Mother Nature may have been waving her fists over all the dumping at the Wiscasset Raceway over the years, but she must have taken a minute to cross her fingers, too. Results are in on tests the state had the new owners do over the summer, and they're encouraging.

The tests confirmed a couple of areas of buried solid waste that owners Richard and Vanesssa Jordan will have to address, but “there were no findings of major concern (or) special significance at this point,” David Brooks of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection said.

The Jordans' environmental consultants gave the state the report in mid-September. A formal review of it will likely take another several weeks, said Brooks, a project manager for the West Alna Road site. Then the Jordans will have to either remove the buried waste or stabilize slopes to stave off problems.

In May, the state estimated the property contained about 3,100 tires, as well as construction and demolition debris. An iron stain appeared to be draining toward a nearby stream.

GEI Consultants' September 14 report credits the property's geology with minimizing the dumping's impact. Clay near the surface and continuing as deep as 10 feet or more helped, as did shallow groundwater flow and the elevations of area wells, according to the report. It also mentions the volunteer cleanup efforts that have been going on and mulch and hay bales that have been added to control erosion.

“Based on the explorations conducted to date, solid waste disposal at the site does not appear to pose a significant risk to human health and the environment, and appears to pose little risk of impact to off-site properties,” the report states.

“We were pretty happy about that,” Vanessa Jordan said of the study's outcome.

The morning of October 5, Richard Jordan was putting a banner on the newly repainted, but still red, sign at the property's entrance. Announcing the race at the newly renamed Wiscasset Speedway, it reads: “We're back! Come celebrate with us!”

Woolwich Selectman Dale Chadbourne, who's helping organize the  race, raised his tractor's bucket with Jordan in it so the Kingfield businessman could post the banner. Two weeks before the race, about 75 drivers had already registered, Chadbourne said. “That's good for here,” he said, adding that the number could keep growing and that many drivers don't even register ahead of race day.

Susan Johns can be reached at 844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.