Enforcement History and Documents

Portions excerpted from HoltraChem Manufacturing Site Facts, U.S. EPA, March 2001

Federal Actions & Documents

In 1986, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered the plant owner, the Hanlin Group, Inc., to clean up the plant property and the river.  When Hanlin failed to do an adequate job, EPA brought Hanlin to federal court in July, 1991.  A consent decree between EPA and Hanlin was reached in 1993 and called for:

• A comprehensive assessment of pollution at the plant and in the Penobscot River;

• A study of human, health and ecological risks from the pollution, and

• A cleanup of the plant and river.

In 1994,  Hanlin sold the company to HoltraChem, which agreed to be responsible for carrying out the legally binding consent decree.

In April, 2000 EPA and Maine DEP rejected HoltraChem's proposed cleanup goals as inadequate.  Since then, HoltraChem, Mallinckrodt (an owner of a previous site operator which has come forward to share responsibility for site cleanup),  U.S. EPA and Maine DEP have been discussing the site characterization studies and potential cleanup goals for the site and river.

State Actions & Documents

Although the federal government, through the EPA, has been in charge of the site investigation to date, the state Department of Environmental Protection has required supplemental investigations and cleanups to stabilize the site.  More information on these items can be found below in the various state legal documents and in the list of interim actions at the site.

December 18, 1997 State Administrative Consent Agreement and Enforcement Order (Board of Environmental Protection and State of Maine Attorney General).  Outlines the history of violations of the Department's Hazardous Waste Management Rules from August, 1995 through August 1997.  Includes a summary of HoltraChem Manufacturing Company's response to previous notifications and outlines requirements for future compliance. Requires, among other things, various actions to prevent further contamination from leaving the site and extensive site monitoring.  74 KB (29 pages). 

The following documents are not available in electronic format.  Contact the webmaster if you would like a copy of these documents.

March 23, 1998 State Consent Decree and Order (State of Maine Superior Court).  Order requiring that HoltraChem Manufacturing Company retain a qualified individual or firm to monitor operations and to conduct a comprehensive spill risk analysis and spill prevention/  containment assessment and to submit a work plan to DEP.  The order also requires review of the company's environmental management systems and practices and submission of a workplan and schedule for the conduct of a physical and operational inspection and correction of all alarms, safety devices and containment structures; personnel training and monitoring of all liquid levels in all vessels at the plant.

October 30, 1998 State Consent Decree and Order (State of Maine Superior Court).  Assesses a civil penalty for the February 20, 1998 brine spill at the HoltraChem facility.

March 30, 2001 Memorandum of Understanding among Earth Tech, Mallinckrodt Inc. and the State of Maine.  Document outlines the conditions under which Earth Tech will undertake to provide security for the site, to conduct certain activities at the site, as well as to undertake the operation and maintenance of the HoltraChem Wastewater Treatment Plant and assist DEP in the closure of the site.

EPA Newsletter Archive

June, 2001 EPA Newsletter: HoltraChem Manufacturing Site Facts No. 2.  Discusses the recent public meeting and the questions: Are residents at risk; what about mercury in downwind lakes, who oversees the work being done and next steps.  

September, 2001 EPA Newsletter: HoltraChem Manufacturing Site Facts No. 3.  Provides answers to basic questions about mercury:  the occurrence of mercury in the environment; the known health effects of exposure to mercury; how to protect yourself from exposure; and actions to take if you feel you have been exposed. In Adobe pdf format.

July 19, 2001 Press Release:  Early test results show that the on-site wastewater treatment facility is now effectively removing mercury from collected contaminated ground water.