Update April 11: In the last few days, we have seen an effort to push last minute "emergency" legislation to hand over JRL to Casella, ending any control we might have of this monster in our backyard! We face a huge expansion and new waste streams. UMaine Orono has contracted with Casella to buy landfill gas for 20 years.
- What is going into Juniper Ridge Landfill?
- Where is it coming from?
- Who is getting the money?
How did this landfill end up in our backyard? In 2003, the State of Maine and the garbage industry (Casella Waste Systems) took advantage of paper mill job losses in Old Town to install a garbage behemoth in West Old Town. They named it "Juniper Ridge" Landfill (JRL). For a more detailed history, see here (download PDF).
Now, in 2012, surrounding towns suffer the consequences.
Adapted from video by Brad Goodwin, used with permission.
We want to keep Maine from becoming "Garbageland"
- We want transparency in agreements that our state and local officials make with the garbage industry;
- We want Maine to honor its statutory "Solid Waste Hierarchy": Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Compost, Waste-To-Energy, Landfill;
- We want investment in sustainable solutions to issues around solid waste;
- We want strict regulation of the garbage industry.
We want to STOP:
- We want to STOP out-of-state garbage coming to Maine;
- We want to STOP expansion of Juniper Ridge Landfill; JRL is already the highest point in Old Town and larger than Pine Tree Landfill on I-95;
- We want to STOP new JRL waste streams, such as treated biomedical waste and sewage sludge;
We want to STOP our tax dollars funding garbage industry "greenwashed" projects, such as the Juniper Ridge to UMaine landfill gas pipeline.
