OLD TOWN, Maine — City leaders voted Monday to prepare for the planned expansion to double capacity at Juniper Ridge Landfill by asking for intervenor status now, which comes with a grant to pay for experts, and to change who reviews the expansion plans locally.
“If there is a benefit to being a host community it’s this: You automatically have intervenor status and the opportunity to get up to $50,000 grant,” Jim Katsiaficas, city attorney, told councilors just before the unanimous vote to move forward with applying.
“The limit is $50,000 and it has to be directly related to the landfill expansion — consultants, engineers, lawyers — [those] directly related to what we’re doing here,” he said later.
Katsiaficas handed around the application for councilors to sign and said he would get it to Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Patricia Aho.
“As soon as she receives it, we have intervenor status [and] at that point the city can begin to hire whatever experts it needs,” the city attorney said.
Casella Waste Systems, the company hired to operate the state-owned landfill located near Exit 199 on Interstate 95, plans to file the expansion application with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection next month, company officials have said.
In January 2012, Casella and the state received partial approval from the state DEP to pursue essentially doubling Juniper Ridge’s capacity by adding 9.35 million cubic yards at the landfill.
After the application is filed, the planned expansion will undergo a lengthy DEP review, with public meetings, hearings and a public comment period, before going to the federal government and back to the city of Old Town for approval.
Councilors also voted to move forward with plans to change who reviews the expansion plans when they come before the city, designating the planning board instead of the city council, by amending Chapter 24 of the land use code that covers solid waste facilities.
“That is the board that is more familiar with the land use ordinance,” Katsiaficas said of planners.
The state acquired the former Georgia-Pacific Corp. landfill in May 2003 to help keep the Old Town mill operating and selected Casella to operate the facility. The city attorney explained that when state legislators enacted the 2003 law to allow the landfill purchase, the city was barred from passing any ordinances to regulate operations, but that changes with any expansions.
“The idea here is to provide a backstop,” Katsiaficas said. “It can be reviewed and because it’s a license, it can be revoked.”
A public hearing about changing the amendment to allow the planning board to take charge of any landfill expansion reviews will be held in the near future, council president David Mahan said.
“It makes sense,” he said.
“It’s a good time to get our ducks in a row for when [the landfill expansion application] comes through,” Katsiaficas said.
The landfill was renamed Juniper Ridge Landfill in 2005, after the state and Casella acquired a permit to increase its capacity from a 3 million cubic yard landfill to one that could handle 10 million cubic yards of trash.
The Maine DEP estimates Juniper Ridge will reach its existing landfill capacity in 2019, at current fill rates of 675,000 tons annually. Based on this usage, the DEP projects that the 9.35 million cubic yard expansion would extend the landfill’s life by eight or 10 years.
Resident Ed Spencer informed councilors that Casella officials will be in town at 6 p.m. Wednesday to give a presentation in council chambers about their expansion plans.