AUGUSTA
- Lewiston's ability to contract out the operation of its landfill was
dealt a serious setback Thursday, threatening to throw the city's
budget into turmoil.
The
Legislature's Natural Resources Committee passed a bill that would
temporarily prohibit municipal landfills from taking waste from out of
state. Lewiston has a pending agreement with Casella Waste Management
to contract out the operations at the city's landfill and allow the
company to import construction and demolition debris.
Money expected from the deal is part of the city's budget for next year. Without it, there's a $1.1 million gap.
"It
means, basically, I've got to go find $1.1 million worth of cuts or the
council is going to have to raise taxes. That's really the bottom line
for Lewiston taxpayers," said City Administrator Jim Bennett, who was
in Augusta on Thursday to argue his case.
Now
Lewiston is depending on a legislative fix to solve the budget
problems. The city is shopping a bill around the State House that would
carve out an exemption in state law and allow its deal with Casella to
move forward.
As
of Thursday, no one had agreed to sponsor the legislation, which faces
an uphill fight to make it through the Legislature this session. Before
any bill could move forward, it would have to be OK'd by the
Legislative Council, which acts as a gatekeeper for new bills
introduced late in the session. The bill would then need to be assigned
to a committee and a public hearing scheduled.
The
Natural Resources Committee would have jurisdiction and could prove to
be an unfriendly venue for Lewiston's deal. Sen. Scott Cowger,
D-Hallowell, who chairs the committee, was the sponsor of the ban on
out-of-state waste. And while he agreed to allow his bill to sunset in
January 2007, he says he's generally opposed to importing waste into
Maine.
"In
the short term, I would say no to a project (like Lewiston's)," Cowger
said. "I would only want to see a project like that go forward if it
benefits the whole state."
The
sunset provision corresponds to the date that a blue ribbon commission
on solid waste is set to deliver its report. The Natural Resources
Committee agreed to create the commission just moments before
considering the prohibition. Both the commission and the import
prohibition must still be approved by the full House and Senate before
becoming law.
"Citizens
of Lewiston need to understand there will be trucks rolling into the
city from out of state to drop waste there," Cowger said. "I don't
believe the citizens of Lewiston are aware" of what the city is
planning.
Elaine
Makas, D-Lewiston, also has concerns about allowing Casella to take
over the landfill and is uncertain that the city is getting a good deal.
"Even
though it's important to keep property taxes down, I want to make sure
people know what they're getting for the reduction versus what's going
into the landfill," Makas said. "Is $1.1 million an adequate return for
the amount of waste going in? If that's what people in Lewiston want,
OK. But I want to make sure people will know what will happen to the
landfill."
The
terms of the deal with Casella would allow the company to process up to
300,000 tons of construction and demolition waste, including waste from
out of state, at the Lewiston facility each year.
Sen.
John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, an influential member of the Natural
Resources Committee, said that with about a month left in the
legislative session, there's still time for something to be done.
"For
Lewiston, there might be some benefit to a firm running the landfill
for Maine purposes and Maine waste," Martin said. "But rest assured I
would scrutinize it very closely. I would do anything I could to help
Lewiston, but it cannot include out-of-state waste."
For his part, Lewiston's Bennett hasn't given up.
"A
year ago, we had a deal that we entered into. The document was signed.
The deal we had before still lives except for the attorney general's
decision that said we couldn't do it. It effectively could be amended
until something else happens," Bennett said.
