EAST MILLINOCKET, Maine — Representatives of seven businesses toured the Dolby landfill Wednesday, giving state officials hope that one eventually will save the state $17 million in landfill closure costs and effectively end a dispute between Millinocket officials and Gov. Paul LePage.
The 17 representatives toured the Dolby site off Route 157 after meeting George MacDonald, director of the community assistance program within the State Planning Office, at the town library.
The businesses included landfill operators, trash hauling companies and an engineering firm, MacDonald said. All expressed some level of interest in running Dolby as a landfill, transfer station or as a place from which to obtain landfill paper sludge to use as an energy source.
“I was very pleased with the turnout,” MacDonald said. “I was expecting four or five [businesses], so to have more than that is very encouraging.”
“They were basically just saying that this [tour] gives them a better idea of the economic opportunities they might have here,” he added.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Clint Linscott attended the landfill tour. He said he was “impressed at the interest displayed.”
“I’m curious to see how this interest plays out,” Linscott said. “It’s interesting to see whether [Wednesday’s attendees] are interested landfill operators or just operators interested in seeing what’s going on here.”
State officials are seeking from private firms proposals to own or operate the landfill, which the state assumed ownership of a year ago as part of efforts to find a new owner for the two Katahdin region paper mills.
They are open to almost any business plan, MacDonald said, so long as it makes money, relieves the state of $250,000 in annual landfill operating costs and eventually leads to the closure of the landfill. State estimates have closure costs starting at $17 million.
Private ownership also effectively would end a dispute between LePage and Millinocket officials over landfill operating costs. Both sides agree that the state would pay $150,000 and the two towns $50,000 each in cash or in-kind services such as landfill maintenance but dispute the duration of that agreement.
LePage said March 7 that he would withhold $216,000 of $720,000 in Sudden and Severe Impact funds due Millinocket because he believed town officials broke their word to fund landfill operations annually and that they had overvalued their town’s mill for years.
Millinocket officials said LePage lied, that they agreed only to a one-time payment, and that they believed his withholding the funding violates state law. They also said he had no business questioning the mill’s valuation, which has been part of a TIF agreement among the state, towns and the mill’s owners for years.
Millinocket has retained an attorney but not yet opted to sue the state, awaiting legislative approval of a lawsuit as the law requires.
Town officials have said they could see a commercial landfill bringing a great deal of money and some jobs to the region. So far, the idea has brooked little resistance but not been explored much.
Linscott said many residents have told him they are open to the idea.
Used for decades as a paper mill sludge dump and sometimes for municipal waste, the landfill has about 350,000 cubic yards of landfill space already licensed, with another 4.5 million cubic yards available, MacDonald said.
MacDonald and the firms’ representatives toured the leachate lagoon, pumping stations and the heights of the landfill, which offer a commanding view of Mount Katahdin and the region.
If all goes well, a potential private mill operator will file a final proposal with the proposal for Dolby ownership or operation by April 25, he said.
Oh please pile your sludge as high as the sky. Oh pl;ease dig your gold mine as deep as hell. We like these traditional uses of our land. Just do not let the United States of America try to turn any of our land into a park.
I am glad you finally agree that we do not need a National Park :) Wooo Hoooo. They can put a nice picnic area on top,so Quimby can view all her propertay.
Bruce, I thought it would make a great place for the Quimby National Park visitor center. What a view from that pile of “wood fiber”. The hoards of tourists would be able to take in the view of Quimby’s domain and the smell – remind them of what she smelled like during her humble beginnings in Guilford.
Not sure if they can handle it, after all they keep saying hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. It might collapse under the enormity of the throngs.
This toxic dump will be a living monument to our governor and the mind set of the people in the katahdin area.The Katahdin area dump is open for business. Maybe we should have a toxic dump party once a year to celebrate this event.
The mindset of the people in the katahdin area?
that’s only the mindset of half
Unlike Quimby, this dump isn’t visible from the road, it’s welcomed by the community, and let’s face it,,, it’s a lot less offensive than Quimby… :-)
Quimbys land won’t pollute the east branch of the river. I can’t say the same for the west branch with the dump leaching toxic waste into the river.
I wasn’t talking about Quimby’s “land”……!
I never could understand why they put it so close to the water, not that anywhere is wanted but we produce stuff that has to go somewhere, but why near the water?
I really wish Nick would report this the correct way. The landfill is in East Millinocet, Millinocket has nothing to do with it, not a thing. The whole governor thing is a crock. He withheld the money becuase Millinocket over valued the mill. Millinocket will not benefit at all from the landfill. East will get the most and Medway will get something for travelling through their town. Unless the trucks go through Millinocket they have nothing in this venture.
I don’t follow your way of thinking at all. I guess the facts bother you and don’t go along with the way you want to believe?
As far as the Gov using the lame brained excuse of the mill value having anything to do with it is just more of his usual bait and switch tactics. That issue has been discussed on here many times. It’s the Gov’s usual MO of change the rules after the game is over and find some excuse that he hopes the propaganda will convince people is true.
As far as the travel route and some supposed benefit–is there a toll on the road I haven’t seen? No one benefits from this dump. The people who benefited left a long time ago. The rest of us are left with corporate sludge–just wait and see the next chapter to see who will benefit next and how it will be a negative impact to us all.
There is a fee paid to the towns that the waste travels through(i.e. Main ST not I95). East would get the most since the dump is in their town. Medway would get a small percentage)
That’s interesting…thanks whoswoods…..do you know what the reasoning is behind this?
Actually no i don’t know the reasoning. This info came from more than one East selectman
I can’t believe there aren’t more comments on this. This is a disaster waiting to happen and there’s a fox watching the chicken coop.
They don’t care about the damage this toxic dump will cause, as long as it can bring in a few dollars. Your right it is a disaster waiting to happen.
Wow!!! Is it posisble this could end up being an exciting leading edge demonstration where instead of $17 million for clean up, someone profitably converts paper sludge to green gas..how exciting would that be???? And maybe we could even get a grant.
A texas joint venture is doing a green gas conversion from paper mill and other wastes using bio augmentation. The company is producing methane.
Wouldn’t that be just too cool for words??? That we could sell our waste for bio augmentation..export it? That mills might be powered by their own sludge..wow!!!!
We created methane from sewage sludge in NYC to power some of our plants. it works very well and is simple to use when it is used on site.
I’m going to try and get word out to everyone I can find who is working with bio augmenttation to produce green gas from paper sludge and make sure they know about thi s opportunity.
I don’t even dare hope!!!
Lindsay, you’ve done research on this? Apparently you’ve had some experience with this and know the pros and cons?
magicmilly,
No. First I am hearing about the paper mill waste as energy possibility.
Just did a quick state of the art review on the notion of using paper wastes to generate energy..my quick impression was it was very exciting and I hope we will learn more about it.
Perhaps I am so enthused on that one because of what other options the State might be willing to allow..ie harzardous wastes from other mills, out of state or even out of the country. If the Planning Officer quoted in the article speaks for the governor sounds better than hoped for..sounds like they want a deal that will provide for responsible management of the landfill and result in its clean up ( or remove the need for clean up as seems possible with the paper waste as fuel option.
It’s hard to have a positive outlook and have positive expectations after all that as happened and after the very bad policy set by Baldacci.
I hope that whatever happens, the people of Millinocket and East Milinocket will have some input into the selction of an operator.
Did you see the two excellent articles on this at the Coastal Law Foundation.?
Obvious question..if so many people turned up because it is possibly profitable..why on earth did the State get tricked into acquiring it?
Your right! don’t even dare to hope. Every idea that has come along in the past ten years that did not have the “Mill will save us mindset” has been buried.
If Quimby Lovers don’t like this then it must be good news for the Katahdin Region Viva Lepage !!
Pride, This is a toxic waste dump that is being expanded . How can anybody be proud of this? This is just another example of what the multi-national forest and mining companies want the multi-national paper and mining companies will get. The multi-national forest and mining companies know how to fit their agenda into what the prideful people of Katahdin call traditional uses. A person will have to open their eyes to see what is going on around them.