Highlights:
- The city of Biddeford, Maine announced today the details of a plan to purchase the Maine Energy Recovery Company (MERC) waste-to-energy incinerator from Casella Waste. Final vote on the plan is expected on July 31st.
- City will purchase the plant for $6.6 million financed over 20 years. Payments will start at $150,000 annually and will rise to $350,000.
- City plans to close the controversial facility and hopes that redevelopment of the downtown plant land will boost economic growth in the city.
- Earlier in the morning, Casella Waste announced a $40.7 million impairment charge against the sales of the MERC facility when disclosing their 2012 fiscal year financial results.
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See previous Waste Management Dive coverage
From the article:
BIDDEFORD – The city is planning to purchase and close the downtown Maine Energy trash-to-energy incinerator, a deal that city officials say will remove a major roadblock for development.
City officials said they recently concluded about six months of negotiations with Maine Energy to buy the plant, financed over 20 years. The facility woiuld be be demolished within a year of the closing date of Nov. 15, assuming all conditions are met, including an environmental assessment of the site.
For years, Biddeford residents and city officials have complained about the smell of garbage being trucked downtown from Biddeford and surrounding communities, as well as the smoke generated by the incineration.
They said developers have been interested in redeveloping adjacent mill buildings, but the problems associated with the plant have scared off potential investors.
"Controlling this space is really critical to Biddeford's future," Mayor Alan Casavant said Thursday afternoon, when city officials announced the deal. Buying the plant means "rejecting the stigma and really rewriting the whole storyline."
