A landfill in Old Town should not be allowed to expand because a Maine agency did not properly consider environmental justice during the approval, a lawsuit says.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges the landfill expansion puts people’s health at risk and threatens the cultural practices of the Penobscot Nation. The local tribe and the Conservation Law Foundation sued the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in Penobscot County Superior Court.
“If the proposed expansion of [the landfill] were to continue, it would deny the Penobscot people their centuries-old role as stewards of the Penobscot watershed and it would violate the sovereign rights of the Penobscot Nation,” the lawsuit said.
The expansion appeared poised to move forward before this lawsuit was filed. It is the first test of a 2021 state law that says all people have the right to be protected from pollution and “to live in and enjoy a clean and healthful environment.”
The DEP decided Oct. 2 there is a public benefit to the expansion and expanding the landfill is not inconsistent with environmental justice.
The Maine DEP does not comment on pending litigation, Deputy Commissioner David Madore said.
A public benefit determination should not have been approved because the expansion does not follow the state’s waste management plan and “is entirely inconsistent with ensuring” environmental justice, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit asks a judge to reverse the public benefit determination approving the expansion. If that is not granted, the determination should be modified to add more checks and balances to keep people safe from contaminants. The lawsuit requests that, at the very least, a judge reopens the determination period.
“The state deserves to be challenged for this decision and its blatant violation of the environmental justice criteria recently enacted by the legislature,” said Dana Colihan, co-executive director of Slingshot, a nonprofit environmental health and justice organization. “We will continue to organize alongside Don’t Waste ME, the Penobscot Nation, and impacted residents to protect our communities and fight for environmental justice.”
Approval of the public benefit determination came with stipulations that landfill operator Casella Waste System needed to implement, including expansion to its recycling app and an annual discussion with towns about how the waste management company encourages recycling.
Those stipulations do not go far enough, the lawsuit said.
Casella brings in construction and demolition debris from outside of the state. It said it uses the debris to help stabilize the sludge, a byproduct from wastewater treatment. The sludge has untreated PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that are also known as “forever chemicals.”
Changes to the law have stopped the flow of debris in one form, but it still comes as crushed debris used for daily cover at the landfill, the lawsuit said. How much the landfill actually needs compared with how much Casella brings in to make money is unknown.
The lawsuit suggests a cap on how much crushed debris can be brought into the landfill as well as an accountability check for how much is needed.
Penobscot Nation and the Conservation Law Foundation are also concerned there is nothing in the plan to address the PFAS in water that exceeds the levels the state deems safe. The lawsuit also asks for “real-time continuous air quality monitoring” in areas that have high odor levels.
“The continued contamination from this landfill endangers that legacy and puts the health of our community at risk,” Penobscot Tribal Chief Kirk Francis said. “We are firmly opposing this harmful expansion to protect our water, environment, and history for future generations of the Penobscot Nation.”
The Juniper Ridge expansion would add 11.9 million cubic yards to an existing capacity of 10 million cubic yards. It accepts trash from dozens of Maine municipalities, as well as 25,000 tons of waste from out-of-state.
No court dates are scheduled yet.
