All News Releases By Date

EPA Starts $700,000 Cleanup at School in Eastport

Release Date: 10/05/2000
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Press Office (617-918-1064)

BOSTON - The United States Environmental Protection Agency has begun a $700,000 cleanup of contaminated soil at a former factory in Eastport, Maine, now being used as a marine trades and technical training center.

EPA New England is removing soil at the Marine Technology Center, which is part of Washington County Technical College. EPA plans to finish removing the soil, which is contaminated with 1,2 -dichloroethane, within six months.

The site of contamination was originally owned by the Lyons family, which in 1924 granted the property to the city as a park. During World War II, the Navy began but never finished construction of a seaplane base on the property, which later become host to a factory making pearl essence, a substance extracted from fish and formerly used in making shampoo and nail polish. Since 1975, there has been no manufacturing on the site.

At an assessment of the site in May, EPA determined that two private drinking water wells were contaminated with 1,2 DCA and a former above-ground storage tank was the source of contamination. The highest soil contamination level is 3,900 parts per million, four times acceptable standards. Removing the contaminated soil, the source of contamination to the groundwater, will also eliminate further contamination to the well water, according to EPA officials. Exposure to high levels of 1,2-DCA has caused damage to the heart, nervous system, liver, kidneys and lungs in humans.

"EPA has begun cleanup work as quickly as possible to ensure that students, teachers and those who make their living on the bay are not threatened by the contaminants found at the Marine Trade Center," said Mindy S. Lubber, Regional Administrator of EPA New England. "The agency will do a quick and complete job in restoring this area so it is safe for the learning and trades that are a part of daily life here."

The Marine Trades Center site is on Broad Cove, which is part of Cobscook Bay, home to a multi-million dollar salmon farming industry. It is across the street from Moose Island Marina and adjacent to the parking area for a local coastal hiking area.