SUMNER – A plan to bury tons of half-burned paper from a Paris warehouse fire on land here has been thwarted by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Randy McMullin, an environmental specialist with the DEP, said Thursday that he read about the plan to haul debris from New England Public Warehouse Logistics fire to Clifford Lowe’s waste disposal site on Route 219.

Sumner Code Enforcement Officer Sidney Abbott told selectmen Tuesday night that he had been hired by Lowe to load the material at Paris so Lowe could haul it to Sumner. Abbott runs a construction and excavation business in West Paris; Lowe owns Lowe’s Auto Repair and Lowe’s Sand and Gravel on Route 219.

Lowe’s permit for the waste site appears to be missing and town records indicate it was issued in 1967.

McMullin said he spoke with Lowe and Abbott on Wednesday and told them the Sumner facility is inadequate for disposal of the paper waste.

“I’ve spoken to the owners of New England Public Warehouse Logistics and they are looking for a licensed disposal facility for the ash, which consists of half-burned paper. It’s not dangerous material but it has to be disposed of properly,” McMullin said in a telephone interview Thursday.

McMullin said the Paris company will notify him when and where the material will be moved.

Lowe said Thursday that he wasn’t going to make any money on the deal, but it was mainly to have jobs for his employees this winter.

He said he established the site so the Maine Department of Transportation could dump ditching material there. He also said he doesn’t charge Sumner for dumping its highway material there. Abbott told selectmen Tuesday that the site is permitted to take ditching materials, stumps, brush, bridge planks or culverts and wood products.