Maine Municipal Review Committee and WTE company reach lawsuit settlement

The Maine Municipal Review Committee, Ellsworth, Maine, and Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. (PERC), Orrington, Maine, have withdrawn their ongoing lawsuits against each other, a report by centralmaine.com says.
 
The Municipal Review Committee, which represents the solid waste interests of 187 Maine municipalities, and PERC reached an agreement to end their relationship in march 2018, the report says. The reached agreements can allow the planned Cantonsville, Maryland-headquartered Fiberight waste-to-energy facility in Hampden, Maine, to move forward.

According to the report, the Hampden facility is still scheduled to accept waste on its planned date of April 1, 2018.

In 2014, the Municipal Review Committee filed a suit against USA Energy Group LLC, the managing general partner of PERC, accusing the company of violating its partnership agreement by using municipal funding to pay off a $1.2 million bill for lobbying legislation communities were opposed to in 2014. USA Energy filed a countersuit, which came as the committee was rallying member communities to sign up for the Fiberight proposal after the PERC contract expires in 2018, the report says. Both lawsuits have been dismissed without judgement against either party and cannot be brought back to court.

The committee will receive $600,000 from PERC in exchange for giving up the member communities’ abilities to become partial owners of PERC by calling in their shares after the contract ends, the report says. The money will be dispersed throughout member communities, and fees from tonnage shortfalls will be waived as well.

PERC still has an ongoing appeal with the Kennebec County Superior Court on permits for the Fiberight facility. Because of this, the committee deferred consideration of financial closure from its original date of Jan. 1, 2017 to May 1.