Maine People's Alliance - Holtrachem Cleanup Press Release

Govenor, DEP Commissioner and MPA hold community update on cleanup of mercury-contaminated Holtrachem site

Members of MPA joined Gov. Baldacci and DEP Commissioner David Littell in Bangor to announce approval of Phase IV of cleanup at the former Holtrachem facility

BANGOR—On Monday, July 24th, members of the Maine People’s Alliance joined Governor Baldacci and DEP Commissioner David Littell at Cascade Park in Bangor to announce approval of Phase IV of mercury cleanup at the former Holtrachem facility in Orrington.

Phase IV, which is to include the removal of seven buildings that are contaminated to the point that the debris would be considered a hazardous waste for mercury, follows previous phases that involved dismantling and removal of processing and other equipment known or suspected of being contaminated with mercury and removal of contaminated sludge. In May and June of this year alone, 1,430 pounds of metallic mercury were recovered.

“Members of the Maine People's Alliance thank Governor Baldacci and Commissioner Littell for their vigilance in keeping Holtrachem cleanup a priority. Because of their work, Mallinckrodt, owner of the former Holtrachem site, has been held accountable for the contamination,” Said Adam Goode, MPA Environmental Organizer. “On behalf of the 25,000 MPA members in Maine, we are pleased to see the cleanup moving forward and we thank the governor for honoring the pledge he made in 2004 to make cleanup of the former Holtrachem site a priority for his administration,” said Jerry Longcore, an MPA member from Orono.

Since 1988, The Maine People's Alliance has worked to ensure that the Holtrachem cleanup process move forward, with the aim of preventing significant harm to human health and the environment. In 1999, MPA and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) commissioned Dr. Robert Livingston, an aquatic ecologist, to collect sediment samples from the Penobscot River. The investigation revealed serious mercury contamination from Orrington all the way to upper Penobscot Bay. In 2002, joined by NRDC, MPA successfully sued Mallinckrodt, the first time an industrial polluter had been held responsible for contaminating natural resources downstream of a plant site, making it an important legal precedent.