BIDDEFORD — While no details are being released, members of the task force that was originally charged with closing the city’s downtown incinerator say progress is being made and a solution may be at hand by the end of the year.
A statement released Tuesday said that the group’s progress could lead to closure or transforming the Maine Energy Recovery Company incinerator into something “clean and green.”
The statement came after Mayor Joanne Twomey and Maine Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner John Richardson reported on the status of task force discussions to the City Council during an executive session on Tuesday.
The Maine Energy Recovery Company incinerator, which began operations in 1987, is blamed by many for stalling growth in the downtowns of the twin cities of Biddeford and Saco. Nearly 100 dump trucks travel to Maine Energy each day and many say that noxious odors emanate from the incinerator.
The task force was formed with the support of Gov. John Baldacci. It includes city officials from Biddeford and Saco, representatives from the state and company officials from Maine Energy and from its parent company Casella Waste Systems, Inc. based in Rutland, Vt.
The task force held its first meeting on Monday, May 4 and has been meeting almost every Monday since then. Task force members agree that “there is still more work to be done,” said Twomey.
Jim Bohlig, senior vice president of Casella, said the task force discussions are still in the “exploratory” stage.
However, the options that are being discussed could be totally transformational for the region, said Richardson.
He added that although Casella was actively seeking buyers for the facility when the talks began, that option has been set aside while the task force is working to find a solution that will benefit all concerned parties.
Options range from public ownership or control of Maine Energy that would lead to ultimately closing the plant, to transforming the incinerator by utilizing innovative, green technologies.
“The incinerator has been an impediment to growth in the region,” said Richardson.
He noted that York County is the fastest growing county in the state and redevelopment of the downtowns and mill districts of both Biddeford and Saco is “vital to the region .. and the success of the region is tied to the state.”
“We believe we can reach a decision that will transform Biddeford into a role model community that will lead Maine in innovative approaches to economic and community development,” said Richardson.
New developments may be announced in the next few weeks, he said, and a decision could be reached by the end of the year.
Progress by the task force is a direct result of a significant change that has taken place in the relationship between the major players, said Mayor Twomey.
The cities of Biddeford and Saco have had an adversarial relationship with Maine Energy for decades. Twomey said she has been an active opponent of the facility since discussions about opening the facility began.
“I was the biggest skeptic,” she said. However, since she began meeting with Bohlig and other parties from the company, “I’ve been very impressed,” Twomey said.
“Jim Bohlig and I have a much different relationship,” said Twomey.
Bohlig agreed, “There has been a remarkable transformation” in the relationship between the company and Biddeford.
He likened the relationship between the two prior to task force meetings to a “dysfunctional family that couldn’t talk to each other.”
“Now,” he said, the two sides are holding “civil and courteous conversations.”
Bohlig added that the fact that the group is still getting together more than three months after the first meeting “speaks volumes.”
State Sen. Barry Hobbins (D-Saco,) who earlier this year spearheaded legislation which was opposed to Casella’s interests by making it more difficult to sell the incinerator said, progress “couldn’t have happened without everyone in the room putting away the past and looking to the future.”
The good news for local residents is that Twomey, Hobbins and Richardson agreed that if a solution is reached, the cost would not be born by local taxpayers.
In 2005, bond referendums were put before voters in both Biddeford and Saco that would have required both cities to contribute up to $10 million a piece, and the state would have had to come up with an additional $8 million, to purchase the incinerator.
That option was defeated.
Details of how to pay for purchasing, retooling or some other option for Maine Energy have not been released. However, Hobbins said that changing the state’s policies of how municipal solid waste is handled could be part of the mix.
What, if any, role Casella would have in any of the options is uncertain.
“All kinds of alternatives and hybrids are being explored,” said Bohlig.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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