DEP: Toxic ash from Red Shield no threat

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OLD TOWN – Ash samples from the Red Shield facility, formerly the Georgia-Pacific Corp. mill, have tested positive for toxic levels of lead, but Maine Department of Environmental Protection officials said Friday there is no threat to the public’s health at this time.

Soot from the facility reported falling on homes and yards in Bradley on two occasions within the last two weeks is not believed to have been toxic, mill officials said Friday.

“The two instances of the Bradley soot and the ash issues that we’re discussing with DEP now are separate issues and we feel comfortable that there’s no overlap,” Red Shield Plant Manager Dick Arnold said Friday.

Samples of the soot that fell onto residences aren’t being tested, DEP Spokesman Scott Cowger said Friday.

There’s too much potential for the soot to have been contaminated by something else, he explained.

By corresponding the time of the “sooting” events and samples taken from the boiler, officials will have better odds of determining if the ash that fell contained high lead levels.Red Shield has ceased burning construction and demolition debris, or wood waste, until both issues have been investigated and resolved.

“Red Shield stopped burning [demolition debris] before we asked them to when the soot problems started,” Cowger said.

“We obviously want to be assured that when this sooting event occurred, high levels of lead didn’t go out with the soot,” DEP Commissioner David Littell said Friday.

Red Shield, which is made up of a group of private investors, eventually plans to convert the boiler to produce ethanol. For now, it’s used to heat the facility and produce power to sell into the grid.

“We’re confident that there’s been no health impact and we’re confident that within a short period of time we’ll provide the information and documentation that confirms there’s no health hazard,” Arnold said.

The company purchased the mill last September, six months after G-P decided to shut down the facility on March 16, 2006.

Prior to the air emissions problems, Red Shield had been burning a mixture of construction demolition debris and green wood chips. They are permitted to burn up to 500 tons of fuel per day. By law, half of that fuel can be construction and demolition debris.

“We’ve got a number of different things we’ve asked the facility to investigate,” Littell said.

The original toxic level showed up in a sample taken from the boiler in February. DEP requires Red Shield to take periodic samples, which are sent to a lab for testing.”When it turned up, the first sample we got back, we told them to go out and [check other samples] to ensure it’s not a lab error, but the samples all came back high,” Littell said.

Lead legally is considered toxic if it reaches more than 5 milligrams per liter, he explained. Red Shield has been ordered to stop burning construction and demolition debris until the issues can be fully investigated and resolved.

“There’s no public health issue, but we’re taking it very seriously,” Littell said.

So are town officials in Old Town and Bradley.

“We need to be continually informed in Bradley as to what’s going on,” Town Manager Melissa Doane said Friday. “In no way do I want to hinder the operation of the mill, but we’ve got to protect the quality of life for the residents of Bradley.”

Bradley is located directly across the Penobscot River from the mill in Old Town.

“We have requested that the state keep us fully informed as this investigation proceeds to help us understand their findings,” Old Town City Manager Peggy Daigle said Friday. “We are concerned and we’ll do our due diligence to make sure the city and the people around the city are protected.”

DEP’s requests for testing and documentation are extensive. Red Shield already has sampled construction and demolition debris being stored on site and found some problems there.

“What they’ve told me is, I think, one of the [loads] they have on sight have tested positive [for toxic levels of lead],” Littell said.

Documentation currently is being gathered to determine where the wood waste on-site, as well as what already has been burned, came from.

“I understand verbally that some of it came from KTI [Biofuels in Lewiston], and some of it came from one of the New Hampshire facilities,” Littell said. “That’s just verbal. We want to see everything in writing.”

Wood waste is sorted at facilities, such as KTI, to be used as fuel for companies like Red Shield. Items such as metal, brick and treated wood are removed during the sorting process.

Some of the Red Shield ash with high lead levels appears to have been disposed of at Juniper Ridge Landfill, formerly the West Old Town Landfill.

The state-owned landfill is operated by Casella Waste Systems Inc., which also is obligated through a contract with the state to provide Red Shield with construction and demolition debris fuel. KTI is a subsidiary of NEWSME Corp., which also is the parent company of Casella.

Don Meagher, Casella’s manager of planning and development, said Friday that his company has stopped disposing of waste in the area of the landfill where the soot was dumped. It is illegal to dispose of toxic waste in Maine. Depending on DEP’s findings, Casella may have to remove the contaminated waste.

“We have done no sampling on site,” he said. “We’re aware that Red Shield and the DEP are studying this and that on Red Shield’s side, a lot of sampling and analysis has and still is being done. … Until all the information is done coming in, it’s not really possible to draw conclusions.”

The demolition debris is a cheaper fuel and is an alternative to disposing of it in Maine’s limited landfill space. Some members of the public are concerned about using the debris as a fuel because it has the potential to contain pollutants such as lead and asbestos.

This is the first major issue Red Shield has had since it began operating at the site, although a monitor to track emissions on the mill’s smoke stacks has had some violations, DEP spokesman Cowger said Friday.

“We’re going to be overly cautious here,” Littell said.