GORHAM – For many, the barren hill just over the Westbrook line on Route 25 is a sight to behold.

Gone from the skyline are the mountains of trash left behind when Plan-It Recycling & Transfer was shut down last year by state officials. Now the land is cleared and a deal is in the works for a new business to buy the site and operate there.

R.J. Grondin & Sons, the local construction company that had a lien on the land, agreed last fall to buy it for a fraction of its worth and take on the responsibility of removing the estimated 5,000 tons of trash.

It turned out that there was a lot more trash than R.J. Grondin & Sons had estimated. The owner, Phil Grondin Jr., said there was 15,000 tons of construction and demolition debris alone, and it took 150 tractor-trailer trips to get it to the Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town.

There was another 2,500 tons of asphalt shingles, and 23 tons of tires. In a warehouse, there was a collection of fluorescent light bulbs and batteries. All of that trash had to be disposed of in locations other than Juniper Ridge because they require special handling, Grondin said.

Clearing the site took almost three months. On Monday, the state Department of Environmental Protection signed off on the cleanup, allowing Grondin to move forward with selling the land.

He said Wednesday that he’s negotiating a deal with a construction-related company in Greater Portland that is interested in moving there. He wouldn’t name the company or be more specific about its current location, but said he expects to close the sale this spring.

Because of the higher-than-expected cleanup costs, the sale won’t be as profitable as Grondin originally hoped. But Grondin & Sons, which is a few hundred feet from the former Plan-It site, had other reasons to want the trash gone.

“Hopefully, being good neighbors and good citizens pays off in the end,” Grondin said.

Plan-It Recycling & Transfer, which opened in 2004, was shut down by a judge in January 2011 for letting piles of trash accumulate beyond the limits of its state and town permits by taking in more than it was removing.

The company didn’t have money to clean up the site, and was sued by the town and the DEP, which considered the trash piles a fire hazard and was concerned about odors and run-off.

In a deal negotiated in court, Grondin agreed to buy out the $1 million mortgage for $175,000 from the other mortgage holders, Bank of America and the Small Business Administration. The plan called for the town to reopen a closed landfill on Huston Road, where the trash would be buried.

Despite an outcry from neighbors of the closed landfill, the Town Council approved the plan. Soon after, however, Pine Tree Waste made a competitive offer to Grondin to take the trash to Juniper Ridge.

“I think we’re all extremely happy with the solution that ultimately happened there,” said Town Manager David Cole.

Employees of Crockett Furniture, one of the closest businesses to the Plan-It site, said they have heard people say that they’re glad not to have the eyesore at the town’s entrance.

Lori Beauregard, the store’s merchandise manager, said she doesn’t think it hurt business, but “I think it’s safe to say, we’re happy it’s gone.”

Staff Writer Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at 791-6364 or at lbridgers@pressherald.com