The town of Orrington owns 25 percent of the shuttered trash incinerator on the shores of the Penobscot River, the town manager confirmed Friday, more than a year after it entered into a partnership to purchase the facility.

Eagle Point Energy Center’s ownership is split between the town and a private owner that owns 75 percent, the facility’s Asset Manager Evan Coleman told the Bangor Daily News on Friday during a tour of the facility. That reflects the ownership breakdown included on EPEC’s solid waste license, which was issued by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in January and obtained by the BDN.

Northern Farms LLC owns 75 percent of EPEC, according to the license. Coleman is listed as the majority owner of Northern Farms LLC.

Orrington Town Manager Chris Backman confirmed Friday the town is a 25 percent owner in the facility.

Heavy machinery continues to clean out the remaining trash and waste at the burned-out Eagle Point Energy Center on Friday. Credit: Julia Bayly / BDN

This is the clearest picture yet of the ownership structure of the trash plant, as Orrington has failed to provide a copy of its contract with EPEC despite multiple Freedom of Access Act requests from the BDN. It also contradicts previous information Backman had provided the BDN regarding the facility’s ownership.

In March 2024, Backman said that the town and EPEC split 80 percent ownership of the facility, while former owner C&M Faith Holdings retained 20 percent. 

When asked when the ownership structure changed, Backman said it happened about a year ago because the plant required more money and time to get back online than C&M Faith Holdings initially thought.

Orrington originally had 20 percent ownership of the plant before C&M Faith Holdings withdrew from the partnership, Backman said.

C&M Faith Holdings co-owner Mark Boswell did not respond to requests for comment.

Orrington holds a $2.5 million mortgage on the property for back taxes and other money the town has spent on the facility, Coleman said.

Remnants of trash and waste are piled around the burned out interior of the Eagle Point Energy Center in Orrington on Friday. A fire lasting 10 days gutted the facility last October. Construction to repair damages and update the plant is ongoing and the earliest it will accept trash is currently estimated to be at least a year and a half away. Credit: Julia Bayly / BDN

The shuttered facility needs millions of dollars of renovation before it can reopen, he added.

A 10-day fire in October destroyed the roof of the tipping floor and caused other damage. The roof was originally supposed to be fixed in December, Backman said at the time.

Portions of the roof were missing and other chunks hung loose when the BDN toured the facility Friday. A few small piles of trash were left and there was standing water in places where the concrete floor was uneven.

After the fire, 16,000 tons of trash were taken to Juniper Ridge Landfill, Coleman said. That’s double the estimated 8,000 tons Backman said were transported in the weeks after the fire.

Replacing the roof and fixing the floor are among the renovations that need to happen before the plant can start bringing trash for energy. Timelines for reopening have ranged from the end of this year to September 2026.

The tipping room at Eagle Point Energy Center was still without a roof as of Friday. A 10-day fire burned the building in October 2024. Credit: Julia Bayly / BDN

About 12 inches of concrete have worn away from the tipping room floor in the 36 years since it was poured, Coleman said. Rebar was visible in some places.

EPEC will need to pour 200 yards of concrete to even the floor before pouring another 8 inches across the whole room.

“This facility cannot operate the way that it operated for the last 30 years,” Coleman said. “It won’t be successful that way. I think the fundamentals of what it does are important, but it really needs to be more than what it was to the region.”

The plant was shuttered in 2023 after longtime owner Penobscot Energy Recovery Co., commonly known as PERC, was foreclosed on.