No anti-freeze beginning July 1

SUMNER — Anti-freeze will no longer be accepted at the Buckfield-Sumner transfer station beginning July 1, the Board of Selectmen agreed at its meeting Tuesday. 

Selectmen agreed to post a notice this week and offer information to residents on alternate sites for its disposal. 

At their meeting, selectmen were visited by Buckfield Town Manager Dana Lee, Selectwoman Martha Catevenis and Buckfield Chairperson Warren Wright, who replaces Robin Buswell who resigned suddenly last week, to discuss some potential changes at the shared transfer station. 

Sumner and Buckfield have an interlocal agreement to share the Buckfield-Sumner Solid Waste Transfer Station to better serve the community. 

At the selectmen's meeting Tuesday, Lee told the Sumner board that it ought to consider the idea of no longer accepting anti-freeze at the facility, which is "a bit of a pain" to get rid of. 

Lee said it currently costs $400-$500 per year to transport the anti-freeze to another facility for testing of the material and its proper disposal. 

He said the Buckfield-Sumner transfer station did not accept anti-freeze until a few years ago. At the time, the towns had contracted someone to take care of it at no cost. 

"Now we are taking anti-freeze and we have no outlet for it," Lee said, explaining a HazMat endorsement on a Commercial Driver's License is required to transport it, due to its toxicity to people and the environment. 

Lee said the facility receives enough anti-freeze every two to three months to fill a 55-gallon steel drum, which he speculates comes mainly from small, local auto garages. Currently the facility accepts anti-freeze for free. 

"I just think we put ourselves at great risk for a couple barrels [of anti-freeze] a year we really don't need to take," Lee said. The only downside to not accepting anti-freeze, he said, is worrying about where else people would dispose of it. 

Sumner selectmen also renewed their 10-year agreement with Buckfield to continue sharing services, after Lee reported the old one has expired. 

Selectmen also adopted a revised solid waste operations handbook, omitting any references to anti-freeze, which was last updated in 2007. 

Lee said Bill Butler, waste management staff from the Department of Environmental Protection, had visited the facility to inspect it and suggested a number of updates to the manual. 

Changes, according to Lee, are mostly logistical, including a section that addresses universal waste, which it did not handle previously.

"It brings everything right up to date," Lee told selectmen, "to everything that is happening there [at the transfer station] today." 

Lee said as of daylight savings, the transfer station is now operating under its summer hours, Wednesdays and Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Winter hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both those days. 

He explained that the transfer station's employees think the towns are wasting their money by staying open until 6 p.m., especially on Wednesdays when business is slow. 

"I am not in favor of changing the hours a great deal," Lee said, pointing out that being open the extra hour is convenient for those who work until 5 p.m. or later.  

"It would be a very small change in our budget," he added.

Sumner selectmen agreed to keep the transfer station hours the same, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (winter hours) and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (summer hours), in order to avoid any inconvenience for residents.