Cleanup completed at former tannery site

SOUTH PARIS – A contaminated former tannery site that threatened local waterways has been cleaned up, the government said.

The yearlong project at the site of the A.C. Lawrence Tannery in western Maine cost $4 million, the Environmental Protection Agency said.

The work involved excavation of 33,000 tons of chromium-contaminated soil and restoration of the bank of the Little Androscoggin River.

The EPA said that from 1952 to 1977, the tannery put its waste in lagoons near the river. The cleanup prevents chromium sludge from getting into the river and drinking water supplies, the agency said.

Local and state agencies helped with the cleanup.