Proposed Expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill
Pushaw Stream and Birch Stream run through West Old Town. Between the two streams is Juniper Ridge Landfill, privately managed by Casella Waste Systems. Waste from Juniper Ridge is minimally treated and released into the Penobscot River at the Nine Dragons mill in Old Town. The waste company is applying for an expansion of the landfill in hopes of doubling its size. For the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), they must determine whether it has “public benefit,” including its impacts on surrounding communities.
The Penobscot Nation and Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) wrote a joint letter against the proposed expansion, stating that the project is inconsistent with the state’s Solid Waste Management Hierarchy and is environmentally unjust to local communities, including the Penobscot Nation. Impacts include odors, fires, spills, and untreated PFAS contamination. The letter points out that Casella has no plan to mitigate these pollution risks for the surrounding communities. Read the full letter here.
Penobscot Nation Ambassador Maulian Bryant speaks about Juniper Ridge Landfill at a February 15th press conference. Photo by Nickie Sekera/Sunlight Media Collective.
Below is the public statement submitted to Karen Knuuti of the Department of Environmental Protection DEP on September 3rd, 2024 by Friends of Harriet L. Hartley:
I write on behalf of the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Harriet L. Hartley Conservation Area (HLH). Please consider our comments on the proposed expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill (JRL) and enter them in the public record.
The HLH Directors support the arguments made by the Penobscot Nation and the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) in their joint letter of July 31, 2024. After a careful review of the facts surrounding Casella Waste System’s expansion request, we submit that the pollution control, “public benefit,” and “environmental justice” criteria required by the application process can only be satisfied if the following conditions are met.
Stop new discharges of PFAS. Any leachate from JRL must be treated in a system that is proven to reduce concentration of PFAS to a level that protects the public health and the biodiversity of the receiving waters.
Stop accepting waste Massachusetts will not treat itself. In order to extend the life of JRL, Casella must present a plan that significantly reduces the volume of Construction & Demolition Debris (CDD) it accepts from out-of-state sources. This will reduce the likelihood that waste flows from the landfill contain the toxic contaminants so pervasive in this type of bulking material. Other in-state sources of appropriate bulking materials must be found or developed.
Do not ignore Maine’s reduction and recycling goals. The current Casella proposal must be amended to satisfy Maine’s Solid Waste Hierarchy, one that wisely mandates waste reduction, diversion, and recycling. Continued failure to meet the statutory reduction and recycling goals in 38 M.R.S.A. Sec. 2132 is unacceptable.
Do not set a low bar for “meaningful involvement.” As DEP requirements now include “environmental justice” in determinations of the “Public Benefit,” it is especially important that the Department set a high standard for Public Benefit…one that includes the concept of “meaningful involvement” proposed by CLF and the Penobscot Nation. We cannot say it any clearer than you find it in their July 31st letter.
“The intention of the ‘meaningful involvement’ provision can only be interpreted as requiring the project proponents to do more than just the basic legal requirements and to be intentional with their community engagement efforts. If ‘meaningful involvement’ equated to ‘business as usual’ by a project proponent fulfilling the basic legal requirements, then the EJ provision would not have been necessary to pass into law…”
[Source: Conservation Law Foundation & Penobscot Nation. Letter to Maine DEP; July 31, 2024. Pages 12-13.]
Solid waste reduction, reuse, and recycling are now unavoidable if human society is going to recognize and protect the interconnected nature of our communities. As a species, humanity must honor and protect the Web of Life in which we exist…and in which we will only thrive if we live in harmony with the rest of the natural world. Don’t let the potential expansion of Juniper Ridge Landfill dig us — literally — into a deeper hole of degradation!
Respectfully submitted,
Sidney Block, MD
President, Friends of Harriet L. Hartley Conservation Area