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Emily Cole Prescott is the president of the Maine Water Environment Association, which represents 650 businesses, nonprofits, regulators, and water and sewer districts.
When LD 1911 passed in 2022, it was first-of-its-kind legislation in the United States and a milestone in public health toward the elimination of PFAS and other forever chemicals from the environment. And while the positive impacts of Maine’s legislation have been proudly and profoundly celebrated across the country, its clean water industry has quietly inherited one of the largest challenges since the Clean Water Act of 1972: Where (and how) to safely dispose of the states’ biosolids?
When the bill passed, there was no comprehensive waste management plan, nor is there one today. The lack of a roadmap leaves Maine’s wastewater facilities in limbo as they grapple with defining short-term solutions to managing daily operations, and long-term solutions for developing a statewide plan. These policies have left our community at-large facing unanswerable questions and difficult decisions.
While it is not the preferred course of action, the Maine Water Environment Association (MeWEA) supports the capacity expansion at the state-run landfill, Juniper Ridge, and the repeal or suspension of further legislation that limit Maine’s ability to stabilize the state’s landfill so it can continue to accept biosolids. While it is contrary to what any state would “want” to do, it is necessary, otherwise we will be faced with public health and environmental crises to manage — and it would not be the first time.
In February 2023, with biosolids entering Juniper Ridge from municipalities statewide, coupled with the lack of bulky waste, the industry was put in crisis without warning. The landfill turned trucks away and facilities were left with nowhere to send their biosolids and no plan to address the critical issues with landfill capacity in the future. This situation forced our utility leaders to make impossible choices about how to run their facilities in ways they were not designed, and it put many of Maine’s water bodies uncomfortably close to risk of contamination.
MeWEA, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and our clean water facilities were scrambling to find ways to remove biosolids through any means, which included reaching out to other states, even having to look internationally. This is not sustainable.
These legislative changes have left all of Maine’s clean water districts with waste management challenges that must be addressed. In 2023, a collaborative effort between MeWEA and DEP, Brown and Caldwell commissioned the Maine’s Biosolids Study, which outlines the most critical recommendations on how to develop a long term waste management plan. The most alarming conclusion within the study is that there are only three to five years of remaining landfill capacity.
Over the last two years, there has been an extensive and collaborative effort between municipalities, wastewater districts, private companies and a variety of state agencies to develop a long-term, sustainable plan for biosolid management. And while we’ve made progress, we aren’t there yet. Maine’s clean water districts are working individually and collaboratively to explore innovative, new technology to reduce biosolid volume and destroy PFAS in the biosolids they receive daily from every Maine home and business. However, this technology requires significant investment, design, construction, and operational considerations, which will take years.
By moving forward with the expansion of this landfill, Maine would be taking the first step to align its policies with its needs. While it is not our first choice, the state must expand capacity at its landfill so industry leaders can continue to develop and fund the infrastructure to support the policies that have been enacted.
For these reasons, we strongly recommend that the public benefit determination is granted for the proposed expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill. MeWEA realizes the time required to review and decide if this expansion provides a public benefit, and we strongly recommend that the review process is addressed with the appropriate amount of urgency so that Maine’s clean water industry experts can continue to adequately protect Maine’s waterways.
