Orr’s Island resident Scott Gile was disappointed to learn that good Samaritans who pick up coastal debris from January’s back-to-back storms must pay to dispose of it at the local transfer station.
But town officials defended the charges, saying Harpswell doesn’t have the budget to absorb private property owners’ disposal costs related to the recent storms, and that there are already exceptions for groups engaged in organized coastal cleanup activities.
They added that the federal government may allow local residents to seek reimbursement for their disposal costs if it grants Maine’s request for a disaster declaration covering the devastating coastal storms that struck Wednesday, Jan. 10, and Saturday, Jan. 13.
Gile, who is chair of the Dipper Cove Association’s Waterfront Committee, criticized the town policy in a recent email to the Harpswell Anchor. He said charging residents to dispose of potentially dangerous debris could have a chilling effect on volunteer cleanup efforts.
“This approach of having those of us who voluntarily collect this mess pay to dispose of it is not right, and will discourage more effective policing of our waters and shoreline,” Gile wrote. “The Town of Harpswell should assume responsibility for the cost of disposing of this debris, not we individuals.”
Gile said he learned about the policy after discovering storm-related debris in between stacks of floats on the local beach and determining it was a potential safety hazard.
“Not only was much of this large, but there are many sharp metal protrusions attached,” he wrote. “We all know what will happen to this dangerous stuff on the next big moon tide, (it will be) back out floating on the surface, waiting for the next inattentive or too-fast vessel to collide with it.”
Gile said he contacted the transfer station and was told about the disposal fees. Harpswell’s A. Dennis Moore Recycling Center and Transfer Station charges $175 per ton to accept debris sorted by type (wood, metal, etc.) and $350 per ton for unsorted debris, according to the town’s website.
Town officials have said they expect the Federal Emergency Management Agency to approve disaster relief for repairs to Maine’s storm-damaged public infrastructure. They’re also hoping to receive funds to reimburse residents for the cost to clean up pressure-treated wood and other debris that has collected on town shores.
“The town has suggested that people keep receipts of their disposal costs in the event that FEMA declares a disaster and that expense is deemed eligible for reimbursement,” Harpswell Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said via email. “We don’t yet know if there will be a FEMA-declared disaster for public and private property owners, and if so, whether those disposal fees will be covered.”
In the meantime, Harpswell will continue to charge private property owners to dispose of storm-related debris at the transfer station, Eiane said. Still, she noted a few exceptions.
“Organized cleanups approved by the town would fall outside of this, such as the Marine Resources Committee performing cleanup as part of its conservation work,” Eiane said. “The town has granted Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association permission to have a disposal container on the town’s property at Mackerel Cove for cleanup of that area. (The association) is paying for the container and related disposal costs.”
Fishermen’s Association Director of Community Programs Monique Coombs said the association’s disposal container is strictly for use by working waterfront businesses and is off-limits to residential users.
Eiane noted that transfer station fees have been waived for certain things in the past, such as when officials viewed brush as a major fire hazard and waived fees for brush disposal as an incentive for residents to clean up their properties and reduce the fire risk. Waiving the fees required approval by the Harpswell Select Board, she said.
But Select Board Chair Kevin Johnson said the brush exception turned into a “fiasco,” with some residents using the fee holiday as an excuse to dispose of unrelated “spring cleaning” at the town’s expense. Johnson said he doesn’t favor passing another temporary fee suspension for storm debris.
“It would cost a fortune if we did that,” he said in an interview. “Frankly, we don’t have the budget for anything like that. There was a major wharf on Orr’s Island that went down — we’d be paying for that. It would be thousands of dollars. And (the debris is) everywhere.”
