SERF opposition wins award

BRUNSWICK – The Hampden Citizens Coalition received an award Saturday for its efforts to stop the expansion of the Sawyer Environmental Recovery Facility and protect the nearby Souadabscook Stream.

The “outstanding activism” award was presented by the Toxics Action Center during the environmental group’s first state conference at Bowdoin College.

The HCC was lauded for its “long-term efforts and long-term vision to protect water quality,” Will Everitt, Maine field director of the TAC, said in a news release issued Tuesday.

He continued his praise during a telephone interview.

“These people have been fighting the good fight. It’s a really tough battle for a grass-roots citizens’ group to win against a large private company,” said the activist, whose Portland-based group works with residents to fight toxic hazards.

Excitement over the award has been tempered by the recent court rulings that favored SERF, said HCC chairman Bill Lippincott, who attended the conference but was unaware that his group won the award.

“I wasn’t expecting it because we haven’t been successful,” he said, referring to judges’ directives that the town must issue the landfill a license for its proposed expansion and that the planning board must review the site plan.

The TAC contends that the Souadabscook is threatened because the Environmental Protection Agency has said that all landfill liners can eventually be expected to leak, according to Everitt.

“The irony is that even though, in our eyes, the site wouldn’t be where it is today under current [state] rules, it’s OK for it to expand,” the director said.

SERF compliance and licensing manager Don Meagher took issue with Everitt’s comments.

The proposed project meets the setback criteria for the landfill, he said, noting that the Town Council, the Department of Environmental Protection and a number of experts have concluded that the stream is not in danger.

“This isn’t a new landfill where one doesn’t exist, this is a site where for 25 years there has been a landfill with no liner at all,” Meagher said.

“And even without the liner the stream hasn’t been impacted. So the issue of whether the liner leaks is irrelevant.”

The HCC intends to continue its fight, according to Lippincott who said the award “raises our spirits and encourages us to keep going. ”

“There still are options we’re looking at,” he said, declining to elaborate.

Despite the disappointing litigation outcomes, the HCC should consider itself successful because it induced the town to appeal Penobscot County Superior Court Judge Margaret Kravchuk’s ruling that the proposed expansion doesn’t violate the town’s zoning ordinance, according to Everitt.

“No matter what, it’s extremely important for citizens to be part of the process,” he said.