LIMESTONE, Maine – Construction of a $55 million potato chip processing plant at the former Loring Air Force Base has been delayed pending state approval of a massive wastewater treatment system for the facility.
This year, Presque Isle-based developer Bruce Sargent and colleagues announced plans to construct an 80,000-square-foot facility called Taste of Maine, which aims to produce kettle chips using locally grown potatoes.
Sargent had hoped to begin construction in July, but learned that the plant will need a “digester” or similar machine to treat wastewater before it enters the Limestone Water & Sewer District’s treatment system. The digester will add an estimated $1.3 million to the project, upping the total cost to $56.3 million.
Water & Sewer District trustee chairperson Chuck Kelley told Limestone’s Select Board Wednesday that without a digester, the wastewater transported from the chip plant would overwhelm the District’s treatment plant.
“It would put our [treatment] plant over capacity. We’ll already be at our limit with four kettles [at Taste of Maine’s plant],” Kelley said.
That’s why Taste of Maine has decided to start with four chip kettles instead of eight, as they initially planned. With four kettles, the chip plant will be producing and treating an estimated 32,000 gallons of water per day before it gets to the District, Kelley said.
“When they do go to eight kettles, we’ll need something in place to handle that,” Kelley said.
Sargent said that he has submitted proposed plans for the plant’s wastewater treatment to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, who needs to approve those plans and the proper environmental permits before Taste of Maine can break ground.
“We’re just waiting on the DEP,” Sargent said Thursday. “Hopefully [we’ll break ground] by the end of this month, but it’s up to them at this point.”
If construction begins in September, potato chip production could start in December 2025.
