China transfer committee updated on reopening of waste facility

by Mary Grow

China transfer station committee members spent their July 11 meeting mostly on updates – the latest news locally and from the former trash-to-energy facility in Hampden to which China used to send waste and may again.

The news from Hampden is that the Municipal Review Committee, which represents China and 114 other Maine municipalities, has found a new owner for the facility.

Tom Maraggio, China’s transfer station manager, said the plant is expected to reopen in about a year and a half as an anaerobic digester that will produce methane gas from waste.

Palermo committee member Robert Kurek called the sale “moving in the right direction.”

Locally, Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood reviewed the contract that allows Albion residents to bring some of their waste items to China for disposal (see the June 29 issue of The Town Line, p. 3). Maraggio said he has issued 10 or so passes to Albion residents already.

The news from Hampden is that the Municipal Review Committee, which represents China and 114 other Maine municipalities, has found a new owner for the facility.

With a pass, which costs $5, an Albion resident may bring in some of the things not included in Albion’s curbside pick-up program. China collects fees on all Albion items; Hapgood said the fees are designed to cover staff time and disposal costs, and are higher than those charged China and Palermo residents. They can be adjusted without notice if China’s disposal costs go up.

The contract runs only through the end of 2023. It can be ended by either party on two weeks’ notice.

Hapgood is working on a new policy for China and Palermo residents that will add to the existing RFID (radio frequency identification) tags annual stickers with vehicle license plates numbers on them (see the June 15 issue of The Town Line, p. 3). The goal is to minimize illicit use of the station by people who borrow residents’ RFID tags or who keep their tags after they move out of town.

The draft policy would charge $10 for each new RFID tag, to cover costs of buying and distributing the tags. However, the contract between China and Palermo prohibits new fees for Palermo residents, so they would be exempt, an inequity Hapgood has not yet figured a way to avoid.

Maraggio said things are generally going well at the transfer station. The exception, which committee members discussed at length, is the misbehavior of a few users. Without naming names, they talked about people who disobeyed rules and were rude to staff members when caught, and those whose driving caused damage. Apparently many people have trouble driving in reverse.

Cameras at the facility are useful in tracking down offenders. Hapgood and Kurek both act as needed to remind their respective residents of their responsibilities, and Hapgood said the Kennebec Sheriff’s Office provides back-up when needed.

The next transfer station committee meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8.