Trojan horses of Maine waste management

You may recall that Homer’s Trojan horse in the Iliad was hollow and filled with invading Greeks, a gift presented to the Trojans that ultimately ended with the destruction of Troy when they willingly accepted it into their city. What does this have to do with waste management in Maine? Everything. Please read on.

As in the original Greek legend, Mainers have been presented with a number of waste-management Trojan horses, disguised as gifts, which will destroy much of Maine’s pristine environment. Like the Trojans, the Maine citizens do not know that disaster awaits them upon the invitation of these Trojan horses into their midst. Below are just a few examples of this unfolding tragedy:

1. On June 23, 2003, in a late-night session, the Legislature resolved that the state purchase the West Old Town Landfill (WOLT) from Georgia-Pacific for $27.5 million to be paid for from the lease of the waste dump to Casella Waste Systems Inc. while there was in existence a statewide ban on the creation of additional commercial landfills. Casella’s lease contains a clause prohibiting “out-of-state” waste at the facility. Despite the “newspeak” excuse that the WOTL is “state-owned,” it is clearly a “for profit” commercial dump, which will be filled predominately with out-of-state waste, as we shall see below. This deal has nothing to do with jobs at the Old Town mill and there is no mention of jobs in any of the agreements. A Trojan horse?

2. On Feb. 17, 2004, the Department of Environmental Protection “amended” the WOTL license, increasing its authorized capacity from 3 million cubic yards to 10 million CY with yet another expansion of 10 million planned for the near future. This facility will accept a minimum of 550,000 tons of waste annually. It is simply impossible for Maine’s small population growth and economy to generate this additional quantity of waste. The WOTL is the largest commercial landfill in the Northeast, which will be filled by massive quantities of out- of-state waste. It is not “needed” for the disposal of Maine in-state- generated waste. A Trojan horse?

3. On April 27, 2005, the Legislative Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing on LD 141 which would prohibit the importation of out-of-state waste into Maine. No one opposed the bill and yet it was withdrawn for “legal clarification” by the same legislator who drafted it and will not be submitted to the Legislature this session. Thus, we have a bill, which would prevent the WOTL from functioning were it enacted into law, and yet we don’t? A Trojan horse?

4. On May 9, 2005, the Maine DEP held a public hearing in Old Town to license the Georgia-Pacific biomass boiler to burn “clean wood” from construction and demolition debris (CDD). Approximately 15 percent of this “out of state” CDD is unclassified and 1 percent is chemically treated, highly toxic wood, containing arsenic and producing dioxin upon combustion. This one 15-megawatt burner alone will consume virtually all the “burnable” wood from the state’s total CDD at this time and there exist two other such biomass burners in Maine already licensed to burn CDD waste with a combined 80-megawatt capacity. Where will they get their fuel? Are these biomass burners or are they really waste-to- energy incinerators? A Trojan horse?

Nor does this exhaust the list of Maine waste “management” Trojan horses. There are undoubtedly more coming to your neighborhood and soon. Beware the next time the state waste managers, private or public, come presenting gifts to your doorstep. Do not make the mistake the Trojans made and invite them inside the city gates, lest your fate replicates theirs or ours in Old Town. But do not despair; these intruders too have an Achilles heel – the truth.

Melvin Burke is a professor of economics at the University of Maine.