RadioActive 2/22/18

Producer: Meredith DeFrancesco

Casella Waste Systems Applies for Expanded Waste Acceptance at Juniper Ridge Landfill

On Wednesday February 28th, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting in Bangor to examine Casella Waste Systems request to continue receiving Municipal Solid Waste from Southern Maine at the Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town.
This fall, the state owned, privately run, Juniper Ridge Landfill was approved for a major expansion, despite a long and exhaustive citizen effort to stop it.
Area residents, including members of the Penobscot Tribe, have protested the continuing dumping of leachate liquids into the Penobscot River, with minimal testing and treatment. They also continue to underscore the acceptance of out of state waste to a state owned facility, a practice disallowed by Maine law, but circumvented by minor processing, which allows trash to be re-classified as in-state waste.

Guest: Ed Spencer, Old Town resident, stakeholder and intervenor in Juniper Ridge Landfill expansion process

RadioActive 6/15/17

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Penobscot River Rally and Flotilla

1) Today we hear some audio from Saturday’s Penobscot River Rally and Flotilla on the Bangor Waterfront, where people gathered to support the Penobscot Tribe’s struggle for continued stewardship of the River, and other local and statewide struggles for clean water and clean energy.
2) Over 30 organizations co-sponsored the event, which showed support for the Penobscot Nation’s efforts to retain sovereignty and stewardship on the section of the river passing through their island territory. In 2012, the Maine Attorney General’s office sought to establish that section as State territory. The Tribe has sued the State in an on going legal case: Penobscot Nation v Attorney General Janet Mills.
3) Speakers broadcast in this program address the Juniper Ridge Landfill expansion in Old Town and the dumping of toxic leachate into the Penobscot River and on state bills and policies that could support or paralyze the development of solar energy in Maine.

Guests:
Ed Spencer, Old Town resident, logger and intervenor in Juniper Ridge Landfill expansion process
Dawn Neptune Adams, Penobscot tribal member and activist
Fred Greenhalgh, ReVision Energy and solar activist
Jim Freeman, Flotilla organizer, Alliance for the Common Good,

This program was produced in partnership with the Sunlight Media Collective.

RadioActive 6/1/17

Guest Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Juniper Ridge Landfill Expansion Approved by BEP; Trump Withdraws from Paris Climate Agreement

-Today the Maine Board of Environmental Protection approved the expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town.
-Local activists have strongly opposed the expansion, underlining the amount of out of state waste that is reclassified as “in-state waste” and disposed at Juniper Ridge, which is state owned, but privately operated by Casella Waste Management. Opponents, including members of the Penobscot Nation, are alarmed by potential impacts on ground water and the continued dumping of leachate by product into the Penobscot River.
-We also examine Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord

Guests:
Ed Spencer, Old Town resident and intervenor in Juniper Ridge Landfill Expansion
Erika Lennon, senior attorney for the Center for International Environmental Law

This program was produced in partnership with the Sunlight Media Collective.