DEP: Truck in crash not in violation

After investigating a truck transporting waste to the West Old Town Landfill that tipped over last week in downtown Bangor, the Department of Environmental Protection has deemed that the load wasn’t in violation of any solid waste laws.

“We’re not looking into it any further,” interim DEP Commissioner David Littell said Thursday. “As far as we know right now, there wasn’t anything that violated any regulation.”

He added that if anyone thinks there is anything that needs to be looked at closer regarding the accident, they should contact DEP.

The department’s regional director, Ed Logue, noted Wednesday that DEP officials went to the scene of last week’s accident to inspect the load and to make sure that the truck wasn’t leaking gas or oil.

The truck, owned by K-B Corp. of Hampden, was hauling construction and demolition debris from the Waterville transfer station to the West Old Town Landfill when its load shifted while going around a turn. The truck rolled at the intersection of Railroad and Summer streets near the Bangor Waterfront.

Casella Waste Systems Inc. owns and operates the Pine Tree Landfill in Hampden and the Waterville transfer station where the waste was coming from. The company also is the state-chosen operator of the West Old Town Landfill, which is owned by the state of Maine, where the waste was headed.

Although a television and computer monitor were among the items in the truck, “there was nothing there that was illegal,” Logue said.

A ban is in effect on the disposal on commercially generated cathode ray tube devices, such as televisions and computer monitors, but the residential ban doesn’t begin until July 20.

Logue said the truck was carrying an appropriate load.

“There was nothing there that’s not allowed at West Old Town,” he said.