OLD TOWN – The waste disposal area built last fall at Juniper Ridge Landfill, formerly the West Old Town Landfill, already is nearing capacity, and landfill officials have begun construction of additional disposal capacity. The new construction is still within the landfill’s footprint.

The new space is expected to be completed by late November and in use by the end of the year, Tom Gilbert, environmental manager for landfill operator Casella Waste Systems Inc., said Wednesday.

“I think we’ll have to be using it by December,” Gilbert said.

Juniper Ridge, the state’s first and only state-owned landfill, is operated by Casella. The facility was purchased from Georgia-Pacific Corp. mill and was approved April 2004 by the Department of Environmental Protection. The landfill is accepting only waste generated in Maine.

The 4-acre cell, known as cell 3-A, was completed last fall and has been in use since May of this year. While the area appears to be nearing its capacity, there’s plenty of disposal space left to last to the end of the year, Gilbert said.

“I think we were thinking we might be able to get by until spring, but we’ve had quite an increase in tonnage,” Gilbert said.

Cell 3-B now being constructed is a larger area that covers 6 acres.

“Once they get this cell all done and they get it tested and the Department of Environmental Protection gives us permission to use it, then we’ve got to find 5 feet of soft layer to fill it in,” Gilbert said.

A soft layer of fill material needs to be spread over the entire area before any bulky wastes are added. The soft fill creates an extra barrier, like a safety net, to ensure the landfill liner isn’t pierced.

“We have a variety of options up here,” Gilbert said, adding that bark and wood chips are two alternatives.

The amount of waste being accepted at the landfill has increased this summer, mainly because of several remediation projects going on throughout the state, such as the cleanup efforts at Brunswick Naval Air Station.

“In July and August we took in a lot of soil,” Gilbert said. “That’s increased our volume considerably this summer.”

The contaminated soil is nonhazardous, he said. Although it isn’t approved for use at construction sites and needs to be disposed of in a landfill, it can be used as a temporary cover for portions of the landfill not now being used.

Last year, from the time cell 3-B opened in September through the end of the year, Juniper Ridge took in 126,791 tons of waste. This year’s waste total from January through August is 349,768 tons.

“We’re diverting practically everything we possibly can from Pine Tree,” Gilbert said, referring to the Pine Tree Landfill in Hampden.

A plan has been created that would completely close Hampden’s 21-acre site by early 2010. The landfill will limit the variety of wastes it accepts by June 1, 2007, and no longer will accept waste after Dec. 31, 2009.

As the Juniper Ridge Landfill increases in capacity, other projects and improvements also are under way at the facility.

The Old Town planning board approved Tuesday the construction of a maintenance garage at one end of the facility.

“It’s going to be primarily for maintenance on those big machines where they can get out of the weather,” Gilbert said, pointing out the office window to bulldozers and compactors working atop the landfill.

For now, the landfill will continue to be open seven days a week likely through the remainder of the summer and fall months.

“That may change depending on if the traffic slows down in the winter months,” Gilbert said. “We may not need to be open on Sunday.”