Scientists: Penobscot River mercury cleanup complicated and costly
Removing mercury from the Penobscot River downriver from the former HoltraChem site in Orrington is likely to be complicated and expensive.
The Bangor Daily News reported the cleanup must account for tidal and seasonal changes, the plume of contaminants that could form from dredging, and the sheer scope of trying to cap the contaminated area.
In 2015 U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock ordered Mallinckrodt, the last company to operate the defunct plant, to fund both the development of a river remediation plan and the anticipated river cleanup project — adding that Mallinckrodt already had been held liable by a state order in 2010 for a projected $130 million cleanup effort of the former HoltraChem property.
Mercury contamination closed lobster and crab fishing in part of Penobscot Bay in recent years, the BDN has reported.
With either capping or dredging “you’re dealing with a big problem and you want to make sure you don’t create other problems along the way,” Sean Smith, an assistant professor at University of Maine with expertise in river morphology and sediment transport, told the BDN last week, adding that the area affected is “pretty large.”
Susanne Miller, director of the Bangor region office of Maine Department of Environmental Protection, told the BDN that dredging could impact protected species such as shortnose sturgeon or Atlantic salmon.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments