The Holidays are fast approaching, I want to take this time to extend my heartfelt greetings for the season and appreciation for all DEP staff’s hard work this past year. Looking ahead to the new year, we will be working on several bills when the Legislature reconvenes in the early January including: proposed changes to the Bottle Redemption Program, commission to study the energy benefits of energy storage to the Maine electricity industry and update the allowance budget for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RIGGI) to name just a few.

I am excited to share that beginning in the Fall of 2018, the Northern Maine Community College will begin offering a unique “one-of-kind” program to train technicians in the water treatment field. NMCC will be the only college in Maine to offer an Associate Degree in Water Treatment Technology (WTT) as well as certificates in both water and wastewater treatment technologies. This program was created because of a request by Maine DEP and in association with Maine DHHS.

Congratulations to DEP staff on raising $28,129.16 for the MSECCA campaign as well as your generous donations to our Giving Tree. Last Friday, we delivered new toys and clothing for 45 children in need to the Salvation Army as well as $250.00 to further assist them with fulfilling other children’s wish lists. Earlier this month, DEP personnel from all over the state came together for our annual Staff Day event in Augusta. I enjoyed spending time with so many of our employees, recognizing staff’s hard work and achievements is something I look forward to each year.

2018 is shaping up to be a busy year and I am sure with our current team’s dedication and determination we will continue to complete our mission on time and with exemplary costumer service. I thank you all for your support and hope this relationship continues as we achieve success together.

My best wishes to you and your loved ones for a safe, happy holiday season and a very happy new year.

Paul

Commissioner Mercer and the Senior Management Team welcomed over 240 DEP employees to our Annual Staff Appreciation Day which was held December 5th in Augusta. The following staff members where presented with service pins and recognized for years of state service:

5 Years

Mark Bergeron

George MacDonald

Kailee Mullen

Jason Langley

Corey Lewis

Jana Wood

Kelly Perkins

Jeremy Greenman

Jesse Clark

Andrea Galasyn

10 Years

Ruth Ann Burke

Paul V. Gregory

Beth Callahan

Robert Mohlar

Dan Courtemanch

Irene Saumur

Gail Lipfert

15 Years

Mary Breton

Jim Stahlnecker

Chris Evans

Peter Carleton

Estelle Werly

20 Years

Jim Cumming

Pat Locklin

Tim Rector

25 Years

Lou Pizzuti

Kathy Tarbuck

Karen Hefler

Stuart Rose

Mary James

Gregg Wood

Lynne Cayting

Mike Parker

30 Years

Scott Cyr

Denise Cormier

Laura Gay

Diana McLaughlin

35 Years

Bill Laflamme

45 Years

Jeff Dennis

Proceeds from raffles held at the event, netted $975.00 which has been donated to this year’s MSECCA Campaign on behalf of DEP staff.

During mid-September of this year, two Category 5 Hurricanes (occurring within a 12-day period) devastated several island communities within the Caribbean.  Among those areas severely impacted were the US Virgin Islands (St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix).  Shortly after the storms passed, the government began assessing the overall damage.  It was quickly determined that massive amounts of storm debris, totaling 600,000 to 700,000 yd3 in total volume, would need to be processed as soon as practical.  The Governor reached out to his cabinet and the US Virgin Islands Debris Management Team was formed.  This team featured commissioners from the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Public Works, Department of Agriculture and the Director of the Waste Management Authority.  The Commissioner of Agriculture, Carlos Robles, had been a student of Maine’s Internationally acclaimed composting program, “Maine Compost School” in the early 2000’s and decided to reach out to Mark King of the Department’s Sustainability Unit and who also serves as faculty and Director of the Compost School, to participate in the group’s conference calls by providing advice on composting and other debris management activities.

These calls occurred over multiple weeks and focused predominantly on assessing the debris management needs of each specific island.  During the last conference call, an invitation was extended to have Mark come down, in his official DEP capacity, to view the debris as it lay on-site and to help implement the overall management plan adopted by the team.  The Department supported this effort and viewed it as an opportunity to share knowledge and gain real world experience that would benefit our work with organics management here in Maine.  What Mark didn’t expect to find was the amount of devastation that had occurred.  Many homes had, at a minimum, lost their roof tops or worst-case, had been demolished.  Boats were found completely abandoned and washed-up on shorelines or in piles at the transfer stations.  Massive piles of accumulated storm debris and demo could be seen all along the roadsides, as well.  Many areas of severely eroded banks remained from the 16-20 inches of rainfall that fell in a very short time-span.  Even after 3 months of recovery efforts, many of the islands were still 40-60% without power or reliable cell phone service. 

The Debris Management Team arranged for Mark to visit each Island and to provide feedback on the best management plan for accumulated storm debris.  One thing that became immediately apparent, was that much of the early collected storm debris was contaminated with plastics and other non-compostables.  Separating this was impractical, and it was decided to grind it and use for erosion control and alternative daily cover on each of the island’s landfills.  Mark also noted that a multi-pronged approach that focused on using a collection of management activities would work best.  Compost (for soil enhancement) and mulch (for erosion and sedimentation control and nutrient enhancement) were the top two choices, followed by use as Alternative Daily Cover and “Silt Sock” use-a biodegradable erosion control device that is filled with compost or mulch.

Over the eight days that Mark was there, he provided much needed technical assistance, but also received much needed practical experience and lessons learned that will, undoubtedly, benefit the citizens of Maine.  Some of the immediate benefits include:  the ability to test and apply principles contained in Maine’s Debris Management Plan on a very large volume of material, use of contaminated mulch on and around landfill areas, and finally, the ability to practice developing emergency plans based on site conditions, while receiving continuous feedback from the USVI Debris Management Team.  In short, the experience was invaluable and knowledge gained will help shape our debris management activities going forward.