As printed in the Bangor Daily News 11/22/2020
By Toni M. King, Casella Waste Systems
An activist group is claiming that leachate from the state-owned landfill in Old Town is discharged — untreated — into the Penobscot River. This is absolutely false.
“Leachate” is liquid that passes through solid waste in a landfill. Liquid in waste and rainwater that passes through waste is captured within the landfill, conveyed to a secure tank and transported offsite to a treatment plant.
The state-owned landfill is highly engineered with double liners, leak detection systems and a sophisticated liquid conveyance system. It contracts with the Old Town mill for treatment and disposal of its leachate, as required by law.
The Department of Environmental Protection carefully regulates every step in this process. It limits concentrations in discharges and requires monitoring for a range of parameters. The state-owned landfill and the Old Town Mill are fully compliant with these requirements.
The DEP recently reviewed the landfill’s operations relative to future leachate disposal. It concluded that all applicable licensing criteria for proposed waste discharge were met and the discharge won’t lower the quality of the Penobscot River.
There are five licensed wastewater treatment plants north of Old Town discharging to the Penobscot River. There are 11 more discharging further downstream. The amount attributable to the state-owned landfill – all of it treated – is 1/100,000th of the total.
Wastewater and leachate are collected and treated to ensure the safety of our environment. Disposal from the state-owned landfill is compliant with state law, and a miniscule portion of the overall discharges permitted to the river.
Toni M. King
Region Engineer
Casella Waste Systems
