EPA’s cleanup bill irks Mainers> Businesses asked to pay thousands

BANGOR – Small-business owners expressed outrage at the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday for making them pay to clean up waste oil contamination at a Superfund site in Plymouth.

Representatives of the federal environmental agency were in Bangor to answer questions about a proposed settlement where owners of garages, car dealerships and others who disposed of waste oil legally through a third party have been told to pay thousands of dollars to cover the cost of work to clean up the Hows Corner site off Route 7. If they don’t pay, the U.S. Department of Justice could sue them.

“As a small-business person you try to do things legally, then what was legal becomes retroactively illegal and you find yourself part of the deep-pocket thing,” said Paul Worcester of Lincoln, whose father owned a garage there. He said before the meeting, which was held at University College, that the EPA is asking him to pay more than $20,000 as his share of the $8 million spent to clean up the site where the Portland-Bangor Waste Oil Co. dumped the oil it collected.

Garages, dealerships and municipalities were advised by the state Department of Environmental Protection to sell their waste oil to the company owned by George West. The oil was disposed of at the Plymouth site from 1965 to 1980. In 1987, several wells near the site were found to be contaminated. The EPA removed 850 tons of soil and built a new water supply system for houses in the area in 1995.

The news media, lawmakers and the public were barred from the meeting, which was intended to provide information to individuals the EPA has identified as responsible for sending oil to Hows Corner. However, cmments could be heard through the walls in rooms adjacent to the meeting room.

“This settlement is a significant compromise for the federal government,” EPA lawyer Michael Parker told the 95 people and their attorneys who attended. It is a compromise because the agency agreed to cover about half the cost of cleanup because only about half the parties who had oil dumped in Plymouth could be identified.

“It contains the most favorable terms we were able to agree to,” Parker said of the settlement offer.

The terms call for the individuals identified by the EPA to pay by Oct. 31. The amount each party owes is based on the amount of oil that they had West’s company take to the Plymouth site. Those accepting the settlement must sign a consent decree by Sept. 22.

After the meeting, Parker said he was “crossing his fingers that everybody signs” the decree. The Department of Justice could sue those who do not sign for much more money than the EPA is currently asking them to pay.

People who cannot afford to pay the amount calculated by the EPA can apply to have all or a portion of the amount waived. Analysts at the EPA will review the applications and determine how much a person can afford to pay based on individual assets. Those who file frivolous applications will be assessed the full amount plus interest accrued from the Oct. 31 deadline.

“We are not going after people’s homes or retirement ,” Parker said.

“That’s what the ability-to-pay package is about.” Many who attended challenged EPA calculations. They were also angered that the state, which told them to sell their waste oil to West, is not responsible for paying for the cleanup.

“The state should pay this bill,” said Beverly Polley, whose husband owns a garage in Holden. “The state asked the EPA to help with the cleanup. Because the EPA could ask for more money in the future to pay for additional cleanup needed at the 17-acre site in Plymouth, Polley said after the meeting that it is not possible for her and her husband to plan financially.

A group of 98 parties has paid for a study to determine what future work needs to be done at Hows Corner to clean up the soil and water in the area. That study is supposed to be done in October. Until it is complete, the EPA does not know how much more will need to be spent to clean up the site. The current settlement only covers the cost of cleanup already done.

Bud Prouty, owner of Prouty Ford in Dover-Foxcroft, said the proposed solution is irksome because those being asked to pay did nothing wrong.

“We tried to recycle and be environmentally safe and we got caught right in the middle of it,” he said after the meeting. His dealership has been asked to pay more than $30,000 for cleanup.

Prouty said he did not know if he wanted to leave the dealership to his son because something he did legally today could be determined to be illegal in the future and his son will be held financially liable for it.

Several state legislators gathered outside the meeting room. Some of them advised those who attended the meeting not to sign anything.

“What they’re threatening here is to take people’s houses and cars,” said Rep. Albion Goodwin, D-Pembroke.

“This is not good.” Rep. Russ Treadwell, R-Carmel, said he will introduce a bill to offer financial assistance to those the EPA wants money from. He said the state should pay a role in settling the matter because the state created the situation.

Officials from the EPA said the agency likely won’t delay collecting the money while state lawmakers pursue other remedies because the agency has spent two years negotiating the current settlement and because it is facing a statute of limitations to settle the matter by the end of the year.

In addition, in the case of the cleanup of another waste oil disposal owned by West’s company in Wells, the state reimbursed people after they had paid the EPA.