In 2022, the state passed L.D. 1639, which closed a longstanding loophole in state trash law that allowed out of state trash to be combined with Maine trash at waste processing facilities and then disposed of in Maine landfills.
State law was intended to disallow out of state trash to end up in landfills, but this loophole allowed states, namely Massachusetts, to dump toxic materials in the Juniper Ridge landfill in Old Town. Much of this responsibility falls on ReSource Lewiston, which dumped hundreds of thousands of tons of trash over the past decade, 90% of which came from out of state.
While this loophole is closed and out of state trash is no longer being landfilled, there was still a significant amount of time that most of the trash being dumped was from out of state. I believe that, in the event of any negative environmental effects from this trash, ReSource Lewiston and any other company from Maine or other states should be responsible for the cleanup.
The Juniper Ridge Landfill is near the Penobscot River as well as lands inhabited by the Penobscot Nation. The location of the landfill has, in general, been called an environmental justice issue, which has only been made worse by all the extra trash that should not be in the landfill. Following a fire at the landfill earlier this year, it has become more and more evident that this landfill is a ticking time bomb packed with dynamite from out of state.
Jackson Giumarro
Freeport
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