Task force mulls waste options Group finds common ground on refuse management issue

AUGUSTA – A diverse group gathered Tuesday not to oppose one another, as often is the case, but rather to work toward the common goal of reviewing the state’s solid waste management policy.

About every five years, the State Planning Office organizes a Solid Waste Management Policy Review Task Force with the intent of identifying waste issues and possible improvements that could be made to the state’s waste management plan.

Those ideas and suggestions then are compiled by the State Planning Office and presented to the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee for consideration. The information also is used to update the state’s five-year plan on solid waste management.

The last time the task force met, it reaffirmed the state’s disposal plan and ban on new commercial landfills, but narrowed the terms that dictate when the State Planning Office can increase the state’s disposal capacity.

This year’s task force of nearly 40 individuals is composed a cross section of state and municipal officials, people in the waste management business and those interested in limiting the effect that waste management has on residents and the environment.

“We’ve done a better job at getting more complete representation,” George MacDonald, director of waste management and recycling for the State Planning Office, said.

Those within the group admitted that they often have competing interests, but know the importance of effective and responsible waste management.

Before beginning the roundtable discussion, each task force member introduced themselves and stated what they hoped to gain from the process.

“I’d like to see better protection for the communities,” Old Town City Manager Peggy Daigle said. Old Town is the site of the first state-owned landfill, and Daigle is concerned about protection for host communities, as well as other municipalities that will be affected by things such as damage to roads by truck traffic.

Don Meagher, manager of planning and development for Casella Waste Systems Inc., said he brought to the table knowledge on the ground of what happens in managing solid waste. Casella owns and operates the Pine Tree Landfill in Hampden and was selected by the state to operate the West Old Town Landfill.

Among the list of issues that members want addressed is that of the importation of out-of-state waste.

This was the first of three, and possibly four, task force meetings where members will meet to share ideas on waste management and provide insight as to what direction the state needs to go in terms of supervising waste management practices.

“This is not where we’re really going to be able to solve site-specific issues,” Jeff Edelstein of Edelstein Associates, said. Edelstein was hired by the State Planning Office to create an identification and assessment report based on a series of interviews with about 30 individuals or organizations involved with or interested in solid waste management. That report was the starting point for Tuesday’s discussion.

One of the major issues is the state’s solid waste hierarchy that was created in 1989 and hasn’t been changed since.

“There really isn’t any common understanding about how the hierarchy is applied or should be applied,” Paula Clark, director of the Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Solid Waste, said.

The state’s approach to solid waste management is based on the following hierarchy:

. Reduction of waste generated at the source, including both amount and toxicity of the waste.

. Reuse of waste.

. Recycling of waste.

. Composting of biodegradable waste.

. Waste processing that reduces the volume of waste needing land disposal, including incineration.

. Land disposal of waste.

“The hierarchy is 16 years old, and in this business, that’s ancient,” Meagher said.

He noted that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s anything wrong with the hierarchy, but that it needs to be looked at.

The hierarchy was the main topic of discussion Tuesday, and at the next two meetings the task force is expected to look at disposal capacity, an overview of the state’s current ban on new commercial disposal facilities, effects and compensation to host communities, a variety of ways of managing waste, and public education.

Meetings are open to the public and are scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 1 and Dec. 6 at the Augusta Elks Lodge.