Landfill opponents poised to take battle to court

OLD TOWN – Court likely will be the next stop for We the People, a group of area residents opposed to the West Old Town Landfill deal.

“The paperwork is in order for the intent to sue,” We the People member Laura Sanborn said Monday.

The group’s lawsuit against the State Planning Office is expected to be filed by its attorney, Marcia Cleveland at Penobscot County Superior Court before the end of the month. Cleveland, a Brunswick lawyer, specializes in environmental law and handled We the People’s previous appeals of the project.

The three-way landfill deal in Old Town among the state, Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Casella Waste Systems was designed to keep the city’s paper mill open while addressing the state’s waste disposal problem.

The state bought the site from G-P for $26 million and chose Casella, which runs the Pine Tree Landfill in Hampden, to operate it.

We the People has been fighting the deal for nearly a year and was recognized Saturday for its efforts at Toxics Action Center’s annual conference.

A Portland-based nonprofit environmental and public health organization, the center has been helping We the People gain information on the landfill project, as well as assisting them in contacting experts and developing fund-raising ideas.

“To be recognized by people that have been working in these fields for years and years, there’s something to be said for it,” Sanborn said.

The Outstanding Activism Award was presented to the group because of their work in “galvanizing the community,” Will Everitt, the center’s field director, said Monday.

“They’ve kind of gone above and beyond what the average citizen does in the community,” he said.

Appeals to the Board of Environmental Protection by We the People and Orono resident Paul Schroeder regarding the Department of Environmental Protection’s April 9 approval of the project were denied in October.

Not willing to give up, Schroeder and a group of concerned area residents recently submitted stacks of documents to the Consumer Protection Division of the Maine Attorney General’s Office regarding the project.

The record includes memos, e-mails, and faxes between state and local officials, as well as representatives of Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Casella Waste Systems from March 3, 2003, through the Oct. 21, 2004, BEP hearing on the appeals.

The Attorney General’s Office is expected to file a response next week, according to Schroeder.

The recent award has provided motivation for We the People to continue their work, members said Monday.

“Maybe this award will help somebody in government to wake up and say there’s really something going on here,” We the People member Stan Levitsky said.