BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 8, 2023
In a three-hour briefing before the Maine Legislature’s environment and natural resources committee, officials from Casella Waste Systems — the private company that operates the state-owned landfill in Old Town — claimed the state’s looming sludge crisis has been averted. Two weeks ago, Casella told more than 30 wastewater treatment plants that it would no longer put their sludge, which contains the more solid components of wastewater, into Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town. If the facilities could not find an alternative location to send the sludge, it would be discharged into Maine’s rivers. The company’s plan to prevent that hinges on its ability to continue shipping tons of the sludge to New Brunswick. Neither officials from the Maine DEP nor Casella could provide a concrete plan for alternative solutions, such as if New Brunswick stops accepting the waste.