EPA says river cleanup complete Corinna’s lower Sebasticook found unpolluted by SuperFund site

CORINNA – The short-tailed shrew, a tiny marsh creature which paralyzes its prey with a poisonous bite, nearly triggered a multimillion dollar ecological cleanup just north of Sebasticook Lake as part of the environmental assessment of the SuperFund site in Corinna.

But after further investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this winter, it was determined that the level of risk to the shrew population’s survival was acceptable, Corinna residents learned Monday night.

“We are not trying to save every shrew,” said the SuperFund project manager, Ed Hathaway. “We are just seeking biological integrity. We want the entire river system to be functional.”

EPA ecologists have concluded that none of the contamination levels in the river caused by the former Eastland Woolen Mill would necessitate a cleanup.

Instead, the study determined that the annual drawdown of Sebasticook Lake, which turns the wide river into a tiny stream each fall, does far more ecological damage than the small pockets of contamination left.

“Even if we had determined that a cleanup was recommended, there still would have been a significant debate about whether it would have been worth disturbing that area,” said Hathaway. “That section of the river will always be a remnant of the abuse that river was put through.”

The shrew was just one of hundreds of animals, bugs and fish that were assessed as part of a study last summer by EPA on the lower reach of the Sebasticook River. The results were offered at Monday’s public meeting.

Hathaway stressed that nothing found in that area is of concern to humans but that it was important to investigate the effect of contaminants on the natural food chain.

“We had expected to find widespread areas devoid of life,” he said. “That hypothesis was wrong.”

Crayfish, shrews and other animals, including bugs and worms that larger animals such as mink, raccoon and herons feed on, were found uncontaminated. “We are not seeing the ecosystem affected,” he said.

The worst damage that could potentially occur, Hathaway said, would happen to insects such as black fly larvae that come in contact with the contaminants attached to the sediment.

The area studied is three to four miles below Corinna center and includes a 4-acre dump site.

Hathaway said 400 vapor samples, 258 sediment samples, 402 samples from the floodplain, 18 fish tissue and nine mussel samples were taken from five different locations.

Small pockets of contamination were found that included elevated levels of chlorobenzene, dieldrin, dioxin, DDT and other pesticides, and metals, including lead and cadmium.

There is no consistent pattern, said Hathaway, illustrating that a high sample of contamination can be found inches away from a clear sample.

The bottom line, however, is that all the contamination was found at much lower levels than expected and none of the levels will affect human health.

No contamination was found in crayfish, he said, or in bass and perch fillets. “Even the bugs and critters that live in the sediment were less impacted than predicted,” he said.

“We looked at the food for the creatures we were evaluating. If the contamination was in the food, it was in them, and it wasn’t. It was a big surprise. Crayfish, fish, mussels, all were clear.”

Some of those attending the meeting were concerned that once EPA leaves, future contamination would be discovered or uncovered at the old dump site.

Hathaway said that the site was extensively tested, including using equipment that identifies buried metal objects. Twenty test pits were dug and no drums were found.

He reassured them that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection will continue a monitoring program and that if a problem is discovered, EPA will return. “But this essentially closes the book on the lower section [of the river.]”

Hathaway said that the cleanup of the former Eastland Woolen Mill site – one of the most polluted sites in the country – will have cost more than $46 million by the end of this year, the sixth year of the cleanup.

From 1909 to 1996, Eastland contaminated downtown Corinna, the Sebasticook River and a mile-long area downstream with cancer-causing chemicals once used to dye wool.

The cleanup project has involved removal of the mill, removal and treatment of the soil under the mill, rerouting the Sebasticook River, removal of all the buildings on Corinna’s Main Street and rerouting Route 7.

During this process, 54,673 pounds of hazardous materials were removed from the mill before it was demolished and 100,000 tons of soil were removed and treated.