November 07, 2024
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Two incinerators must reroute waste during breaks

HAMPDEN – After this spring, two state incinerators cannot send their waste to the Pine Tree Landfill during their biannual maintenance shutdowns.

Maine Energy Recovery Co. of Biddeford and ecomaine, a nonprofit waste management company located in South Portland and owned by 21 municipalities, schedule outages in the spring and fall to perform maintenance. Historically, all of the municipal solid waste bound for these incinerators during the shutdown period has been shipped to Pine Tree Landfill in Hampden or Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town.

Under the Hampden facility’s closure plan, the landfill must stop accepting odor-causing waste by June 1. Municipal solid waste is deemed “odor-causing” and therefore barred from the facility.

“I don’t know what they are going to do, but they’ll have to find another place for it,” said Don Meagher, manager of planning and development for Casella Waste Systems Inc., the company that owns and operates Pine Tree Landfill.

Casella operates the Juniper Ridge Landfill, which is owned by the state. The Vermont-based company also owns Maine Energy.

Juniper Ridge only accepts waste generated in Maine, which means Maine Energy and ecomaine can continue to dispose of in-state trash in Old Town. But trash generated outside Maine, initially bound for the incinerators, will have to be rerouted, Meagher said. At this time, it is not known where it will be sent.

Other large landfills in the state, such as Lewiston’s municipal facility, have regulations in place prohibiting either bypass waste or out-of-state waste, Meagher said.

The two incinerators are expected to bring their waste north until around mid-May when the maintenance is finished. A completion date depends on the issues that arise during the shutdown, Meagher said.


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