Contaminated soil hauled from HoltraChem site
About 6,000 tons of mercury-contaminated soil was hauled away from the former HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. site in Orrington in December as part of an approximately $130 million environmental cleanup, the Bangor Daily News reported.
HoltraChem, now known as Mallinckrodt, operated from 1967-82. It produced 23,000 pounds of toxic mercury waste each year while making chemicals for papermaking and other industries until the adoption of significant hazardous waste disposal regulations, the paper reported.
The work is the latest in a timeline that began in 2008, when the Maine Department of Environmental Protection issued a compliance order requiring Mallinckrodt to clean up the site. Mallinckrodt appealed the order, but the Maine Business and Consumer Court affirmed the clean-up in 2012 and, in 2014, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court decision affirmed the Maine Business and Consumer Court’s judgment.
The facility sits on 235 acres on the banks of the Penobscot River in Orrington. The plant operated under several owners from 1967 through 2000. The facility manufactured chlorine, sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach), hydrochloric acid and chloropicrin (a pesticide).
According to the DEP, the final cleanup decision requires the removal of two landfills and updated maintenance of the remaining three landfills; the removal of contaminated soils, sediments and contaminated structures; and the treatment of groundwater and surface water. A number of studies are required as part of the implementation planning, as well as transportation infrastructure upgrades to support removal of contamination from the site.
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