WESTBROOK – A plan that would close and demolish the Maine Energy Recovery Co. trash plant and truck waste to a new transfer facility in Westbrook is receiving a cautious thumbs-up from those who’ve been fighting for almost 30 years to remove the facility from the Biddeford downtown.

Under a purchase and sale agreement announced by Biddeford officials last week, Biddeford would buy the plant, owned by Casella Waste Systems, for $6.65 million, payable over 20 years. The goal is for both sides to sign off on the agreement no later than Nov. 15.

“I am looking forward to talking about a future without MERC and the 140 trash trucks that come through our communities every day,” said Saco Mayor Mark Johnston, who has been a long-time opponent of Maine Energy. Several years ago, he successfully sued the company, arguing that the smell emitted by the trash incinerator impacted negatively on his quality of life.

According to Westbrook City Administrator Jerre Bryant, the County Road transfer station would generate “significant truck traffic,” though the number of trucks coming into Westbrook will be fewer than now go into Biddeford.

City Engineer Eric Dudley said that for the most part, the only trucks coming into Westbrook would be regular municipal trash trucks, which will unload waste in Westbrook to be transferred to larger trucks to be taken to the Juniper Ridge landfill in Old Town. The larger trailer trucks that now take waste to the Biddeford incinerator to be burned will not be coming to Westbrook; instead, they would go directly to Juniper Ridge, Dudley added.

While Bryant did say the County Road facility is “going to be a significant hub of activity,” he didn’t think it would have a major impact on most of the city, as the land is in an industrial zone “with good access both on and off the turnpike,” he said.

“That site has been permitted for this type of use for 10 years now,” Bryant said.

Under the purchase and sale agreement, Biddeford’s first payment would be $150,000, which would be due by Nov. 15, 2013. The second payment, of $200,000, would be due in November 2014, and then the city would pay $350,000 annually through 2032.

Under the agreement, Maine Energy would cease its trash processing operations within six months of the signing date, and within a year it would also be responsible for demolishing the plant, except for the main stack, which has a variety of revenue-producing cell towers attached.

For his part, Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant said he’s “very satisfied” with the deal worked out with Casella.

“There was considerable give and take from both sides,” he said. “I think that the final product represents a lot of hard work by Casella and the city to come to common ground.”

He said that Casella is financing the buyout, which means Biddeford would not be required to pay interest on the $6.6 million sales price.

Part of the annual payments on the buyout would come from the cell tower contracts, which are being turned over to Biddeford by Casella as part of the deal. In addition, the city plans to use $150,000 a year in tax increment financing funds to help make the payments under the contract.

The agreement is contingent on the new facility in Westbrook receiving all permits required to allow construction, and on Casella being able to bury municipal solid waste at the Juniper Ridge Landfill, which requires the approval of the Maine Legislature.

On Monday, Dudley said that while Casella still needs to get some easements from neighbors, the company has all the necessary approvals from the city and the state to go forward with construction.

The company’s history with the project in Westbrook is a long one. According to a memo by City Planner Molly Just, Casella received approval for a waste collection and processing facility at the site on Nov. 7, 2000, and then for a modified project on Feb. 15, 2005. After a delay, the company received another site plan approval on March 17, 2009, which also expired before construction began. Last month, the company brought the project back before the Planning Board and received a approval for a new site plan, which does not include a trash processing facility.

Scott Collins of St. Germain Collins, the engineering firm working with Casella on the project, told the Planning Board last month that Casella is now looking to go forward on the project, with the hopes of starting work in August and completion by next spring.

While there have been long delays regarding the project in Westbrook, the city has seen some significant benefits from the company.

In March 2009, after receiving Planning Board approval to expand the scope of the project and to add a solid waste transfer station, Casella upgraded its host community agreement with the city, offering a new curbside automated trash and recycling program, worth nearly $1 million, at no cost, an arrangement that is still ongoing. Originally, the company was going to provide just free curbside recycling, at a value of $540,000.