The MRC is holding a Public Information Meeting, Monday, April 27th at 7:00 pm at the Municipal Building Community Room behind the Hampden Town Hall on a municipal solid waste (MSW) Waste Processing facility proposed to be located in Hampden


From Bill Lippincott:

If you go to: mrcmaine.org there are links to a University of Maine study of the proposed facility to be developed by Fiberight.  Click on: Technology Review Fiberight Process for MRC

In theory this looks to be a superior technology, environmentally and in terms of cost and efficiency,  to the current process used at the PERC plant in Orrington.  The MRC website details problems with continuing with PERC after 2018. But Fiberight appears to be having some trouble with financing - Cate Street Capitol, which recently let the East Millinocket Mill go bankrupt-see article in Wednesday's BDN- is mentioned as a key investor on page 5 of Appendix C.  And they've yet to break ground on their first actual full size plant.   The technology is unproven on the scale they propose, and it's questionable as to whether they will have an up and running plant in Hampden, if that were approved, by 2018.

I would encourage you to particularly look at the appendices section and scroll down to Appendix E:  Site Infrastructure and Permitting Considerations  by James Atwell, P. E. of Sevee & Maher Engineers, December 2014  (there's a link to the Appendices right next to the UM study)   as there seems to be a number of unknown details to be resolved.  I've just quoted the opening and one other paragraph:

"The available information on the Fiberight facility to be built in Maine is very limited.  We do not have a detailed process flow diagram or a materials balance that is necessary to estimate the air, solid waste and wastewater emissions from the proposed facility.  Therefore, it is not possible to reach definitive conclusions regarding the specific permitting requirements that might be necessary for a full scale Fiberight facility to serve the MRC communities."
 By-Products/Wastes. Information provided by Fiberight seems to indicate that the process is self contained and that there are no by-products that must be managed. However, without detailed process flow diagrams and a mass balance, it is not possible to confirm these claims.  Based on past experience with similar processes, there are several points in the Fiberight technology where byproducts, or waste materials, are expected to be produced that would require treatment and or management. For example:
• Liquids from the unit processes, as well as liquids/wastewater from general washdowns will require treatment.  Even though Fiberight indicates that wastewater emissions would be low, or non-existent, our experience is that impurities build up in the system over time and these impurities must be purged from the system.  This liquid waste would require some form of treatment, and would have to be considered in the permitting process."

I think this plant is potentially an improved way to deal with waste, but deserves full scrutiny and questioning from the public.

There will be another opportunity to make comments about the project two days later:

MRC Board of Directors Presentation/Public Comment
Wednesday, April 29th at 10:00 am
Municipal Building Council Chambers
106 Western Avenue, Hampden


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MRC PROCESSING FACILITY PUBLIC MEETING 
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
At the Town Council meeting on December 15, 2014, the Municipal Review Committee (a non-profit organization representing 187 Maine cities and towns) revealed that it is considering developing a municipal solid waste (MSW) recycling and processing facility in Hampden using cutting-edge, environmentally-friendly technology.  Two opportunities to learn more about the project will be held in Hampden in April:
Public Information MeetingMonday, April 27th at 7:00 pm
Municipal Building Community Room
106 Western Avenue, Hampden
MRC Board of Directors Presentation/Public Comment
Wednesday, April 29th at 10:00 am
Municipal Building Council Chambers
106 Western Avenue, Hampden