Biddeford, Casella reach deal on MERC
Biddeford officials have advanced a deal to buy the Maine Energy Recovery Co. trash incinerator for $6.6 million, with plans to halt its operations and demolish it by next year. City officials have been negotiating for months with Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems, which owns MERC, to shut down the facility.
City officials said yesterday they want to buy the downtown incinerator by Nov. 15 and shut it down six months later, according to the Portland Press Herald. Six months after that, the facility will be torn down except for the smokestack, which supports cell phone towers. The city council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, and a final vote is scheduled for July 31.
Casella officials in April said they wanted to sell MERC to the city for $7.5 million as part of a deal that would build a new solid waste transfer station in Westbrook. The company also was previously seeking a permit to transfer municipal solid waste to the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town, which it operates. But the Senate in April voted not to send to committee a bill to transfer ownership of Juniper Ridge to the company. Casella Vice President Joe Fusco didn't say if Juniper Ridge was still a part of the deal, citing ongoing negotiations, according to the paper.
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