Casella Waste Systems is closing its Hawk Ridge Compost Facility in Unity Township after Maine regulators discovered high levels of forever chemicals on the site and indications that the contamination may have spread to the land around it.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection asked the company in February 2024 to test more and remediate contamination. Casella declined, citing uncertain future regulations and high costs of remediation as reasons to close in letters between it and the DEP obtained by the Bangor Daily News.

For almost four decades, Hawk Ridge, the state’s largest composting facility, has accepted millions of gallons of sewage sludge and turned it into compost used in Maine and beyond. The test results and Casella’s response show the pervasive nature of the chemi

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