The purpose of the forum was to develop a better understanding of operations at the site and to address concerns regarding soot that escaped from the mill’s stacks and fell onto homes and yards in Bradley earlier this year.

DEP and Red Shield officials also addressed the concern over higher than normal lead levels found in ash in the facility’s biomass boiler, some of which was disposed of at the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town.

Orono Councilor Geoff Gordon questioned the monitoring systems at the mill site and wasn’t appeased with DEP Commissioner David Littell’s answer that there was nothing to worry about at this time. Gordon said he would follow up with the commissioner today.

“There’s no immediate public health threat,” Littell said, adding that the DEP is taking what happened at the site very seriously.

Lead concentrations found in ash samples taken from the biomass boiler at Red Shield Environmental in February did not exceed regulations for disposal, according to a report from independent consultants.

The report indicated that no action needs to be taken concerning boiler ash that was disposed of in a nearby landfill. The DEP is requesting that landfill operator Casella Waste Systems Inc. and the State Planning Office conduct testing at the landfill site to see what and whether any further action is necessary.

The other major issue discussed was a problem with the Red Shield boiler’s ash collection system that resulted in excess ash coming out of the stacks and depositing soot in Bradley.

The DEP has issued a violation notice to the company for the emissions, and officials said Monday they would require much stricter regulation, testing and enforcement at the Red Shield facility.

Red Shield acquired the mill last September, six months after G-P decided to close the facility.

Red Shield wants to convert the boiler to produce ethanol and has burned a mixture of construction and demolition debris and green wood chips.

Before problems with the boiler system, Red Shield had been using the boiler to produce electricity that the company was selling to the power grid.

We the People, a group of residents who opposed the landfill and who continue to focus on Maine’s waste issues because of health and environmental concerns, recently received test results from ash samples they collected themselves.

The samples came from snowbanks in Bradley where, on Feb. 28 and March 3, soot from Red Shield’s stacks fell onto homes and yards.

We the People paid for that testing, which concluded no statutory limits were exceeded, but that the material did contain lead.

DEP officials who previously said they would not test any of that soot for fear of unrelated contamination from outside sources changed their minds and collected a sample from a home in the area. Their testing also found lead present, but levels weren’t above the accepted threshold.

Littell said soil tests in the area are expected to be conducted as soon as an acceptable process is developed, but residents want something done now.

“At what point is that going to get cleaned up?” Bradley resident Jill Callela asked.

Littell responded by saying that’s the reason the testing is being done.

“We do have a very unfortunate history of use of lead paint in this country,” he said.

“Clearly, there’s not lead paint in my backyard,” Callela responded.

Littell said that once the department is satisfied with repairs to the boiler and is sure that more stringent testing of both the incoming fuel, equipment at the site, and ash residue is in place, Red Shield will be allowed to begin burning wood waste fuel again.

The boiler is permitted to burn up to 500 tons of fuel a day. Half of that fuel can be construction and demolition debris, which is less expensive than green chips.

Bradley Town Manager Melissa Doane requested that additional monitoring equipment be installed in Bradley, but Littell said that’s not likely to happen.

“The issue there is cost,” Littell said. Federal funding for things such as monitoring equipment has decreased, and Littell said there is no money for additional monitors.

Jim Brooks, head of the DEP’s Bureau of Air Quality, said that “we do do enforcement” and that “it’s going to be beefed up more” when Red Shield resumes operations.

The boiler continues to be shut down while repairs are being done and also because of a drop in the market price of electricity.

Red Shield now employs about 50 people with plans to restart its pulp operation this summer and have about 100 employees by the end of the year.

As part of that project, the board of directors of the Finance Authority of Maine approved last week 90 percent commercial loan insurance on a $1.8 million Chittenden Bank loan for Red Shield Environmental Pulp and Chemical LLC, a subsidiary of Red Shield Environmental.

The funding will be used to help finance the operation’s startup, according to a press release Monday from FAME.

“Our vision for Old Town is to have about 10 companies here, replacing Georgia-Pacific, in about three years,” Red Shield Chairman Ed Paslawski said at Monday’s forum. “No longer will Old Town be dependent on one large taxpayer.”