There’s no doubt that the removal of the Maine Energy Recovery Company trash incinerator from downtown Biddeford would benefit the city overall, from an economic development to an environmental standpoint ”“ but the devil, as they say, is in the details.

After rumors had been circulating about town for several weeks, Biddeford officials finally announced Tuesday that they are, indeed, in talks to purchase the incinerator and shut it down.

It’s a stunning announcement that has brought hope to many downtown property owners, developers and critics of the plant. For more than 20 years, the undeniable stench the plant emits has been pervading downtown Biddeford and Saco ”“ at a particularly stifling level during the summer months. Multiple property owners have said the location of MERC in the heart of the downtown has been a dealbreaker for those who might have invested there otherwise.

Closure of the plant has been pursued before, however, and failed, so we’re hesitant to get our hopes up. In 2009, talks with the plant owners broke down when Mayor Joanne Twomey pulled out, and only a few years prior to that, voters rejected a proposal to spend $10 million ”“ along with $10 million each from Saco and the state ”“ for a $30 million buyout/closure plan.

We’re not sure what inspired the city council so long ago to believe that it’d be a good idea to have a trash incinerator right in the middle of the downtown, when waste disposal sites are typically pushed to the edges of town. Some, like Mayor Alan Casavant, who was on the council at the time, say they were misled into the agreement, but it doesn’t matter much now. What matters is the possibility that this bane of Biddeford, which has earned it the moniker of “Trashtown,” might finally be removed after years of contentious dealings with its host cities.

The deal to shut down MERC is little more than a tentative plan at this point, with only a few details released. While getting the stench and air pollution out of downtown is key, the deciding factor will be, as always, the money.

As proposed, Biddeford would pay $7.5 million to Casella Waste Systems to buy the plant. The purchase would be financed by the company, with no interest, and paid over several years. Mayor Casavant has said the city may tack on a surcharge to the waste-tipping fee to cover this expense. Other funding sources include about $3 million in revenue over 20 years from the phone lines on the MERC stack ”“ the only part of the facility that would remain; and tax increment financing funds from other developments in the city.

The cost, combined with the loss of the $1 million in property tax revenue that MERC contributes each year, makes it hard to believe that Biddeford’s taxes won’t go up significantly to finance this expenditure. As well, a condition of the sale is that Biddeford would have to agree to take part in the company’s recycling program and continue to send both its waste and recycling to Casella at a new transfer station that has already been permitted to be built in Westbrook.

A curbside recycling program is long, long overdue in this city, but its implementation has been delayed all these years because of the cost. According to the city, it’ll be locked in at $260,000 annually for curbside recycling with Casella, but the company will pay the upfront costs of the bins. Biddeford has long had a sweetheart deal as MERC’s host city, paying about half of what other municipalities pay for their waste tipping fees, but with this deal, the cost would increase about $10 per ton and another $30 would be tacked on for the surcharge. This would bring the city to paying about the same amount as most other non-host towns, during the time that the surcharge is in effect.

Along with those fiscal certainties, however, many questions remain, including how an increased recycling rate would impact tipping costs, and whether jobs would be lost at the transfer station, where drop-off recycling is now handled. What’s certain is that up to 75 people could lose well-paying jobs at the Maine Energy facility, and it’s unclear how likely it is that those jobs will be replaced by new development once the trash incineration ends.

In the meantime, the whole deal is contingent on whether or not the state allows Casella to purchase and be permitted to dump municipal solid waste at the Juniper Ridge landfill in Old Town, which it already operates. We hope the Legislature will make a decision on that proposal soon, since Biddeford’s solid waste contract ends June 30 and the two parties are planning to sign a purchase and sale agreement by May 15.

Since it’s not a bond, but an expenditure that will be privately financed, voters won’t have a say in this buyout proposal, only the city council. So let’s hope residents elected a wiser group this time around than all those years ago when MERC first came to town. For Casella to sell a $60 million property for $7.5 million seems a bit of a red flag, and we hope the city councilors dig deep into this deal before signing on the dotted line.

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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.