State issues mercury warning

ORRINGTON - Neighbors of a chemical plant with extensive mercury contamination on its site were warned by state officials Wednesday that a stream near the plant should be considered off-limits to their children and pets.

The Department of Environmental Protection said the stream draining the site of the HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. plant on River Road contains high levels of mercury and corrosive chemicals.

''Because of these conditions, exposure to the stream should be limited,'' the DEP said in a Sept. 30 letter to residents of Ferry Road. ''As a result, we advise that the area be 'off limits' to children and pets.''

Mercury pollution at the plant was highlighted Wednesday in the Portland Press Herald, as part of a four-part investigative series, ''The Mercury Menace.'' The series focused on the mounting environmental threat from mercury, a toxic metal that has contaminated inland waters in Maine and 34 other states, threatening fish, wildlife and human health.

The new DEP letter was written a day after the Maine Sunday Telegram and Portland Press Herald raised questions about conditions at HoltraChem during a meeting at the newspaper's Portland office with DEP Commissioner Edward O. Sullivan and Gov. Angus King.

Among the topics discussed: The seriousness of stream contamination at HoltraChem, which uses mercury to make chlorine gas and other chemicals and is Maine's largest source of mercury released to the environment.

The DEP recently ordered the company to put up a fence to restrict public access to its property, test nearby wells for contamination and install a system to collect polluted water from a series of chemical spills.

Work on those projects has yet to begin.

Ferry Road residents interviewed Wednesday said they were puzzled by the new DEP letter - the second they have received from the agency in four days about environmental conditions at the plant site.

''We've been here four years and we've never had any concerns,'' said Phyllis Scribner, a retiree who lives on Ferry Road with her husband, Richard. ''If this mercury has been a problem, we haven't been aware of it.''

Pat Judd, another Ferry Road resident, said the letters raise her concerns about what might be happening at the HoltraChem operation.

''We never heard anything from them until recently,'' she said. ''It does make you wonder what's going on.''

David Jeffrey, also of Ferry Road, said he was struck by the apparent dangers of the stream because he has a family with two young children.

''Obviously, it's cause for concern,'' Jeffrey said.

Bruce Davis, the president of HoltraChem, said Wednesday that work on the fence could begin as soon as next week. He said the company has proposed a collection system for spilled chemicals to the DEP.

That proposal is still undergoing department review.

Davis also questioned the warning about the stream pollution. ''We believe it's not as serious a problem as the DEP says it is,'' he said.

However, Davis pledged to cooperate with the department to improve the plant's environmental performance.

In previous interviews, Davis has blamed many of the plant's environmental problems on a lack of basic maintenance by previous owners. HoltraChem bought the plant out of bankruptcy in 1994.

The dozen or so households on Ferry Road have received three letters about hazardous-waste contamination at HoltraChem in the past two months.

The first letter, dated Aug. 7, was sent by HoltraChem at the request of the DEP. The letter noted that work was being done to build a collection system for spilled chemicals. But it said the stream was not a threat.

The DEP, in a letter of its own on Sept. 26, mentioned the cleanup and noted that HoltraChem had agreed to build a fence and test wells for contamination. But the DEP letter made no mention of the stream pollution.

It wasn't until Wednesday, when the second DEP letter arrived, that residents learned the stream was highly contaminated.

Sullivan, commissioner of the DEP, said Wednesday the second letter was sent because the department wanted residents to know why a fence was being constructed on the HoltraChem property.

''We had hoped that the fence would go up sooner than it has,'' he said. ''We wanted people to know they should keep their kids and pets out of there.''

The pollution in the stream, which drains into the Penobscot River, has been known to members of Sullivan's staff since early June.

At that time, during an inspection of the plant site, a DEP staff member who stuck his hand in the water felt his skin begin to dissolve.

The DEP believes the contamination may be seeping into the stream from an undergound hazardous-waste leak of up to 270,000 gallons.

As a result of that spill and several others that contained mercury and other hazardous chemicals, the DEP proposed an $891,000 fine against HoltraChem in July for assorted violations of state laws.

It was the first serious fine proposed against the company by the DEP since the plant started operating on the banks of the Penobscot in 1967.

In that time, it has released thousands of pounds of mercury into the air and water, including an undetermined amount in leaks from five unlined landfills. They contain an estimated 13 tons of mercury in buried sludge.

The company has refused a request from the DEP to abandon the use of mercury and switch to a more environmentally friendly manufacturing process.

The DEP is presently testing fish from several lakes and ponds downwind of the plant to determine if it is raising mercury levels in the environment.

Sullivan said that data may be used to determine whether the state should set more stringent mercury emissions standards for the plant.