State plan to expand Maine’s biggest landfill back in court
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 23, 2026
A state judge is questioning whether environmental regulators are equipped to weigh the cultural survival of the Penobscot Nation against the expansion of the largest landfill in Maine. During oral arguments in Bangor on Thursday, Superior Court Justice Bruce Mallonee signaled skepticism over how the Department of Environmental Protection determines environmental justice for a people burdened by a century of industrial pollution. The proceeding is the latest development in the Penobscot Nation and Conservation Law Foundation’s effort to block a 61-acre expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town, which is located just northwest of the Penobscot River and the tribe’s reservation islands.