Three waste policy bills related to Juniper Ridge Landfill and its impacts had a public hearing before the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources on Monday, April 28th.
A committee work session will be held on all four bills on Wednesday, May 7th. Written public comments are still being accepted for consideration by the committee before their vote.
LD 1604 would require landfill leachate to be tested for PFAS and make test results available to the public.
LD 1349 would require Legislative approval before the state enters into or renews a contract to operate the Juniper Ridge Landfill.
A third bill, LD 297, would reverse recent legislative progress to close the infamous loop hole allowing Maine to import out-of-state waste for disposal at state owned landfills. Juniper Ridge Landfill is state owned but privately operated by Casella Waste Systems. This bill would allow Casella to continue to dump 25,000 tons/year of out-of-state waste at the Juniper Ridge Landfil
We are sharing this information from Don’t Waste Maine about this environmental legislation and how to submit written testimony on these bills.
Don’t Waste Maine’s Handout is available here.
Submitting written testimony
Step one: Write your testimony. (see ABOVE OR WRITE YOUR OWN).
Step two: Go to https://www.mainelegislature.org/testimony/
• Select “Public Hearing”
• From the drop-down committee menu select “Environment and Natural Resources”
• Next, on the date selection menu select the hearing date: April 28th, 10am
• Check the box for any of the bills (you can submit the same testimony for all of them):
• Next, upload your testimony: You have two options for uploading your testimony:
• -You may copy and paste the text of your testimony directly into the box provided.
• -Or click “Choose File” to upload a file from your computer.
• Testimonies must be submitted as a Word Document (.doc or .docx), a PDF, or a plain text document.
• Enter your full name, town of residence, and email address in the appropriate boxes
• Click “submit/register” and you’re done!
