State Sen. Joseph Martin, R-Rumford, shares water test results Thursday with Rumford selectmen. Martin collected samples within 24 hours after the ND Paper mill discharge of black liquor into the air Dec. 10, 2024. The results showed there was no dangerous contamination, he said. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times

RUMFORD — Water tests from the release of black liquor into the air by ND Paper mill in December show no dangerous contamination, Sen. Joseph Martin of Rumford told the Board of Selectpersons on Thursday.

On Dec. 10, ND Paper said its mill experienced an operational issue that resulted in black liquor, a byproduct of the papermaking process, being released into the air and into a section of town.

It turned falling snow brown in areas close to the mill, especially on Falmouth, Cumberland and Waldo streets.

On Jan. 2, Town Manager George O’Keefe gave a status update on a Dec. 19 report from Maine Environmental Protection Laboratory. He indicated there was a somewhat elevated pH on the Three Fields Complex, with levels of mercury and barium below the federal Environmental Protection Agency safe drinking water level; other heavy metals were not detected.

Martin, who serves on the Maine State Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said that within 24 hours after the mill discharge, he collected six water samples in the area and maintained an unbroken chain of custody to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection laboratory, where all testing was conducted under DEP oversight.

“While the results show that all tested metals are below Maine’s Construction Worker Groundwater Remedial Action Guidelines, it is important to note that during the initial discharge, concentrations would have been at their highest,” he said, adding that avoiding direct exposure during such events remains the safest course of action.

Martin listed key findings:

• All detected levels were well below the Remedial Action Guidelines limits for short-term skin contact and incidental swallowing, meaning no significant risk for construction workers or those coming into contact with the water.

• While no enforceable federal or Maine groundwater limits for sodium and sulfur exist, the detected levels are far below any threshold that would raise concerns for short-term exposure.

• The community relies on municipal water for drinking, not groundwater, meaning these findings do not affect public drinking water quality.

• While the water samples collected after 24 hours did not indicate dangerous contamination, the mill must ensure to indicate any dangerous contamination, and that any future discharges are immediately reported to the DEP and sampled to allow for real-time monitoring and accountability.

“The day of the incident,” O’Keefe said, “I was not able, despite my repeated requests to them, to get the (DEP) to perform testing.”

“It wasn’t up to you to do that,” Martin said. “That’s actually up to the mill to contact the DEP, for them to do the samples.”

“They refused both my request and that of the mill,” O’Keefe said.

“Well, all’s well that ends well,” Martin said.

“I am very grateful that you used your duties and responsibilities in your office to get DEP to do what they should have been willing to do in the first place,” O’Keefe said. “And I like the fact that we have two sets of testing results that confirm this. I think the added public confidence is very beneficial, and I hope that you will be able to impress upon the DEP that next time, for some reason, the town would like them to test something that they do it. Whether that’s the mill or the town, because we were the affected party.”

“If nothing else,” Chris Brennick, board chairman said, “this restored public confidence.”