PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The City of Presque Isle is the recipient of a 2015 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award in recognition of a project to close part of the city’s landfill. The city shares the honor with its collaborators, engineer CES Inc. of Brewer and contractor Sargent Corporation of Stillwater.
Acting Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Avery Day was in the Star City last Wednesday to present awards at City Hall to Dana Fowler, the city’s director of public services, along with Denis St. Peter, CES president, and Herbert Sargent, Sargent Corp. president.
The project involved actually capping off a no-longer-used portion of the landfill through a “design-and-build” approach, which involved the city, the engineer and the contractor in the entire process, with guidance from the MDEP.
According to the DEP, the team was tasked with developing the first landfill design-and-build closure project in the state. Ultimately, the work was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, with a total savings of $900,000 in local and state tax dollars.
“The landfill closure project was completed in 2014,” Fowler explained. “This was a design-and-build project, which the city had never participated in before. The collaboration with Sargent and CES enabled us to fast-track the project with the DEP, and it was completed under budget and in less time than we had planned.”
Fowler said, specifically, a portion of the existing landfill which will not be used anymore was encapsulated, to keep rainfall out and protect the environment.
“We worked with CES on constructability and cost savings,” said Sargent. Crews shaped the targeted landfill area to shed water. “We topped it with a plastic membrane, then covered it with a layer of low-permeability soil, which prevents rainwater from going in and becoming leachate.”
St. Peter said CES actually nominated the landfill project for the award.
“We used the design/build delivery approach, which involved getting a contractor there at the outset, so the contractor had input,” he noted.
“We saved $900,000 of the initial $3.4 million estimate,” said St. Peter, “And most of that can be attributed to the collaborative approach. Additionally, he explained, the city was reimbursed for 75% of the total cost through the state landfill closure reimbursement program.
Fowler expressed thanks to the City Council for taking the chance on such a venture.
“I appreciate the support of the City Council,” he stated, “because this was the first such project for the city. There was some risk, but there was a great reward.”
