Casella Waste Systems, whose subsidiary operates Maine’s largest state-owned landfill—Juniper Ridge in Old Town—is hoping to install a PFAS-removal system to prevent the toxic “forever chemicals” from entering the Penobscot River. Such a system is being required as part of a 61-acre expansion proposed by Casella for the Juniper Ridge landfill, which is expected to reach its capacity by 2028. The expansion has already been approved by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, but an appeal has been filed by the Penobscot Nation and the Conservation Law Foundation.

If approved, the system would treat PFAS-laden runoff (leachate) from the landfill that is currently being dumped into the Penobscot. Casella has been testing a pilot system that it claims removes about 99% of four types of PFAS and 66% of another type. However, environmental groups hold that even this level of PFAS removal will harm the environment and humans.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Maine’s safe standard for drinking water is 20 parts per trillion for 6 types of PFAS. A 2023 leachate sample from Juniper Ridge registered 2,920 parts per trillion for those PFAS.