Houlton questions Superfund cleanup bill

HOULTON – For the second time in a month, town councilors asked questions at their meeting Monday evening about the potential for withdrawing from further payment on the town’s share of a multimillion-dollar cleanup bill at the Hows Corner Superfund site in Plymouth.

Town Manager Peggy Daigle told the board that she would ask town attorney Dan Nelson to address the issue at a public hearing.

“I have heard rumors that a certain number of municipalities have chosen not to pay the amount they were assessed [for the cleanup],” Councilor Gerald Adams said Monday evening. “Do we know of any other municipalities who have withdrawn from this?”

Adams and Councilor Paul Cleary also discussed the issue at the April 26 council meeting. The councilors questioned Nelson about a projected end to the town’s reimbursement and the consequences for withdrawing payment.

Houlton is one of almost 250 potentially responsible parties, or PRPs, who may be responsible for cleaning up waste-oil contamination at the site. The parties reportedly disposed of used motor oil through the Portland-Bangor Waste Oil Co., according to a Bangor Daily News article. George West Jr., reportedly the owner of the disposal company, used a portion of the site as a depository for the oil. A test of a homeowner’s well in 1987 led to the realization that more than a dozen area wells were contaminated.

The town already has authorized more than $27,000 for their portion of the cleanup, according to officials.

Earlier in May, the EPA exempted 40 Maine business and municipalities from liability for groundwater cleanup at the site, due to the lower level of waste oil they contributed to the site.

Houlton was not one of them.

“This is maybe the third or fourth time that they’ve asked for money,” Adams said at Monday’s meeting. “It’s a never-ending situation.”

Adams asked Town Manager Peggy Daigle to “check out the number of municipalities” who have withdrawn from paying their share of the costs.

Nelson reaffirmed Friday what he had told councilors at the April 26 meeting.

“I have not heard of any municipalities that have pulled out,” Nelson said Friday. “I do know that one of the PRPs is not cooperating, and that the federal government has recommended legal action.”

Nelson told councilors at the April 26 meeting that he was not sure when the town’s financial liability would end.

“I have no guarantee when the end is in sight,” Nelson told councilors. “I don’t have the answer you want.”

A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 24, at the town office on Water Street.