Dive Summary:
- The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will start making payments again to 12 communities for waste clean-up expenses and closures of landfills that are potentially hazardous after years of not doing so.
- About $200,000 of funds will be allocated to areas determined to pose a public health risk due to unlined landfills.
- A new fee, implemented January 1, for construction and demolition debris will fund the reimbursements; the monies collected are expected to bring in $400,000 in 2013.
From the article:
Gov. Paul LePage applauded DEP's efforts, which mirror his own to make good on the $484 million the state owes to hospitals. In this case, the DEP is resuming payments that were suspended for years.
