Another Bangor-based nonprofit could take over the job of cleaning up used syringes around the city.
The Bangor City Council is considering a one-year contract with Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness to begin a syringe waste program. The Bangor City Council’s Government Operations Subcommittee informally approved the agreement on Monday, but an official decision will be made in next week’s formal council meeting.
If the contract is approved, the city would pay the nonprofit up to $66,618 to respond to residents’ reports of needle waste on public property, manage the city’s syringe disposal boxes, and accept syringe waste from city departments, according to the agreement.
The job is designed to both keep the city clean and also safely dispose of any waste that could be dangerous to the public. This work is especially important in the midst of a growing HIV cluster within Penobscot County, as everyone who has tested positive reported injecting drugs within a year of being diagnosed.
The agreement would come after the city agreed in June 2023 to pay the Bangor-based Health Equity Alliance nearly $29,000 to hire a part-time employee to pick up used syringes on public property. Residents could also call or text the person to notify them of used needles they found that need to be picked up.
The Health Equity Alliance, commonly referred to as HEAL, lost that contract last year in tandem with the November 2024 closure of its syringe exchange program and community center. HEAL also furloughed most of its employees and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention then revoked the organization’s state syringe provider certification in January.
From November 2022 to October 2023, HEAL’s Bangor location gave away 658,627 sterile syringes and collected and disposed of 591,138 used ones, according to a 2023 annual report of Maine’s syringe service programs.