DEER ISLE, Maine — Deer Isle's waste transfer station is facing a toxic problem that could cost anywhere from a couple hundred thousand dollars to as high as $1 million.
There is a pile of lead-contaminated ash that's been building up for over 30 years, according to Deer Isle town manager Jim Fisher.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection closed the ash pile where the town had been burning demolition debris because the pile was roughly 40 times larger than state regulations, according to Fisher.
The town was ordered to remove the pile of ashes but first had to test it for toxins. Tests show its lead level is higher than the state's standard, which means it may need to be disposed of in a certified hazardous waste landfill.
Fisher said that with further testing, there is a chance parts of the pile could safely be disposed of in landfills in Maine. However, if they cannot reduce the toxicity of the ash pile, the town will need to pay to have it disposed in a hazardous waste landfill in Massachusetts or Canada.
"You try to do the right thing, and you try to save money by reducing the mass of something by burning it," Fisher said. "But it doesn't. It doesn't get rid of some of those toxics, it just concentrates them, and that's a lesson we needed to learn."
Fisher said removing the ashes will be a big budget item for next year.
"We need a good estimate. We're in the budgetary process now, but if it were 100,000, we could probably do it in one year," Fisher said. "But if it's a million, we either have to space the work out over a couple years or take a loan and pay that back over time so we don't cause property taxes to rise."
Waste transfer stations are in many Maine communities, serving as a place to sort and process material before it's sent to landfills and other facilities.
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