OGUNQUIT — Seven months after the official June 30, 2014 termination date, Ogunquit has finalized its legal split from Ecomaine.

Ogunquit is one of the 21 original municipalities that signed on as owner-members to the waste-to-energy company in 1985, and the only member to quit the relationship to date.

In an executive session on Jan. 7, the Ogunquit Select Board voted 4-1 to sign the final withdrawal agreement. Ecomaine’s board voted to accept Ogunquit’s withdrawal at a Jan. 15 board meeting.

The final terms of the withdrawal agreement allow Ogunquit to walk away from its 2 percent ownership-equity, which Ecomaine calculated to be worth $813,000. However, Ogunquit officials said they would only see equity in cash should Ecomaine dissolve.

Lawyers representing both sides deliberated for several months over the final withdrawal agreement. The sticking points outlined in letters between the two parties centered around Ogunquit’s portion of any future liabilities incurred by Ecomaine during the town’s membership period from 1985-2014, and up to $750,000 for the right to withdraw.

“In the end they agreed not to charge us for the right to withdraw. Our only liability is our share of the anticipated cost in 2025 to close the Gorham landfill,” said Town Manager Thomas Fortier, speaking to the Select Board last week.  

Fortier said Ogunquit’s portion of that cost is estimated to be $350,000.

“We as a Select Board will need to plan for that expenditure annually so as not to burden future boards,” said Select Board Chair Barbara Dailey.

By withdrawing, Ogunquit can now sell its recyclables on the spot market and contract with private haulers for a lower tipping fee than it was paying prior to withdrawal.

“We have saved nearly $5,000 in tipping fees alone this past six months,” said John Fusco, the manager of the Ogunquit Transfer Station.  

Since ceasing its relationship in the middle of last year, Fusco estimates Ogunquit has reduced its transfer station expenses by $20,459.

“We’re still sending our trash to Ecomaine; we’re just paying less to do so,” said Fusco to the Select Board.

Specifically, Fusco said the town has made $14,000 from the sale of metal and cardboard and saved an additional $1,379 in tipping fees for hauling its co-mingled recycling containers to Ecomaine.

“From Ecomaine we would have received nothing,” Fusco said.

Originally called Regional Waste Services, or RWS, Ecomaine was established in 1985 by the municipalities of Cape Elizabeth, Portland, South Portland and Scarborough, in response to the mandatory closing of private landfills at the time.

In 2006, to reflect its ongoing commitment to environmental matters, the Board of Directors voted to change the name from RWS to Ecomaine. The organization now handles 25 percent of the state’s waste and operates a landfill, ashfill, recycling facility and a waste-to-energy plant, which turns trash into electricity.

According to Fortier, Ogunquit first tried to withdraw from Ecomaine ”“ then RWS ”“ in 2003 but was unable to do so because of the $70 million debt the organization had incurred. Under a new contract with Ecomaine in 2006, owner-members like Ogunquit were charged an assessment to help pay off the debt, and were also required to send their recycling commodities to Ecomaine or pay penalties.

In a letter to the Select Board, Fortier said from 2007-12, owners paid a combined $29,472,372 in assessments.

In 2012, Ecomaine CEO Kevin Roche announced that the company had paid off its $70 million debt ”“ two years earlier than anticipated.

“When they paid off the debt we expected to see more of a discount come back to the owners. Instead we were paying nearly $10 more a ton in tipping fees then we would be paying if we were not an owner,” Fortier said.

In 2006, Ogunquit built a state-of-the-art transfer station, which is now run by John Fusco. According to Fusco, Ogunquit now recycles 55 percent of its waste. Recyclables have become a sought-after commodity and since 2006, he estimates, the town lost $57,513 in recycling revenues because it was contractually obligated to send those commodities to Ecomaine.

In the years since Ogunquit announced its plans to withdraw, Ecomaine has eliminated its assessment fees for all members and rolled back tipping fees by 20 percent. This past October the non-profit announced a $1 million rebate to be split amongst the remaining 20 owner-members.

According to Ecomaine’s formula, Ogunquit’s portion of the owner rebate would have been $10,000.  

“When the rebate was applied to their tipping fee it would have amounted to 8 percent lower than what their new trash contractor charges Ogunquit to haul their trash to us,” said Frank Gallagher, the Ecomaine communications director.

In July, Ogunquit administrations began taking bids from Pine Tree Waste, Shipyard Waste Solutions and Oceanside Rubbish.

“Larger communities like Cape Elizabeth and Portland will benefit more as members by sheer economies of scale. The rates we’ve been offered are well below the $60-70 per ton we were paying as members. With the evolution of the recycling market and declining supply of burnable trash for the incinerator, we feel we can do better going it alone,” Fortier said.