PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 16, 2023
Casella told lawmakers last year that banning both sewage sludge land application and out of state demolition debris would both adversely impact landfill operations. Now, suddenly, those same lawmakers with no geotechnical engineering knowledge have become experts. Lawmakers need to do less pontificating on something they know nothing about and instead think about the impact of their decisions. With seven of the 10 highest paid state employees working at the state psychiatric hospital, all making more than $225,000 a year, maybe the state should sell that to a private operator to run it at a lower cost. Then the state can take over operations of the Juniper Ridge Landfill and pay those engineers and operators as much as the psychiatric doctors since they have a much bigger impact on Maine’s economy. ~ Carlton Wilcox, New Gloucester