Juniper Ridge Landfill is owned by the state but managed by the Bureau of General Services, which contracts with NEWSME Landfill Operations, a subsidiary of the waste management company Casella. (Photo by AnnMarie Hilton/ Maine Morning Star)
The Penobscot Nation and Boston-based environmental organization Conservation Law Foundation filed an appeal on Tuesday to stop the expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill.
The suit comes a little more than a month after the Maine Department of Environmental Protection issued a ruling that opened the door for the site to increase its capacity, despite continued objections from local residents and advocates that doing so could worsen environmental hazards.
“Challenging this decision is not just about protecting our environment,” Alexandra St. Pierre, director of communities and toxics at CLF, wrote in a statement Wednesday. “It’s about safeguarding the future and ensuring justice for the communities most impacted.”
The CLF and Penobscot Nation argue in their appeal that the Maine DEP’s decision was “affected by error of law, unsupported by substantial evidence on the whole record, and/or arbitrary, capricious, or characterized by an abuse of discretion.”
In an October decision, Commissioner of the Maine DEP Melanie Loyzim determined there was substantial public benefit for a proposal to increase the capacity of the facility in Old Town and Alton, which meant the company that operates the site could submit an application for a license to expand the facility. Juniper Ridge Landfill is owned by the state but managed by the Bureau of General Services, which contracts with NEWSME Landfill Operations, a subsidiary of the waste management company Casella.
Maine opens door for landfill expansion despite community objections
Opened in 1993 and last expanded in 2017, the landfill currently disposes of just over half of landfill waste in Maine and is expected to exhaust its current capacity by 2028. BGS has proposed expanding the landfill by 61 acres, which at the current fill rate of about 1 million cubic yards of waste per year, would allow for roughly 11 more years of use.
Maine DEP concluded that Casella’s proposed expansion is needed to meet Maine’s short- and long-term waste capacity needs and is consistent with the state’s waste reduction plans. From 2018 to 2022, Maine’s landfill waste increased by 24%. Waste generation continues to increase by approximately 5.6% per year.
The CLF, Penobscot Nation and environmental groups have been vocal in their opposition to the landfill’s expansion, citing air and water pollution, odors and overall mismanagement, including insufficient safeguards to prevent the contamination of the Penobscot River.
“We consider the Penobscot River to be the oldest citizen of our tribe,” Penobscot Tribal Chief Kirk Francis wrote in a statement. “It does more than carry water – it carries life, culture and the history for our people. The continued contamination from this landfill endangers that legacy and puts the health of our community at risk. We are firmly opposing this harmful expansion to protect our water, environment, and history for future generations of the Penobscot Nation.”
The Maine Legislature attempted to require Casella to treat leachate — water that collects chemicals after passing through the waste — in a way that ensures per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, otherwise known as PFAS, levels don’t exceed established drinking water standards. However, the measure was vetoed by Gov. Janet Mills.
Now, as a condition of the Maine DEP’s determination, Casella would have to install a department-approved system for treating landfill leachate for PFAS before expanding operations.
While the DEP determination hinged on a few conditions, like the leachate treatment, the CLF and Penobscot Nation argue in their appeal that the decision ultimately did not satisfy the criteria of the public benefit determination statute.
The appeal calls on the court to reverse the decision, or alternatively, for the DEP to modify its approval to include other specific requirements. These include a cap, in a given year, on the amount of construction and demolition debris fines that the landfill can accept and on the maximum fill limit on waste, as well as requiring Casella implement a sludge dewatering system and strengthen PFAS conditions.
Another path forward the CLF and Penobscot Nation outline in their appeal is the court remanding the case for the DEP to reopen the public benefit determination process and requiring the department hold additional community engagement opportunities before issuing a new determination.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.