Don’t Waste ME | Community Action Works | Natural Resources Council of Maine news release A bill to stop filling Maine’s State-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill with out-of-state waste was signed into law yesterday by Governor Janet Mills. LD 1639 will close a loophole in the state’s waste laws that had allowed private corporations to import construction Read More
Penobscot Nation
Debunking Claims Made by Companies Profiting Off Maine’s Out-of-state Waste Loophole
This legislative session, a bill (LD 1639) that would close Maine’s out-of-state waste loophole is gaining momentum. You see, Maine’s State-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill (JRL) was never supposed to accept out-of-state waste, and there is no good reason why it should. The State purchased the landfill to provide disposal capacity for Mainers’ waste, not the Read More
Bill to Close Out-of-state Waste Loophole Approved by Legislative Committee
News release by Don’t Waste ME, Community Action Works, and the Natural Resources Council of Maine February 7, 2022 (Augusta, ME) – A bill to stop filling Maine’s landfills with out-of-state waste received a key endorsement today when a bipartisan majority of the Legislature’s Environment & Natural Resources Committee voted 11-2* in favor. LD 1639 Read More
2021 Conservation Leadership Awards Honor Four Mainers for Lasting Contributions to Maine’s Environment
NRCM news release (Augusta, ME) – A leading climate scientist, small business owner, local energy efficiency advocate, and the long-time natural resources director at the Penobscot Nation are being honored as Maine’s 2021 Conservation Leadership Award winners for their significant, long-lasting contributions to protecting the nature of Maine. The awards program, which will stream live Read More
My Maine This Week: Betsey Foster
NRCM member Betsey Foster of Greenwood, Maine, shares her beautiful photo of the Penobscot River as this week’s My Maine This Week feature. “This pic was taken looking north on the Penobscot River as a storm moves in. Groundnut Island is on the right behind the brightly sunlit grass island,” part of the Penobscot Nation’s Read More
From the Mountains to the Sea: An Interview with John Banks
John Banks is Director of the Department of Natural Resources for the Penobscot Indian Nation, a key partner in the Penobscot River Restoration Project. A new book detailing the Penobscot project was recently published by Islandport Press. I invited John to share his perspective about the project as well as the book.—Allison Wells John Banks. Read More
Support of LD 1639, An Act To Protect the Health and Welfare of Maine Communities and Reduce Harmful Solid Waste
Senator Brenner, Representative Tucker, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Sarah Nichols, and I am the Sustainable Maine Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). I appreciate this opportunity to testify in strong support of LD 1639. The time has come for Maine to Read More
Mainers Call for Greater Protections at State-owned Landfills
News release (September 16, 2020) — A group of Maine residents and the Penobscot Nation will call on the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) at their September 17th meeting to support a citizen’s petition that will ban out-of-state waste from being disposed in State-owned landfills and enact greater environmental justice protections for those communities directly Read More
Why You Should Care about Landfills
There’s a hidden climate villain in Maine that you might not know about, and it’s where about 75% of our total waste goes. According to the U.S. EPA, landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States.[1] Pound for pound, methane has about 30 times more atmospheric heat-trapping capability than carbon Read More
