A site study to identify possible pollutants at the former Point East Maritime Village development in Wiscasset was conducted by Ransom Consulting and a subcontractor, Environmental Projects, Inc. from May 25 through May 27. The results of the soil, water, and soil vapor tests will be sent to a lab and results are expected within one to two months.

The Phase II Environmental Protection Agency study at town-owned lands near, but not within, the footprint of Mason Station, was financed through a grant obtained by the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission and the town. According to the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission’s Executive Director Mary Ellen Barnes, the cost of the Phase II study was about $42,000.

The former coal and oil-fired plant itself is not owned by the town, but several housing lots and other properties around the plant are now owned by Wiscasset after a legal battle between the developer (Greenwich Connecticut-based National RE/sources, doing business as Point East Maritime Village and Mason Station LLC) and the community was resolved in court. A Phase I study, collecting all known brownfield remediation, known issues, and approved plans for remediation for the site, was released in February. The cost of that study was considerably less, at $5,000.

Steve Dyer, of Ransom Consulting, said that at issue were several sections of the town-owned properties, including areas where coal ash is stored. There had been an approved plan to deal with the coal waste, but the developer never completed the work. Now that Wiscasset is the owner of that section of the sprawling 33-acre property, it will be up to the town to complete the remediation, and Town Manager Marian Anderson is hopeful that funding to do the work will be forthcoming. 

“Senator Collins’ office has a dedicated staff member to deal with Wiscasset,” she said, referring to a recent announcement of additional brownfield funding — some $7.3 million — that Senators Collins and King jointly announced May 23, and an additional $820,000 in a revolving loan program for brownfield remediation that developers could potentially tap.  She also said that the town had only taken possession of a few parcels in the greater Point East/Mason Station acreage, but Anderson hinted that there was interest in the huge Mason Station building itself. The town has not taken that building as part of property tax foreclosure. “We would not accept the property unless we were totally, 100 percent certain, that the funds were there to clean it up,” she said. 

Anderson said that there is no firm plan as of yet for redevelopment of the town-owned parcels, adding that “the town really hasn’t taken that step, since we are unsure what the obstacles are,” but pointed out that there is interest by certain marine industries in the waterfront parcels with deep water access. “We haven’t had the level of interest we might have had until now, because as you know, we have been dealing with a hurry up and wait mentality,” she said. “But now, for the first time, we feel it will be possible to work with this piece of prime land in Wiscasset. For the first time, we have a pledge from our delegation to do that.”

In the ash ponds, Dyer said, there will be several tests performed — soil vapor tests, soil boring, and pore water tests, which identify critical elements, including metals, that may have existed in groundwater on the site but are hazards to marine life as the water flows toward surface water bodies, in this case, the Sheepscot River. One of the assumptions is that any property built on the site will use town water, and not the groundwater, for human consumption. Dyer said that the limits for some metals are actually lower for marine and riparian life than for human consumption. “Copper is an example,” he said. “It tends to kill everything, so what is allowable for copper in a marine or riparian environment is less than what is permissible in drinking water.”

Other tests will be looking for volatile organic compounds in soil vapor, since several large propane and oil tanks, along with a series of pipelines, also existed on the properties. Oiled roads, historically used to keep dust down, are also possible sources of VOCs. In former coal fill areas, test pits are being dug to look for a number of contaminants, including asbestos fibers. A maintenance building across from the CMP substation is being investigated for possible asbestos contamination, and several other outbuildings are being looked at for mercury, asbestos, fluorescent lamps that may contain mercury or other hazardous materials. 

In other areas, surface soil samples are being taken, and in a few locations, soil boring samples are being taken. In much of the area, Dyer said, the developer had done a lot of work, according to the Phase I survey, because they were the areas expected to produce the most immediate return on investment. “It didn’t work out that way,” he said with a laugh and a shake of his head.

The areas that are likely to have the greatest level of contamination, including the Mason Station building itself, and the uncapped disposal site which is known to contain some asbestos, aren’t within the town’s ownership as of yet, and, unless secure funding to complete the Department of Environmental Protection’s prescriptions for remediation, may never be acquired by the town.

But a lot depends on the interest of developers and the continued access to brownfield remediation funds, Anderson said. “We will make the best plan we can,” she said.