OLD TOWN – Lead concentrations found in ash samples taken from the biomass boiler at Red Shield Environmental, formerly the Georgia-Pacific Corp. mill, 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.

Whether officials at the state Department of Environmental Protection will accept the consultants’ recommendations or request more information had not been decided Monday.

“We’re going through technical review now,” said DEP regional manager Ed Logue. “It’s not easy. It’s something that takes time to review.”

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.

If DEP accepts the recommendations, Casella Waste Systems Inc., which runs the nearby state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill, would not need to dig up ash already disposed of there and send it to another disposal facility out of state that accepts toxic waste.

The consultants were Civil Engineering Services Inc. of Brewer, Katahdin Analytical Services of Scarborough and Northeast Laboratory Services of Brewer.

CES wrote the report, but the testing was done by Katahdin and Northeast.

Red Shield paid them for the work. The testing was required by DEP regulations.

Problems with the Old Town boiler’s ash collection system also have resulted in excess ash coming out of the stacks. DEP has issued a violation notice to the company for the emissions.

Logue said there likely would be some fine in the stack emissions case.

But DEP is waiting for more substantial test results on the ash as well as the fuel source before making a decision on whether Red Shield will be allowed to burn waste wood fuel again.

“We’re going to be updating the sampling plan, analytical plan, [and the] whole operations plan,” Logue said Monday.

“We don’t want to go through this again, and I don’t think they do either. It will really be like starting up all over 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.

When burning the wood waste fuel, Red Shield is under orders to operate all available electrostatic precipitators, or ash collectors. If one or more of the collection systems fails during operation or isn’t operated, Red Shield is supposed to cease firing the boiler within four hours of the failure.

Under methodology approved by both the DEP and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, ash that was delivered to the landfill from the start of operations through Feb. 28 did not exceed acceptable levels of lead or any other metal that is tested for, according to the consultants’ report.

“No remedial action is necessary with respect to ash deliveries to Juniper Ridge Landfill prior to the initiation of on-site storage on February 28,” the consultants’ report says.

That finding is based on the statistical analysis, but the report also recommends that results for the ash containers being stored at the mill site be considered individually before being sent to Juniper Ridge for disposal.

Some area residents remain concerned about the lead levels.

We the People, a group of residents who previously 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 on homes and yards.

We the People paid for that testing.

“What the results mean is that no statutory limits were exceeded; however the material was not free from lead either,” We the People member Cheryl Spencer of Old Town said in an e-mail interview. “People living in the area should be concerned with avoiding contact with the material and try not to get it inside their homes or breathe it as dust.”

DEP officials previously said they would not test any of that soot because it could have been contaminated by coming into contact with other objects and chemicals after the ash left the boiler and before it reached the ground.

But the DEP shifted its stance and collected a sample from a home in the area. It is awaiting the results.

“I’m anxious to see those numbers,” Logue said.

In addition, the state has organized a public forum to be held April 23 at Old Town Elementary School, where the boiler will be discussed. A time for the forum has not been set.

“There are people in Bradley that are concerned and we need to find a way to address their concerns,” Logue said. “We’ve got to find a way through this and find some harmony here.”