Trash Talk

Despite a recent flurry of activity to stop, or at least slow down, the West Old Town Landfill, the project is moving forward, as was expected. The Department of Environmental Protection last month granted Casella Waste Systems a license to operate and expand the landfill. Critics of the plan to convert the landfill used by the Georgia-Pacific mill in Old Town to a municipal waste facility had an opportunity to be heard. So now, rather than seek to stop or stall work at the landfill, critics should turn their attention to ensuring that the dump is operated as safely as possible.

Earlier this week, residents of Alton, where the entrance to the landfill is located voted 83-5 against the landfill expansion and We the People, a group of area residents opposed to the landfill, and two local residents filed appeals with the DEP asking the agency to reverse its decision. They cited a lack of public input and the impact of the landfill expansion on the surrounding area in asking for a review of the decision. The appellants again asked that a formal public hearing be held by the Board of Environmental Protection. The BEP, by statute, is required to hold a public hearing when there is a credible conflict in the technical information surrounding a project. Although there is much conflict surrounding this project, the scientific conclusions by DEP and other engineers have not been challenged by scientific information from other sources.

There are a lot of reasons to be opposed to expanding the West Old Town Landfill so it can accept municipal garbage. The bigger landfill will be taller (although still visible from only one spot on a nearby public road). More trucks hauling trash will travel on local roads, causing more wear and tear and, potentially, traffic hazards. No one wants to live near a landfill.

But the BEP is unlikely to solve this type of conflict. Casella is convinced that is has met the requirements of the law, based on the DEP granting it a license last month; its opponents are certain they were not given a fair chance to present their arguments. The BEP is not going to persuade either side on this issue, so whatever the board’s decision, the next stop will be court.

This is, in part, the fault of the state, which presented this projected as completed when it should have just been begun. Area residents had the sense that they didn’t have a chance to present their concerns and, until they made a lot of noise about it, they probably were right. That doesn’t mean the project should stop or that there is anything faulty about the site. If it is likely that the site meets the technical standards for a landfill in Maine, it will be constructed eventually no matter the level of protests.

If those who are concerned about the landfill want to minimize its affects on their communities, they could do so by working with the DEP to ensure that Casella does the testing and maintenance it has said it will to ensure the facility meets the standards set out by the agency. They could also work with their congressional delegation and other lawmakers to press for a raising of the weight limits on Interstate 95 so that trucks hauling garbage to West Old Town could use the highway rather than local roads, which the law now requires.