Hazardous Waste
There are 10 federally designated "Superfund" sites in Maine. An additional 206 sites are under investigation, although not all of these sites are candidates for inclusion on the National Priority List. Another 202 non-petroleum contaminated sites are being evaluated by the State outside of the federal process under the Uncontrolled Hazardous Substance Sites Program.
Data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the release of toxic materials in Maine show a gradual decrease since 1988. These data represent the release of air emissions, wastes and water discharges through industrial use that include toxics but that may not qualify as hazardous wastes. Hazardous waste generation, on the other hand, has gradually increased since 1984. About 10,230 tons of hazardous waste was handled on-site through beneficial reuse, elementary neutralization, precious metal recovery, and other types of treatment or storage.
Solid Waste
Maine generated 1.25 million tons of municipal solid waste in 1993. Many of Maine's landfills do not meet standards to protect public health or the environment and need to be closed. In 1991,259 landfills `were receiving municipal solid waste. As of June 1994,178 of these landfills had ceased accepting waste; the remainder will cease operation by the end of the year. There are about 12 existing municipal solid waste landfills that are anticipated to operate in Maine in the long-term.
The leachate generated by poorly sited and
engineered landfills threatens groundwater
with a variety of organic and inorganic
contaminants. Current information indicates
at least 46 landfills have contaminated
sand and gravel aquifers; at least 60 other
landfills have contaminated surface water or
ground water. Public water supplies are
threatened by hazardous contaminants near
at least 5 sites and private water supplies
are threatened near at least 8 sites.
Maine has the disposal capacity to meet the current and projected disposal needs for municipal solid waste. However, additional capacity is needed for special waste. Special wastes are non-hazardous solid wastes other than municipal solid wastes, primarily sludge from paper-making and municipal waste- water treatment plants, incinerator ash, asbestos and other industrial by-products'. Special waste represented 60% of all Maine solid waste in 1991.
Recycling has burgeoned in the state. In just 3 years, Maine has almost doubled its recycling efforts, attaining a 30% reduction of the waste stream as of January, 1992, with a goal of recycling 50% by 1994. The Maine Waste Management Agency (MWMA) estimates that people in Maine recycled over 360,000 tons in 1992. About 370 Maine towns now have recycling programs, almost a six-fold increase since 1990. Ninety-four cities and towns currently recycle more than 35% of their waste stream. The MWMA estimates recycling activities directly added over 2,0Q0 jobs and $297.2 million to Maine's economy. Maine's "Bottle Bill" has been a recycling success. Between July 1992 and June 1993,95.9% of the beverage containers sold in Maine (or one half billion) were returned. This resulted in over 55,000 tons-not entering the waste stream.
Radioactive Waste
Most radioactive waste is generated by
the Maine Yankee power plant is Wiscasset
(60%) and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
(22%). Maine’s 
medical, educational, and
research facilities produce small amounts
(18%) of low-level radioactive waste. In 1992,
10,378.61 cubic feed of low level radioactive
waste was shipped off-side compared to 6532.35
cubic feed in 1991.
Maine’s radioactive generators currently store waste on side awaiting the construction and licensing of a facility in Texas. Vermont and Maine have voted to join a compact with Texas, allowing Maine to send its low-level waste there beginning in 1996. Maine generators of low-level radioactive waste would pay a pro-rated share of $25 million in fees to Texas and another $2.5 million to the local county where the waste facility will be located. Congress must approve the compact before any waste can be shipped.
Challenges for the Future
Landfills no longer accepting waste must be
properly closed and capped to reduce the potential
for long-term environmental damage. Overall, 116
sites have been closed and capped and 14 are partially
closed. Currently, 276 landfills still need to be
capped at a projected cost of over $119 million.
Additional evaluation and remediation expenses may exceed $75 million.
Maine must continue to recycle solid waste, prevent
pollution and reduce our use of toxic chemicals at
the source. The wastes we generate and how. we
manage those wastes is a ii important indicator of
how our society values its resources.
We must become challenging consumers seeking
environmentally-friendly packaging for the products we buy.
After 20 years of regulating pollution at the end of the stack or pipe, Maine’s Toxic and Hazardous Waste Reduction Law established an Office of Pollution Prevention to work cooperatively with business to identify and eliminate pollution at the source. This law also established goals and a time line for industry to reduce toxic use, toxic releases and hazardous waste generation by 10% in 1994, 20% by 1996 and 30% by 1998. In 1990 and 1991, 37% of Maine’s hazardous waste generators undertook source reduction efforts for their waste. Without their efforts, hazardous waste generation would have increased well beyond the levels we see today.