Maine DEP Provides Update on Scrap Yard

Investigators from the state of Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection discovered concentrations of a toxic chemical at the former Wolman Steel Co. that exceed state and federal levels for hazardous waste.

Mark Hyland, director of DEP's Division of Remediation, said soil samples turned up concentrations of PCBs  that measured 6,900 parts per million.

He said the residential standard for the presence of PCBs is 2.2 parts per million.

Anything exceeding 50 parts per million is considered to be hazardous waste, he said. The Wolman site so far contains a dozen sections that exceed that level.

"We found some high concentrations of PCBs on the site; some we didn't really expect," Hyland said Friday afternoon. "We will be taking more samples until Tuesday.

"At this point, we have to expand the area that is fenced in. We found some pretty high levels right inside the fenced-in area."

PCBs are chemicals that were used in oils to keep transformers and capacitors cool, Hyland said. Manufacture of the chemicals ceased in the 1970s, but the equipment remained in circulation and since has turned up when components were junked.

Wolman Steel Co. closed its Waterville facility in 1994, leaving the land open and the buildings unsecured. DEP officials discovered 70 pounds of mercury at the site in 1997.

A fence was erected at that time, but it only covers .8 acres. Hyland said a new fence will enclose an additional 1.5 acres.

A mobile laboratory will be established on site.

The DEP halted work removing soil at the site last December when investigators, looking for concentrations of lead, also found unacceptably high levels of PCBs.

Cleanup costs could increase at the site because PCB-contaminated soils must be shipped to one type of landfill, while lead-contaminated soil is sent to another, officials have said. Maine Today