Penobscot River mercury cleanup will cost at least $187 million
COURTESY / JUSTIN LEWIS, GETTY IMAGES, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
A plan to clean up mercury contamination in the Penobscot River estuary has been approved after two decades of litigation.
A two-decade legal battle over mercury pollution in the Penobscot River estuary has come to an end, with a court-approved settlement that’s expected to cost between $187 million and $267 million.
The U.S. District Court in Bangor approved a settlement Tuesday that requires Mallinckrodt US LLC to pay for remediating mercury in the estuary.
The settlement provides that Mallinckrodt US LLC will pay at least $187 million, and up to $267 million, to independent trusts that will fund and implement remediation and restoration of Maine’s largest river and its surrounding communities.
“For decades, our communities suffered while nothing was done to clean up extensive mercury contamination in the Penobscot River,” Jesse Graham, co-director of Maine People’s Alliance, said.
Graham said the ruling will go a long way toward restoring the Penobscot and traditional activities such as fishing.
Tons of mercury
From roughly 1967 to 2000, a former chlor-alkali facility in Orrington — which made chlorine bleach for the state’s paper mills — released six to 12 metric tons of mercury into the Penobscot River, according to court documents.
In 2000, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Maine People’s Alliance sued Mallinckrodt, a former owner and operator of the plant, to force it to clean up the mercury, a neurotoxin that can cause a wide array of negative health impacts.
Elevated mercury levels in the river and estuary also put wildlife at risk. Several species, including lobsters, black ducks, eels and marsh songbirds, were found to have high levels, and the state previously issued a consumption advisory for waterfowl along the lower Penobscot and closed a portion of the lobster and crab fishery at the mouth of the river.
The estuary extends from the head of tide in the vicinity of Bangor to the northern end of Penobscot Bay in the vicinity of Fort Point and Cape Jellison.
The chlor-alkali facility manufactured chlorine, caustic soda, chlorine bleach, hydrochloric acid and chloropicrin, a pesticide.
The facility was owned and operated by Mallinckrodt’s corporate predecessor until 1982, then by Hanlin Group Inc., and later by HoltraChem Manufacturing Co.
In 2000, the Maine People’s Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council sued Mallinckrodt and HoltraChem under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, asking the court for an independent study to evaluate harm caused by mercury contamination and then measures to clean up the river.
Mallinckrodt, the Maine People’s Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council lodged the proposed settlement with the court in 2021.
The court found Mallinckrodt was liable as a source of the mercury and that the mercury could endanger human health and the environment.
A court-appointed panel of scientists studied the mercury contamination in the estuary, finding elevated concentrations in sediment and wildlife and recommending remedial action to clean up the river.
After a trial in 2014 to evaluate the study’s findings, the court appointed an engineering firm to identify cost-effective actions that would accelerate the river's recovery.
Closed to fishing
In 2014, the Maine Department of Marine Resources closed lobster and crab fisheries north of Fort Point because of mercury concentrations in lobster and then expanded the closed area in 2016.
Over the years, Mallinckrodt has paid over $30 million to fund court-ordered studies of the river. The studies informed the design of the clean up plan.
Under the settlement, Mallinckrodt will fund two trusts to implement work in the river and beneficial environmental projects.
Mallinckrodt will deposit $187 million into the trusts over the next seven years and, if certain contingencies occur related to remediation and disposal costs, will pay up to an additional $80 million to the trusts.
Greenfield Environmental Trust Group in Watertown, Mass., was chosen to manage the trusts and direct the work.
The parties anticipate the plan will reduce mercury concentrations across the estuary. But because the Penobscot River is a complex ecosystem, the exact benefits of particular measures may be difficult to predict and measure with certainty.
Specific actions
The trusts will implement five categories of remedial actions:
- $50 million for capping approximately 130 acres of intertidal sediments along the east bank of the Penobscot River in the vicinity of Orrington. Capping involves the placement of clean materials over contaminated sediment to create a barrier between contamination and the water column.
- At least $70 million to remove contaminated sediments and wood waste that have been trapped in the estuary by tides and currents. The locations and amount to be removed will be determined by the trustee. Materials removed from the estuary will be reused if possible, or safely disposed of outside the aquatic environment.
- $30 million for remediation in the region that includes the Orland River and the channel east of Verona Island.
- $20 million for projects that will benefit the environment and the communities affected by the contamination. The specific projects will be determined at a later date.
- At least $10 million for 30 to 45 years of monitoring mercury concentrations in sediment, water and wildlife.
Remediation will have to comply with local, state and federal permitting and other regulatory requirements.
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