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DEP issues draft denial of new MRC landfill application

    AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Environmental Protection issued a draft denial of the Municipal Review Committee’s application for a public benefit determination for a proposed new landfill in Argyle or Greenbush after a thorough review process.

    In the draft denial, which is available for public comment through Oct. 1, the department finds MRC’s evaluation of disposal capacity was substantially influenced by its stated need for a landfill under its ownership and control rather than a factual analysis of the disposal capacity available within and near the MRC service area in the short- and long-term.
    Several residents of Argyle and a representative from the Penobscot Nation cited their objections about the proposed landfill at the public forum in Sangerville on Sept. 18.
    Some of the concerns voiced by attendees included fears of runoff into streams and rivers and the loss of traditional subsistence activities by Native Americans.
    According to the DEP press release, the department reviews all public benefit determinations under the statutory specific review criteria.
    The review criteria are that the proposed facility meets immediate (within the next 3 years), short term (within the next 5 years), or long term (within the next 10 years) capacity needs of the state; the proposed facility is consistent with the state’s solid waste management hierarchy; the proposed facility is not inconsistent with local, regional, or state waste collection, storage, transportation, processing, or disposal; and (only if the facility proposes to accept waste not generated in the state of Maine) that operation of the facility would be precluded or significantly impaired if the waste is not accepted.
    The department found that there is sufficient existing disposal capacity; thus a new landfill would be inconsistent with the state’s solid waste hierarchy, which puts landfilling last.
    The draft denial also finds that MRC’s proposal for a new landfill would be inconsistent with existing local and regional waste management.
    All documents received by the DEP related to the public benefit determination including the draft denial, application and public comments are available online at http://www.maine.gov/dep/waste/mrc/index.html.
    Comments may be sent to DEP Project Analyst Karen Knuuti,at karen.knuuti@maine.gov by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1.

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