The Orrington trash plant’s former owner is suing the new company heading the facility as a fire that began at the location last week continues burning.
Penobscot Energy Recovery Co., commonly known as PERC, operated the trash incinerator for decades before it was foreclosed in May 2023 and later bought by Eagle Point Energy Center. A fire started at the facility before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and is still burning as of Monday morning, causing air pollution across the midcoast and eastern interior Maine.
The lawsuit from PERC alleges, in part, that Eagle Point told towns it had the waste collection contracts to try to “induce them, through deception” to pay fees to Eagle Point, when in fact those still belong to PERC. The lawsuit also says the new owner fully knew the fire risks and should not be blaming the now six-day fire on PERC.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Penobscot County Superior Court, is the latest setback for Eagle Point and calls into question whether the business will be able to begin accepting trash in 2025 as it has repeatedly claimed. Since May 2023, trash from roughly 47 communities is being sent to Juniper Ridge Landfill instead of being burned at the plant to produce electricity.
When PERC was auctioned in late November, the sale included the Orrington building and some of the equipment, but not the trash collection contracts between PERC and dozens of municipalities, the lawsuit said. The waste facility was bought by Eagle Point after the auction.
Towns pay PERC to take their trash through waste disposal agreements, which outline what type of trash is accepted and the fees the towns pay. If PERC is unable to incinerate the trash, it is allowed to send it to other facilities. Since PERC closed, the towns are still paying tipping fees to PERC while the trash is being sent to Juniper Ridge Landfill, which is on the path for an expansion that would more than double its size.
After buying the plant in February, Eagle Point sent letters to towns saying it had all of PERC’s assets, including the waste disposal contracts. That claim is false and EPEC knew that, the lawsuit said. The letter implied the new owner had taken the legal steps to administer the contracts and collect the tipping fees.
Eagle Point did not have the state license needed to handle trash when the letter was sent, the lawsuit said.
The “misrepresentations” from Eagle Point were made to interfere with PERC’s contracts with the towns, and to get the towns to pay the new owner tipping fees through deception, the lawsuit said.
PERC has demanded Eagle Point cease and desist from interfering with those contracts, but it has not, the lawsuit said.
PERC asked the court to rule, in part, that Eagle Point never had legal standing to “step into PERC’s shoes” for the trash contracts and that Eagle Point is not entitled to tipping fees, or trash disposal fees, from the towns. Eagle Point also acted with conduct so outrageous that there was malice toward PERC, according to the lawsuit.
Additionally, when the new owner took control of the facility, there was roughly $2 million of assets that still belonged to PERC on the premises. Eagle Point went on to sell at least part of those assets, the lawsuit said.
The court should rule that Eagle Point needs to turn over proceeds from that sale, award punitive damages and any other relief, the lawsuit said.
Dan Cashman, the spokesperson for Eagle Point, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The lawsuit also addresses the ongoing fire at the facility, alleging that a fire started Sept. 30 at the plant, which the Orrington Fire Department put out.
There was a hot spot but no flames, Fire Chief Scott Stewart said Monday morning.
Despite knowing there was a risk of a fire, Eagle Point refused to provide overnight monitoring, the lawsuit said.
A still-burning fire started the next day. Shortly after the fire began Oct. 1, Eagle Point released a statement that blamed the fire, in part, on PERC’s “improper management” of trash.
“These statements are false and are intended to further interfere with PERC’s beneficial business relationships with its municipal customers,” the lawsuit said.
For 11 months, Eagle Point — along with another company that owned the plant for less than three months — failed to restart the plant or address the trash sitting on the tipping floor. Instead of paying to remove the trash, Eagle Point decided to keep it for future fuel, the lawsuit said.
Eagle Point also accepted and stored unlicensed trash, including trash with a high content of natural gas heat energy, the lawsuit said.
Operating a trash facility carries the inherent risk of flammable materials and PERC had an “operational fire suppression system” and 24/7 staffing for fire watch and equipment monitoring, the lawsuit said. Eagle Point did not maintain the fire system and those staffing levels, according to the lawsuit.
When PERC stopped burning trash, but continued collecting it, the company continued fire risk management, including stopping fires from getting out of control with the help of the Orrington Fire Department, the lawsuit said.
When PERC was sold there was a full disclosure of what the tipping floor looked like and the amount of trash. Eagle Point knew that risk when it purchased the plant, the lawsuit said.
Lastly, the lawsuit alleges that Eagle Point has said in communications with towns that full waste-to-energy operations will begin in 2025, but the company should know it is “highly unlikely” it will produce energy that year.
