ROCKPORT — For a nor’easter that pummeled the Penobscot Bay region of Knox, Waldo and Hancock counties, the cleanup just doesn’t seem to end, even 10 days later. Chainsaws have been a constant background noise this week, and with the prospect of snow for Friday, the pressure has been on to remove the downed branches and trees before winter sets in.

At Mid-Coast Solid Waste, the transfer station that handles trash and debris for Camden, Hope, Lincolnville and Rockport, the chipper has been running constantly since late last week, when the power was fully restored to the facility and crews there were back at work.

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, pickups and commercial landscapers and haulers, as well as municipal dump trucks, were lined up before 8 a.m. to add their trees, brush and limbs to the growing mountain of green.

On one side, the chipper was spewing woodchips in a large pile, which were then lifted and dumped into a large tractor trailer.

“Yesterday, we shipped 20 tons [40,000 pounds], and it didn’t make a dent in the chips,” said Jim Guerra, director of the Mid-Coast Solid Waste, on Nov. 13.

On Nov. 13, the facility shipped another 30 tons out.

On Nov. 14, he expected to ship another two loads per day, “for as long as who knows,” he said.

The chips are hauled by Thompson Enterprises, of South China, to various biomass boilers in the state.

According to Guerra, the going rate for woodchips has been approximately $30 a ton. That’s the gross.

The facility, however, deducts $14 to $16 a ton from that $30 to pay for having it hauled away. The revenue is further reduced for the four-town organization when operational costs are factored in.  

“At $30 a ton, we come close to breaking even,” said Guerra.

With the damage from the Nov. 2 storm, however, Guerra said the price paid for the chips might drop.

“I think the market is awash in chips,” he said.

The ferocious storm took out power to the region for several days, some parts of towns, especially Lincolnville, saw five or six days without electricity.

Power outages were directly related to limbs and trees falling on wires, and electrical poles themselves breaking from the weight of the heavy, wet snow.

The traffic at the transfer station has been arriving steadily all week with tree and brush debris, and the facility has suspended charging for it. Guerra said that courtesy will continue through Saturday, Nov. 15.

Guerra has been managing area transfer stations and dumps for 30-plus years. He has never seen such a significant amount of local storm damage as that which was created Nov. 2 and 3.

“Never, ever, ever,” he said.

Related stories:

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UPDATE: Storm rages on with treacherous driving, dangerous winds, downed wires... stay home 

Recovery on the heels of turbulent storm; CMP calls in 70 out-of-state and Canadian crews

How Sunday’s storm turned the Midcoast into an arboreal war zone

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657