ashland will be home to a solid waste incinerator that he says can help solve Aroostook County’s landfill crisis.

All Barresi said he needs is support from area towns and a match to light the fire under a proposed $11 million solid waste incinerator.

Barresi lives in Castle Hill and is former director of the Northern Maine Regional Planning Commission.

Barresi and Bill Bousquet, vice president of operations and engineering for Alternative Energy Inc., which owns Beaver Plant, a woodchip to electricity facility in Ashland, unveiled a proposal Wednesday to construct the incinerator adjacent to the plant.

The incinerator’s generated heat would help dry wood chips being fed into the Beaver Plant, resulting in more effective production of electricity.

“This project is going to get rid of Aroostook’s garbage at the lowest cost per ton and it’s enviornmentally safe. Nothing will be remaining to haunt our grandchildren,” Barresi said after a meeting created to woo support from area solid waste directors.

Barresi said he needs 30,000 tons annually to make the project profitable. Barresi said his company is using conservative estimates in figuring the amount of trash generated in Aroostook County and the amount the incinerator would process from participating towns.

Despite recycling efforts, the closure of Loring Air Force Base and a general decline in County population, Barresi said he was secure in getting the tonnage he needs.

“I’m not asking for all the garbage here. Population loss isn’t a factor,” he said.

Barresi said the solid waste incinerator would burn five to six tons of garbage an hour, reducing its volume by about 90 percent. The ash would be buried at various state sites. Based on a similar system in Sydney, Nova Scotia, designed by Barresi’s company, the Matane Corporation, the Ashland project would emit emmissons well within federal and state laws.

Barresi said his system was more cost effective than area landfills. Barresi estimated the cost of disposing garbage via incinerator at $46.40 per ton while the cost per ton at the Tri-Community landfill is $64.17. He said the system could be operational up to 30 years and would have an annual operating and maintenance budget of $1.1 million.