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

WERU Community SoapBox 4/10/12

Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: Joel Mann

Issue: Open-mic style call-in show

Key Discussion Points:
Bipartisan politics, political participation, upcoming events, drones, Mirza Shahzah Akbar denied visa, Juniper Ridge/Old Town landfill, Casella, chicken jerky treats for dogs- danger, CSAs, local food, unions, Governor LePage

Guests: n/a

Call In Program: Yes

RadioActive 11/3/11

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Program Topic: Casella Waste Systems’ proposed expansion of Juniper Ridge landfill in Old Town, and opposition to it by Occupy Augusta and general public

Key Discussion Points:
Casella’s claim that the waste is not from “out of state”
Public’s environmental and health concerns
Occupy Augusta’s recognition of this case as an a example of corporate sway over politics, and how profit seeking corporations attempt to disguise the negative aspects of their proposed projects.

Guest:
Hillary Lister, waste activist

**NOTE: A 2nd audio file featuring a presentation about the University of Maine’s relationship with the Juniper Ridge Dump is included. Audio was recorded by John Greenman. Presentation was part of the University of Maine’s Marxist and Socialist Lecture Series