21 years after lawsuit initially filed, a proposed settlement in Penobscot River mercury pollution case ready for review
A proposed settlement and environmental remediation work plan resulting from a 21-year-old lawsuit against Mallinckrodt and HoltraChem, which made chlorine for the paper industry at an Orrington plant on the Penobscot River, is ready for public review.
The settlement, which rests on a proposed consent decree that has yet to approved by the court, includes a $187 million mercury clean-up job to be funded by Mallinckrodt, according to a joint summary released by the Maine People’s Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council and Mallinckrodt.
Mercury pollution from the former chemical plant extended along the river with the area to be addressed extending from the head of tide near Bangor to the northern end of Penobscot Bay, around Cape Jellison in Stockton Springs.
The proposed consent decree was submitted to Federal District Court in Maine and will only take effect if the court approves it. The court will hold a public hearing in Bangor on October 1, 4, and 5, 2021, and consider public comments before deciding whether to approve it.
The public is being invited to obtain more information, and to comment on the proposed settlement, at information meetings Sept. 9 and 14, which will be held virtually.
Then, On Oct. 1, 4 and 5, the court will hold an in-person fairness hearing regarding the proposed settlement at the Margaret Chase Smith Courthouse (Courtroom 2), 202 Harlow Street, Bangor.
The hearing will commence at 8:30 a.m. each day. Members of the public may attend the court hearing each day and may provide oral comments during the court hearing on October 5. The deadline to sign up to provide oral comments or submit written comments is September 21.
Anyone who wishes to provide oral comments at the court hearing on October 5, must notify the parties and provide a one-paragraph summary of the anticipated comments by September 21, by completing the form at PenobscotRiverRemediation.com/contact.
Additional information about the proposed settlement is available in the attached fact sheet and public notice, at PenobscotRiverRemediation.com, or on NRDC’s website at https://www.nrdc.org/court-battles/maine-peoples-alliance-and-natural-resources-defense-council-v-holtrachem.
