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Judge Rules in Favor of Proposed Hampden Biofuel Project

A Superior Court judge has found in favor of a Maryland-based trash-to energy company that wants to build a $69 million dollar biogas, organic trash disposal facility in Hampden, just south of Bangor.

Plans are for Fiberright to take over the disposal contract for a group of 187 municipalities in the region currently doing business with the Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. in Orrington. Last August, PERC filed an appeal of a decision by the Maine Department of Environment Protection to grant permits for Fiberight’s Hampden project.

Fiberight CEO Craig Stuart-Paul says he’s delighted with the judge’s decision.

“The ruling was dispositive in that every single allegation and claim by PERC was thrown out,” he says.

In a statement Robert Knudsen, vice president of PERC’s parent company, says while USA Energy Group stands behind its claims, the company accepts the court’s decision and does not intend to pursue this matter further.

He says, in the meantime, PERC is continuing to make significant investments in its Orrington facility and to line up municipal and commercial customers in support of its post-2018 operating plan.

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.