Maine law requires the state to provide a landfill for our solid waste. It’s not a question of whether, it’s a question of when. The West Old Town Landfill offers the state an opportunity to meet its obligation appropriately.

And it’s a big obligation. Every day, Mainers generate solid waste – in 2001 more than 1.8 million tons.

Of this, we recycled or composted 688,000 tons. Four municipal incinerators took in 646,000 tons. The remaining 510,000 tons ended up in a landfill.

In 1989, the state adopted a hierarchy for waste management: reduce, reuse, recycle, compost, incinerate for energy recovery and volume reduction and landfill. Landfills are necessary to municipal solid waste management. Our policy is to provide for in-state disposal of the wastes we generate in Maine.

To accomplish that goal, the Legislature banned the development of new commercial incinerators and landfills, and directed the state to provide needed disposal capacity. The State Planning Office is to plan for the development of disposal facilities, own them, and provide for their operation.

With the purchase of the West Old Town Landfill, the state has a unique opportunity to meet its waste disposal obligation. The landfill is a quality site – it was developed by Georgia-Pacific and has received waste since 1996. It’s well-situated and in compliance with Maine Department of Environmental Protection regulations. It will serve the solid waste disposal needs of the state well into the future. Because of the opportunity it presents for the state, the Legislature last spring passed a resolve authorizing the landfill purchase.

Here are some of the benefits of this landfill acquisition.

The state is obtaining the property without any expenditure of state funds. All future development costs of the site will be borne by the operator, Casella Waste Systems.

The landfill is currently operating, with the capacity for additional waste disposal. This provides a long-term solution to disposing of Maine’s waste stream.

We’ve placed a ceiling on landfill tipping fees. This makes disposal rates more predictable for Maine communities.

We’ve limited the kinds of wastes coming to the landfill. Casella may only bring in acceptable wastes. They may not bring in wastes generated outside of Maine.

Casella is accepting full environmental liability for the site, including for past activities. And Casella must operate the landfill in accordance with all applicable Department of Environmental Protection regulations.

The landfill acquisition helps keep the G-P mill up and running, too. The landfill provides the company with long-term disposal capacity to meet the needs of the mill in Old Town, at reduced costs.

Georgia-Pacific is also receiving the value of the acquisition for re-investment. They will re-invest in the Old Town mill. They will install a biomass power plant to help the mill become more economically competitive in the industry. And Casella will provide G-P with 100,000 tons of biomass fuel a year, primarily from an increase in construction and demolition debris processing.

Maine towns will receive additional benefits from the landfill purchase. Old Town and Alton will receive specified community benefits. And Casella will work with towns to help with recycling and composting opportunities. This includes Casella’s commitment to implement a glass recovery operation producing a marketable container. They’ll also implement an electronic waste recovery and recycling program.

Finally, the state acted professionally, fairly and in the best interest of Maine people, companies and communities in acquiring this landfill. We conducted a “Request for Proposals” process to select a technically qualified and financially capable company as operator.

It’s this process that resulted in the selection of Casella Waste Systems. And the landfill will be operated without preference for or any privilege to any solid waste haulers.

For the people of Maine, the acquisition of the West Old Town Landfill fulfills the state’s obligation to provide solid waste disposal capacity. It also provides us with strong opportunities for increased recycling and composting, and for reducing the toxicity of solid waste delivered to disposal facilities. Not only does this landfill purchase help the economy of Maine and the Old Town region, it’s good for our environment.

This landfill is a win-win for Maine.

Martha Freeman is director of the State Planning Office.