YARMOUTH – Liability concerns over contaminated soil have caused land purchase negotiations to break down between the town of Yarmouth and Central Maine Power.

The town wants to purchase a 54-acre site owned by CMP for use as athletic fields, trails and a boat launch but can’t come to an agreement with CMP over who should be liable for 10 acres of contaminated soil on the site.

The soil was contaminated in the 1950s when a CMP contractor spilled a few thousand gallons of a wood preservative there. That part of the parcel had been used for decades to treat and store utility poles.

CMP closed the site in 1995 and built a high fence around it. Last fall, it removed the top 12 inches of soil from contaminated sections, added a layer of fabric and 18 inches of new soil and replanted the area. The work was done with the approval of the state Department of Environmental Protection.