HoltraChem options discussed Citizen group says involvement key to ensuring proper cleanup

HAMPDEN – After weighing the pros and cons of various options for cleanup of a recently closed – and financially strapped – chemical plant in Orrington, members of a statewide environmental alliance agreed Saturday that citizen involvement will be key to making sure 80 tons of mercury at the plant is removed safely.

One of the major concerns expressed during a public meeting Saturday of the Penobscot Alliance for Mercury Elimination was that if the public isn’t allowed to participate in the effort to clean up the HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. site, state environmental regulators might “bargain away” their rights when they meet with company officials behind closed doors sometime this week.

Before it closed in September, HoltraChem used tons of mercury to manufacture chlorine and other chemicals, mainly for paper companies. About 80 tons of mercury remain in storage at the closed plant.

One 18-ton shipment of the toxic metal was sent to India only to be refused by the Indian government after environmental activists here and abroad decried the shipment as “toxic trade.” That mercury is now believed to be off shore near Egypt. Since the outcry, no more mercury has left Orrington.

Though the financially plagued chemical company on the banks of the Penobscot River has been emitting mercury and other pollutants for more than three decades, the need for a cleanup took on a new urgency with recent word that the company – and its financial resources – could be dissolved as soon as this week.

State and federal environmental officials are working to ensure that the plant and mercury and other toxic substances used there are cleaned up.

As state officials decide which avenue the HoltraChem cleanup should take, PAME members gathered at the Reeds Brook Middle School in Hampden to raise awareness of the situation and to begin work on a plan to make sure environmental regulators don’t drag their feet on the effort, and that the people have a role in the process.

PAME is a coalition of regional and statewide groups, including the Maine People’s Alliance, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine, and the Native Forest Network. Though some of the roughly 40 members who attended live within a few miles of the Orrington plant, the session drew participants from as far away as Hudson, Trenton and Belfast.

PAME represents more than 22,000 people statewide, according to member John Dieffenbacher-Krall, executive director of the alliance. He was one of several Mainers who expressed outrage Saturday at what he says HoltraChem and its predecessors have taken from the people of Maine.

Like many Mainers, the Hudson resident loves to fish. It’s part of his heritage, a love passed down to him by his father and grandfather. Though he wants to continue that tradition with his son, he worries about the effect consuming fish from the Penobscot River and many other of the state water bodies would have on his family’s health. Maine residents are warned to limit their intake of freshwater fish because the fish contain mercury, which is known to impair brain development in fetuses and young children

“That, to me, is a profound taking of our freedom,” he said. He wondered why more Mainers were not joining the anti-mercury movement.

Nancy Galland of Stockton Springs, formerly an organic farmer in Belfast, said her dreams of starting a small shellfish farm at the Penobscot’s mouth were dashed when she learned the site was contaminated by mercury, dioxin and other pollutants.

“It’s completely outrageous that we can’t eat fish” from the river, Galland said. “This is corporate tyranny. … I believe that power is not taken away as much as it’s given away.” She urged others at the session to join her in her battle to reclaim the river and the fish and wildlife in and around it. “Let’s get involved.”

During Saturday’s session, PAME members weighed the pros and cons for the three paths the HoltraChem cleanup could take:

. The federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act is the path the cleanup currently is taking. Because of problems with the plant in the early 1990s, the Environmental Protection Agency developed a corrective plan for the site. Mallinckrodt Inc., a former owner and soon to be the only surviving corporate entity, agreed to help pay for and assist with the effort.

Officials from EPA and the state Department of Environmental Protection have been in discussions with the St. Louis-based pharmaceutical and medical products company about taking over full responsibility for cleaning up the site under the auspices of the corrective plan.

PAME members were not completely sold on that option.

They noted that while it called for public comment, it did not require aggressive citizen involvement. It also is poorly funded and depends on polluting companies for covering cleanup costs.

. If Mallinckrodt refused to foot the entire bill or can’t reach an agreement on the cleanup process with state and federal regulators, EPA could declare the facility a Superfund site. Under this scenario, the federal government would get the site cleaned up and pay for it, then go after those responsible for the pollution later. Their prime target would be Mallinckrodt.

The federal program offers an aggressive citizen involvement process, easy access to information, a citizen advisory group and technical assistance grants of up to $50,000 for experts, which PAME members agreed would help put the public on a more equal footing with the corporate powers at issue. This option is slow and could be unpopular with state regulators because of the federal oversight.

. A third option is for the site to be taken over by the state as an uncontrolled site, a state program similar to Superfund. While it requires public comment, it does not call for a required aggressive citizen involvement process. It doesn’t provide money for a technical assistance grant to hire experts, which PAME members felt would put the public at a disadvantage.

Though a DEP official said last week that the most likely path to be taken is to continue with the corrective work involving Mallinckrodt, PAME members preferred the Superfund option, or the equivalent, and vowed to press for it in discussions with DEP officials this week.

PAME’s next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, at the Peace and Justice Center on Park Street in Bangor.