Producer/Host: Amy Browne
In what many believe to be the latest threat to the Penobscot Nation and the river ecosystem, a new landfill is being proposed in the Greenbush/Argyle area. The organization behind the plan is the Municipal Review Committee or “MRC”, which represents nearly 200 Maine municipalities that have their solid waste delivered to the PERC waste-to-energy facility in Orrington. Supporters cite a 2013 report that indicated that Maine would run out of landfill space in 11 years, and an impending fee increase at the PERC plant as evidence of need for a new landfill.
The new dump would be located only a few miles from the controversial Juniper Ridge landfill. It would also be in close proximity to Indian Island, Birch Stream and Sunkhaze Meadows Wildlife Refuge, near an aquifer and in an area known for landslides. The location is also adjacent to what is believed to be the route the proposed East-West Corridor would take through the area.
Last week, the Maine Dept of Environmental Protection held a public meeting in Old Town, one step in the process of determining whether the dump would meet the “public benefit” criteria required for issuing a permit.
For several hours the public spoke Here’s what some of them had to say. DEP Commissioner Patrica Aho facilitated: