ORRINGTON, Maine — The fire that broke out at an Orrington trash facility nearly a week ago has been contained but is still smoldering. Meanwhile, Eagle Point Energy Center (EPEC), the owner of the facility, is now being sued by the plan’s former owner, Penobscot Energy Recover Company (PERC).
Crews are still fighting the fire and there are some improvements from last week.
According to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the particle pollution in the area of the fire is moderate, meaning the air quality is acceptable.
Though the smoke continues, Orrington Fire Chief Scott Stewart said it’s been reduced about 50 percent.
"We've been able to keep those hotspots smaller which has in fact reduced the smoke by a lot, and we just continue to do that," Stewart said.
Stewart said crews are hoping to extinguish the hot spots and leave the site by Friday.
Town Manager Chris Backman said it will likely be another 16-18 days before the remaining trash is removed from the facility.
"AIM recycling is in there with two pieces of equipment pulling the hot stuff out and fanning it out and trying to extinguish the fire," Backman said.
Beyond the fire, more problems have risen for EPEC, as PERC has filed a lawsuit against the company claiming EPEC has interfered with PERC's municipal waste contracts and wrongfully took control of $2 million worth of spare parts not included in the sale of the facility.
After the facility was sold to EPEC, PERC continued disposing dozens of local municipalities’ waste at Juniper Ridge Landfill. In the lawsuit, PERC said that EPEC has claimed control of these services.
In a statement, EPEC representative Evan Coleman wrote in part, "We have heard these allegations from the former owners of the facility in the past, and while baseless, we feel comfortable letting this be resolved with the applicable regulatory agencies and the courts."
After the fire Tuesday, EPEC said in a statement that "PERC improperly disposed of nearly 8,000 tons of solid waste," contributing to the fire.
PERC said in its lawsuit that EPEC bought the facility knowing the trash was there.
"To go back and blame someone who hasn't owned the facility for nearly a year, particularly when you bought it knowing the waste was in there, think is really disingenuous and it does look like they're trying to shift blame," PERC representative Ted O’Meara said.
According to Fire Chief Stewart, Orrington firefighters responded to the facility the day before the large fire broke out to address a hotspot in the trash pile.
PERC claims in its lawsuit that EPEC was warned that there was a significant fire danger but did not provide staffing to prevent it.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, though Stewart said we will likely never know what started it.
Maine DEP will continue monitoring the air quality in the area until the fire is extinguished.