Study: Cleanup safe for residents Feds review strategy for HoltraChem site

A newly released federal study has concluded that Orrington-area residents are not expected to be exposed to dangerous levels of mercury emissions during cleanup of the former HoltraChem site.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, examined four of the top options for removing or mitigating mercury and other toxins at the now-shuttered HoltraChem facility.

Based on predictions of emissions levels, the agency said current and future mercury concentrations outside of HoltraChem should pose “no apparent health hazard” during cleanup, according to a summary of the report provided to Orrington officials.

The agency cautioned that all conclusions are based on models of projected emissions and would have to be adjusted if mercury levels found on the site are higher than anticipated, cleanup strategies change, or any new development is planned within a mile of the site.

But officials with Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection were pleased with the results.

“It is consistent and supportive of the direction we are going on the site cleanup,” DEP Commissioner David Littell said.

The state and the company that formerly owned the site, St. Louis-based Mallinckrodt Inc., have made considerable progress in recent years removing mercury from the plant, which produced chlorine and caustic acid for the paper industry. But some of the most ambitious cleanup has yet to occur.

In July, Gov. John Baldacci and DEP officials announced plans to begin dismantling more than a dozen buildings and storage tanks as part of the next phase of the cleanup. However, the state and Mallinckrodt disagree on what to do with an estimated 370,000 tons of mercury-contaminated soil.

The state has directed Mallinckrodt to remove the contaminated soil, which is now contained in several landfills on the site. The company has argued that encapsulating the contaminated soil on-site is faster, cheaper and potentially safer because of the risks of exposing and then moving the mercury-laden soil.

The ATSDR study looked at on-site and off-site disposal options.

A statement released Wednesday by a Mallinckrodt representative said that while the company had not seen the full report, it does not believe all recommended cleanup options were evaluated. The statement said the company believes there are alternative cleanup options “that will provide full protection to human health and the environment along with being more feasible to implement.”

“Mallinckrodt will continue to work with the Maine DEP and we hope that we will come to agreement on a fully protective plan aimed at achieving the shared goal of getting the site re-mediated as quickly and safely as possible,” the statement reads.

Orrington Town Manager Carl Young informed town selectmen about the report Monday night, adding that the study was positive news on potential health risks of the HoltraChem plant.

BDN writer Nok-Noi Hauger contributed to this report.