Sale of Coastal Resources of Maine WTE facility put on hold due to ‘fundamental differences’ between buyer and seller

Those waiting for the shuttered Coastal Resources of Maine waste-to-energy facility in Hampden, Maine, to reopen will have to keep on waiting for the time being.

According to the Bangor Daily News, representatives from the Municipal Review Committee (MRC) board of directors cited “fundamental differences” pertaining to sale negotiations with the prospective buyer, Feasterville Trevose, Pennsylvania-based Delta Thermo Energy Inc. (DTE), during a March 17 conference call.

The MRC, which represents 115 Maine member communities that have contracted to have their municipal solid waste (MSW) processed and disposed of at the plant, originally announced that DTE had agreed to purchase the plant on Jan. 19. The plant has been closed since May 2020 due to lack of funding.

Rob Van Naarden, founder and CEO of DTE, originally said the company planned on closing the deal in March; however, MRC board President Karen Fussell said during the March 17 call that this timeline was no longer feasible due to the aforementioned differences.

While Fussell offered no specifics on the differences between the two parties, she noted that the committee was putting together information for its member communities on the ramifications of the delayed sale.

During the plant’s closure, most of the communities represented by MRC have been sending their waste to the Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. waste incinerator in Orrington, Maine; however, this facility is slated to close for much of April for maintenance.