The state has again detected high levels of leachable lead in ash emitted by Red Shield Environmental LLC’s boiler, according to the Bangor Daily News.
The Department of Environmental Protection told the newspaper that a testing and notification system in place at the Old Town facility alerted officials to the problem.
The DEP earlier this year discovered illegal levels of lead in Red Shield’s boiler samples, and in soot that twice fell onto homes and yards across the river from the mill, the paper reported.
In the most recent case, the boiler had been burning both green wood chips and construction and demolition debris, which produces electricity for the mill and the power grid.
“They’ve ceased burning of construction and demolition debris and launched an investigation,” Ed Logue, DEP regional manager, told the paper. “They believe the cause relates to incomplete combustion in the boiler.”