March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Family sues town, EPA over contaminated well

ALFRED — A Buxton family has sued the town and the state Department of Environmental Protection, claiming their lives were ruined after their well water was contaminated.

Martin and Linda Holbrook charged that the state allowed the town to dump contaminated soil from a gas station at the former town dump near their home. The soil contaminated their well water, the Holbrooks charged in a lawsuit filed Monday in York County Superior Court.

“The disposal of the contaminated soil,” the lawsuit said, “caused the sudden and accidental release of pollutants and toxic chemicals, including a herbicide known as Dinoseb, into or upon plaintiffs’ land and groundwater.”

The family first learned that Dinoseb, a cancer-causing pesticide, was in their well water in April 1992. That discovery came after town and state officials were already looking into the gasoline contamination. In July 1991, the family was moved into a South Portland motel, at the town and the DEP’s expense. The town and the state shared the estimated $45,000 cost of the family’s room and board.

Eventually, the town bought the family’s home and property for $194,000. The town also paid the family’s medical bills and other costs.


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