#conservationlawfoundation — Public Fediverse posts
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#PenobscotNation citizens rally in opposition to proposed expansion of #JuniperRidgeLandfill
Jul. 18, 2025
OLD TOWN/ALTON, #Maine (WABI) - "Penobscot Nation citizens rallied across the Penobscot County court Friday afternoon in opposition to a proposed expansion to Maine’s largest #landfill.
"The rally was in response to the #ConservationLawFoundation and the Penobscot Nation appealing an expansion to #JuniperRidgeLandfill, which will allow #CasellaWasteSystems to expand Juniper Ridge by 11.9 million cubic yards.
"According to members of the #WabanakiAlliance, the expansion would pose a threat to surrounding #TribalLands due to concerns of air and #WaterPollution surrounding the #PenobscotRiver from the landfill.
"Speakers at the rally represented citizens of the Penobscot Nation, the Wabanaki Alliance, as well as the environmental groups #Slingshot and #DontWasteME.
" 'It is incredibly powerful to see the number of people out here in opposition to this expansion and support of this appeal. We know the time for #EnvironmentalJustice is now. We need to turn the tide towards #ZeroWaste,' said #DanaColihan, Co-Executive Director of environmental group Slingshot.
" 'I just hope that the state can get serious about actual environmental justice, and Casella can implement some practices that it make it so that they don’t have to bring out of state waste to stabilize our sludge, and really find solutions instead of creating more problems with us,' stated #MaulianBryant, Executive Director of the Wabanaki Alliance."
Read more:
https://www.wabi.tv/2025/07/18/penobscot-nation-citizens-rally-opposition-proposed-expansion-juniper-ridge-landfill/
#AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #MaineResists #PFAS #PenobscotRiver #Casella #ProtectTheSacred #Wabanaki #Wabanakik #NativeAmericanNews #MaineNews -
#MaineDEP says expansion of state’s largest landfill would benefit public
The decision allows the state to apply to add 61 acres to the state-owned #JuniperRidgeLandfill, which takes in 52% of the state's waste.
by Penelope Overton
October 2, 2024"Despite objections from neighbors and environmental groups, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection concluded Wednesday that expanding the state’s largest landfill, Juniper Ridge, would substantially benefit the public.
It’s not an outright approval, but the department’s decision allows the state to apply to add 61 acres to the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill, which takes in 52% of the state’s waste. The state claims this expansion would extend the facility’s operating life by 11 years; without it, it would run out of space by 2028."DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim’s decision can be appealed to the Board of Environmental Protection and the Maine courts, and several opponents of the proposed expansion, like the Boston-based #ConservationLawFoundation , say they are prepared to challenge the decision.
"'This decision recklessly gambles with public health and the environment,' said #AlexandraStPierre, the director of communities and toxics in the foundation’s #EnvironmentalJustice Program. 'It dismisses the serious concerns raised by the #PenobscotNation and other nearby residents about the harmful effects this expansion will have on their health and community.'
"She continued: 'We refuse to allow this dangerous expansion to proceed unchecked.'
"The foundation and other opponents say the #OldTown location of the facility unfairly places the burden of the state’s trash needs on the Penobscot Nation. The #leachate that #JuniperRidge produces when it rains is sent to a nearby paper mill sewer plant that discharges into the #PenobscotRiver.
[...]
"The amount of waste heading to Maine landfills has increased 34% between 2018 and 2022, according to DEP. #Sludge that was once spread on #agricultural fields is now landfilled due to forever chemical #contamination [#PFAS]. The amount of municipal solid waste landfilled during that time jumped 47%.
"While some people say Maine is not doing enough to divert waste from the #landfills – for example, a bill that would have required large #FoodWaste generators to #recycle their #scraps at a nearby facility died on the appropriations table – others object to #Casella as the facility operator.
"Casella clashed with some municipal leaders and state lawmakers when it refused to accept the #biosolids created by wastewater treatment plants at Juniper Ridge out of fear that the mushy slop, or sludge, was causing structural instability that could lead to the landfill’s collapse."
Original article:
https://www.pressherald.com/2024/10/02/maine-state-needs-to-expand-its-biggest-landfill/Archived version:
https://archive.md/VXv9m#WaterIsLife #EnvironmentalRacism #JuniperRidgeLandfill #CasellaWasteSystems #MaineNews #Maine #ToxicFire #PFASPollution
#WabanakiAlliance
#DontWasteME #Slingshot #EnvironmentalJustice #PenobscotNation #PFAS #PenobscotRiver #EnvironmentalInjustice #CompostFoodWaste #ReduceWaste -
[It seems that today's vote was in favor of expanding #JuniperRidge]
Juniper Ridge Landfill is one step closer to expanding
Maine Public | By Kaitlyn BudionPublished September 20, 2024 at 1:22 PM EDT
"#Environmental groups are concerned about a draft decision from the Department of Environmental Protection that brings #JuniperRidgeLandfill in #OldTown one step closer to expanding.
"The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has issued a draft decision approving the expansion's public benefit determination, despite opposition from the #PenobscotNation, area residents and #EnvironmentalGroups.
"Opponents have brought up concerns about odors and contamination from the #PFAS-filled sludge at the #landfill.
"Alexandra St. Pierre with the #ConservationLawFoundation said the group was disappointed by the draft approval and wants the department to give greater weight to comments from the public.
"'We're hoping that Maine DEP will stop making this unnecessary space for waste and make more space for people's voices and the real needs of the community,' she said.
"In the draft, the department outlines several conditions of the approval, including conducting an odor study and installing a system for treating landfill leachate for PFAS.
"Dana Colihan with the environmental nonprofit Slingshot said it's insulting for the DEP to say the expansion is consistent with #EnvironmentalJustice for the surrounding community.
'"When we think about the odors, the #AirPollution, the #contamination of the #PenobscotRiver from the minimally treated leachate, and how all these factors threaten the Penobscot Nation and working-class #Mainers living and the surrounding communities, I can't fathom how the state can argue that this fulfills the required environmental justice criteria,' Colihan said.
"The draft is available for public comment until Friday, Sept. 27, and the DEP is expected to publish the final decision Wednesday, Oct. 2."
#WaterIsLife #SunlightMediaCollective
#JuniperRidgeLandfill
#CasellaWasteSystems #MaineNews #Maine #ToxicFire #PFASPollution
#WabanakiAlliance
#DontWasteME #Slingshot