The owner of the Orrington trash incinerator said it will start processing trash in August, but the state says it hasn’t issued the required license.
Eagle Point Energy Center majority owner Evan Coleman sent a letter Tuesday to municipalities saying the facility will open in August. The letter, obtained by the Bangor Daily News, said the facility will operate as a transfer station.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has not issued a solid waste transfer license, spokesperson David Madore said Friday. If the facility starts accepting trash without a license, the state can take a variety of enforcement actions including legal proceedings, he said.
EPEC has a solid waste incinerator license but not a solid waste transfer license, according to the DEP.
Coleman had no comment when asked about the DEP’s statement.
This is the latest twist in the years-long attempt to reopen the foreclosed trash incinerator on the shores of the Penobscot River in Orrington. Accepting trash to sort would be a step toward reopening and eventually burning the waste for energy.
Currently, trash from 42 municipalities is collected and taken directly to Juniper Ridge Landfill. A transfer station collects trash and consolidates it into semitrucks to then be taken to the landfill.
Using the plant as a transfer facility means the company can train staff and hire new people to operate equipment, such as the scales to weigh trucks, Coleman said in the letter.
“We’re excited to provide more services for the communities that have supported us over the last 16 months,” Coleman said Friday.
Opening in August does not change the plan to fix the boilers at the facility, the letter said. Major repairs and renovations are needed at the plant, which was formerly known as Penobscot Energy Recovery Co.
“While we still have so much to accomplish, the path ahead has never looked so bright,” Coleman said at the end of the letter.
There is an ongoing lawsuit between PERC and EPEC about which company is allowed to take the fees from communities for collecting trash. A 10-day fire in October damaged the facility.
The facility was foreclosed on in 2023 and stopped accepting trash by that fall. In February 2024, EPEC purchased the plant, of which Orrington is a 25 percent owner and has at least $3.7 million of taxpayer money invested.
