For the time being, the controversial proposal for a landfill in either Greenbush or Argyle has been shut down by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the agency announced in a news release Wednesday.
The Maine DEP stated in its denial of the landfill application filed by Municipal Review Committee Inc. that there was sufficient capacity to handle present waste disposal needs without the addition of a new landfill site.
The proposal for a solid waste disposal facility in the Penobscot communities had been at the center of a firestorm of criticism from residents and members of the Penobscot Nation who argued the site would detract from the region’s aesthetic value and potentially pollute nearby streams, threatening three species of endangered fish.