Mallinckrodt loses HoltraChem cleanup appeal
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has directed the former owner of chemical manufacturer HoltraChem’s Orrington plant to follow a state-ordered cleanup plan for the site that is heavily contaminated with mercury and other chemical waste.
The Portland Press Herald reported the court unanimously rejected Mallinckrodt LLC’s appeal of the order from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, a cleanup process the company estimates will cost $130 million. At issue was an order to excavate contaminated soil from two of five landfills where the company deposited waste from the process it used to make chemicals for papermaking and other industries. A 2008 order directed Mallinckrodt, the only former owner of HoltraChem still in business, to excavate materials from all five landfills, a process it estimates would have cost $250 million.
The state revised that order in 2010, requiring excavation of two landfills and placement of caps at the other three. The company argued in its appeal that the state overstepped its authority in ordering the more expensive “dig-and-haul” cleanup method for two of the landfills.
Ernie Corrigan, a spokesman for Mallinckrodt, said in prepared statement that the company is now reviewing the court’s decision and plans to discuss how to implement the plan with the DEP.
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