Maine landfill expansion continues despite pushback

A Maine landfill owned by Waste Management, Houston, will continue an expansion project despite pushback from local environmental groups. Last month, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection denied an appeal filed by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) that would stop or change the 48-acre expansion.

"WM is pleased that after hearing oral arguments and reviewing the comprehensive permitting record, the Main Board of Environmental Protection unanimously affirmed the decision by the Main Department of Environmental Protection to grant the solid wast approvals necessary for the continued operation of the Crossroads landfill," WM says in a statement to Recycling Today.

The Law Foundation had asked the board to reverse the final licensing decision of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which approved the expansion last May, or modify it to include several requirements, reports The Maine Monitor.

The CFL requested that the landfill, located in Norridgewock, Maine, cap the amount of out-of-state waste being buried in the expansion area each year or set aside a specific amount for in-state waste. The group also wanted Waste Management to be required to pretreat leachate for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and expand its recycling and composting programs.

One of the main requirements was that DEP requires Crossroads to use a double-liner system to line the expansion, according to the Monitor.

"The CLF is disappointed by the Board of Environmental Protection’s decision to reject our appeal," says Peter Blair, an attorney for the CLF.  "The more landfill capacity the state develops, the less likely it is that we will see real meaningful investments to reduce the amount of waste generated through efforts like recycling and composting."

In the board’s decision to reject the appeal, Robert Duchesne said that while the group had good ideas about the expansion, most of them were policy decisions the board could not consider. However, the CLF disagrees with that assessment.

"We strongly believe that the Department of Environmental Protection had the legal authority to impose commonsense safeguards on the development of this new landfill," Blair says.  "The failure to do so threatens public health and the environment."

The landfill expansion was first proposed in 2018 and has been the subject of criticism since. Residents and advocacy groups said they were concerned the expansions would create a new capacity for out-of-state waste and the increased risk of PFAS.

Waste Management’s license with the city does not require it to test or treat runoff from the landfill for the material.The expansion is expected to add an extra 15-17 years to the landfill.

While the proposal was rejected, Blair says the CLF will continue to push for more landfill regulations. Right now, the group is supporting a legislative effort that would require state-owned landfills to implement systems to address the presence of PFAS in landfill leachate.