The state still hasn’t given adequate weight to how more than doubling the size of an Old Town landfill would hurt Penobscot Nation, a lawyer argued Thursday.
The Conservation Law Foundation and Penobscot Nation sued the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in November 2024 over the proposed expansion of Juniper Ridge, citing environmental justice. Lawyers for both sides argued for about two hours Thursday regarding the proposal.
Penobscot County Judge Bruce Mallonee denied the expansion in January, telling the agency it did not complete “critical” fact finding.
The Maine DEP issued a new public benefit determination in March, again saying the landfill on the shores of the Penobscot River can expand but with more specific guidelines. Before the expansion moves forward, the judge must sign off again.
Mallonee will issue a written decision in the coming months.
The ongoing lawsuit is the first test of a 2021 state law that says all people have the right to be protected from pollution and “to live in and enjoy a clean and healthful environment.” The Maine DEP is legally obligated to consider environmental justice before granting an expansion to Juniper Ridge Landfill. That expansion has been tied up in legal battles since November 2024.
The arguments come as Penobscot County is in the midst of a trash crisis. Juniper Ridge accepts trash from dozens of Maine municipalities, as well as 25,000 tons of waste from out-of-state. The landfill has a capacity of 10 million cubic yards and will run out of room in 2028 if it continues accepting trash at the current rate, Casella Waste System said previously.
The Maine DEP’s draft approval would more than double the size of the state-owned landfill.
The expansion would also give it 11 more years of operation, attorney Brian Rayback said. He represents NEWSME Landfill Operations LLC, which operates the landfill.
Nearly every seat in the courtroom was full Thursday, with two anti-expansion supporters sitting on the floor.
Adequate weight has not been given to environmental justice, said Alex St. Pierre, an attorney for the foundation and the nation. It appears the state pushed through the expansion in part because of the trash crisis the area is facing, St. Pierre said.
Overall, the Maine DEP made three errors that were arbitrary and capricious, St. Pierre said. The decision is also not supported by substantial evidence and the DEP had “several poor analytical errors,” she said.
She said the department didn’t accurately consider how Penobscot Nation does sustenance fishing in the river and misused testing for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, in the fish. It also did not consider the full scope of toxins, St. Pierre said.
“No undue burden” is what the state must consider for environmental justice, Assistant Attorney General Jack Dafoe said. It may seem vague, he said, but that is where the law requires them to start the consideration.
The state’s environmental justice law is relatively new, but it is something the Maine DEP deals with every day, he said. The department routinely makes decisions that must consider the health and safety of people and the environment.
The test on freshwater fish is the one that exists and the Maine DEP cannot be faulted for using it, Dafoe said. There are thousands of variations of PFAS and there isn’t a test for every single type.
The DEP took the requirement to reconsider “to heart,” Rayback said. That is evidenced by additional requirements the landfill expects it will have to follow.
The Maine DEP initially decided on Oct. 2, 2024, there is a public benefit to the expansion and expanding the landfill is not inconsistent with environmental justice.
If the expansion moves forward, the DEP will have additional requirements during the licensing stage, Dafoe said. That will include a limit on sludge the landfill takes, as well as PFAS treatment.
The issues brought by St. Pierre and Penobscot Nation are acknowledged in the DEP’s decision, Rayback said.
“The DEP just didn’t give it the weight that petitioners would like,” Rayback said.
Penobscot Nation Elder Kathy Paul spoke after the hearing. Paul, who has COPD, said the Maine DEP is saying the same thing it has before: “We don’t care about them.”
It’s not just Penobscot Nation affected by the expansion but everyone who lives in the area and along the Penobscot River, Paul said.
“We all need to collectively think about stopping them and spread the love instead of the disease,” she said.