Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Melanie Loyzim has the opportunity to take meaningful action on environmental injustice. The department is currently considering an application that would enable Casella to expand Juniper Ridge Landfill by 11.9 million cubic yards – the equivalent of 8.6 Empire State Buildings – and add 11 years of operation to the landfill.

As a state-owned landfill, Juniper Ridge is a critical resource for all Mainers. There is no question that there is a need for landfill capacity in Maine. However, for the past two decades, the state has allowed a billion-dollar corporation to operate the landfill and squander its capacity with toxic, out-of-state waste.

Expanding Juniper Ridge would be a gross violation of the state environmental justice requirements. After a citizens’ initiative that added environmental justice considerations to the licensing and expansion of landfills in 2022, this is the first time the department will have to ensure that the expansion “is not inconsistent with ensuring environmental justice for the community in which the facility or the expansion is proposed.”

The Penobscot Nation, located approximately 4 miles away from Juniper Ridge, is one of those communities. Their ancestral homelands encompass the entire area. Claiming that environmental justice has been ensured would be laughable.

As outlined in Maine state law, “environmental justice” means the right to be protected from environmental pollution and to live in and enjoy a clean and healthful environment regardless of ancestry, class, disability, ethnicity, income, national origin or religion.

One of the most apparent ways that Juniper Ridge Landfill has disproportionately burdened the Penobscot Nation is through the disposal of the minimally treated PFAS-laden effluent from the landfill into the Penobscot River.

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Now, these sacred waters are contaminated, posing a threat to the health and environment of everyone in Maine but especially to the Penobscot Nation, whose spiritual and cultural practices are directly affected by pollution on tribal lands. In 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency found 7,331 parts per trillion (ppt) of PFAS in smallmouth bass from the Penobscot River. Tribal citizens were advised not to consume fish from the river due to the potential health risks, but some tribal members have continued to fish because of the importance of practicing sustenance rights and culture.

Casella has been unable to manage odors from its operations at Juniper Ridge Landfill. Odors aren’t just a nuisance but also pose a public health risk. A common landfill odor is hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas that can cause irritation to the eyes, and respiratory issues including asthmatic symptoms, headaches, nausea and vomiting.

In May of 2023, a fire broke out at Juniper Ridge Landfill that burned for four hours. During an uncontrolled burn, dioxins are produced and introduced into the environment when waste is burned and can settle on vegetation and bio-accumulate within the food chain. Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis reported that tribal members suffered burning eyes and sore throats from the fire’s smoke and ash.

The Environmental Protection Agency has an EJ Screening tool, which uses demographic factors like income and race in comparison to environmental burden indicators. Compared to the rest of Maine, communities surrounding the landfill are within the 95th-100th percentiles of exposure to nitrogen dioxide, toxic releases to air, traffic proximity, hazardous waste proximity and wastewater discharge.

When we examine all of these factors, it is abundantly clear that the expansion of Juniper Ridge fails the required environmental justice criteria. Before even considering an expansion, we need an independent review of Casella’s management practices and a cumulative environmental justice assessment.

The expansion also grossly fails to incentivize Maine’s Solid Waste Management Hierarchy, which is supposed to prioritize waste reduction, reuse and recycling. Casella’s application does not include specific conditions to reduce the volume of waste, increase diversion and recycling, and violates the legal requirement that an expansion must promote the hierarchy.

We need the Department of Environmental Protection to invest leadership and resources in a just transition to zero waste goals, which prioritize planning, building infrastructure and implementing programs to promote waste reduction to avoid incineration and landfilling. This is an opportunity to pave a new, just path forward, and we urge Commissioner Loyzim to take it.

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