BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor City Council expects to decide Monday night between a pair of competing offers to handle the city’s trash after 2018.
Fiberight-Covanta wants to build a new waste-to-energy facility in Hampden, and is working with the Municipal Review Committee to gather enough towns’ trash to make the project financially viable.
Penobscot Energy Recovery Co., which currently serves Municipal Review Committee communities at its waste-to-energy plant in Orrington, is fighting to retain those towns under a new business model post-2018. PERC’s relationship with the Municipal Review Committee, a group of 187 towns that formed 25 years ago to make regional decisions about waste management, has been strained since the committee backed the Fiberight proposal.
The City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall to take up the issue.
The Municipal Review Committee decision followed a three-year search for companies to handle the trash load after the contract with PERC expires in 2018. PERC did not initially submit a proposal, but 15 other groups made offers — Fiberight’s being the strongest, according to the Municipal Review Committee. PERC later proposed shrinking its staff and updating its facility to remain in operation post-2018.
It’s a choice that several councilors have said could be the biggest one they’ll make during their tenure representing the city.
It also could carry large implications for the viability of both facilities, as many smaller communities could look to Bangor while determining whether to side with Municipal Review Committee and Fiberight or PERC.
So far, Brewer, Bar Harbor and Hampden are the only towns to make decisions. Each has gone with Fiberight and Municipal Review Committee.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.