Sen. Carney bill to reduce out-of-state trash passes committee with bipartisan support

AUGUSTA — On Monday, Feb. 7, a bill from Sen. Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, to reduce the amount of out-of-state trash being dumped at the Juniper Ridge Landfill, passed committee. An amended version of LD 1639, “An Act To Protect the Health and Welfare of Maine Communities and Reduce Harmful Solid Waste,” received a strong bipartisan vote of support, 11-2, from the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

“Over the last decade, hundreds of thousands of tons of construction debris from other states — mainly Massachusetts, which has banned this type of landfilling — is imported into Maine and deposited in our state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town,” said Sen. Carney. “Ninety percent of the waste that comes into a processing facility in Lewiston and then goes to Juniper Ridge originates from outside Maine. We need to reduce the amount of solid waste going into Juniper Ridge and save our state-owned landfill capacity for Maine waste.”

As amended, LD 1639 would close a loophole that allows companies to import out-of-state solid waste as long as a small amount of that waste is removed and recycled. The bill would limit the weight of waste that a Maine waste processing facility can sent to Juniper Ridge to be no more than what they take from Maine sources. Additionally, the bill would require Maine’s solid waste processing facilities that process a majority of out-of-state waste to recycle more of the material they receive and process more waste originally generated by Maine people than by what they import from out of state.

When the state took ownership of Juniper Ridge, officials said that no out-of-state waste would be deposited. Despite that assurance, more than 200,000 pounds of out-of-state waste goes into Juniper Ridge each year. Nearly 90 percent of the waste comes from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. At least 30 percent of the waste is toxic construction and demolition debris. Since 2012, the amount of waste going to Juniper Ridge has increased by 32 percent. Dumping out-of-state waste at Juniper Ridge is rapidly filling up the landfill and threatening the health of the surrounding environment and communities. LD 1639 would address these concerns.

The bill now faces votes in the House and Senate.

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