Jail closure puts halt to Bucks Harbor's water pipeline plans
The sudden closure of the Downeast Correctional Facility has stopped plans to install a new pipeline providing a clean water supply in Bucks Harbor.
"This complicates the process from the perspective of funding the cost of the installation without a known operator at the time of installation,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Project Manager Marie Wojtas told The Quoddy Tides.
The pipeline was intended to remediate chemical contamination discovered at the jail site, which was formerly occupied by the U.S. Air Force. Testing in 1995 determined 15 private wells in the area were contaminated with trichloroethylene. Years later, a plan to run a water pipeline from the Downeast Correctional Facility’s public well was developed.
The prison closed abruptly on Feb. 9 in a unilateral decision by Gov. Paul LePage. A judge’s ruling has since reopened it, but at minimal capacity, with official closure still set for June 2018 unless additional funding is approved by the Legislature.
Longstanding contamination problems
According to a 2003 report on borehole studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey during the 1990s, the Federal Aviation Administration discovered numerous occurrences of ground-water contamination at the former Air Force Radar Tracking Station.
During the operation of the base, the U.S. Air Force used solvents, including trichloroethylene, trichloroethane and tetrachloroethane for automotive maintenance, paint thinning, degreasing and equipment cleaning. Because residential wells were contaminated with fuel and TCE, in 1997 the Maine Department of Environmental Protection ordered the Army Corps to clean up the site and provide an alternative water supply for local residents.
According to the Army Corps New England District's March 2018 report, the remediation plan included long-term groundwater monitoring and well head treatment or connection to an alternate water supply for those impacted by the contamination. The plan made the Army Corps responsible for maintaining the water line from the Downeast Correctional Facility water supply.
In July 2017, the Army Corps awarded the design-build construction contract to install the water line, and the water line was anticipated to be installed this month. However, the March report notes, due to the Downeast Correctional Facility’s closure, the design-build contract was suspended in February, “as the state of Maine determines the disposition of the Downeast Correctional Facility’s property.”
In March, Sunrise County Economic Council Executive Director Charles Rudelitch told the Ellsworth American that economic loss to Washington County as a whole could be as much as $8 million to $8.4 million, with significant job losses, due to the closure of the correctional facility.
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