A $70 million expansion project to McCain Foods Easton, ME, processing plant was completed in February.
The expansion more than doubled production, which includes french fries, battered french fries, hash browns, tater tots, and other products for retail and food service markets.
Forty more workers have been hired, bringing the total number of employees at the plant to 520. The plant will also require more potatoes to process-an estimated 15,000 acres.
Since Easton does not have a wastewater treatment plant, McCain had to build its own. Six miles of piping was laid between the Easton plant and the former Presque Isle processing plant on the Aroostook River.
The piping creates a loop between the Easton plant and the Aroostook River. The plant uses water from a large underground aquifer for its processing and will discharge the treated water back into the river
Methane created will be burned off to prevent odor. The system uses micro-organisms that literally eat the organic waste.