The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) filed a formal complaint yesterday in Penobscot County Superior Court against Millinckrodt US LLC.  The complaint claims the failure by Mallinckrodt to complete cleanup of the former Holtrachem site located along the Penobscot River in Orrington, one of Maine’s most contaminated sites.  Mallinckrodt has not met the remediation standards required in the DEP’s 2008 Designation of Uncontrolled Hazardous substance Site and Order, that was affirmed in 2010 by the Board of Environmental Protection (DEP) in its own slightly modified order, affirmed in 2012 by the Maine business and Consumer Docket and finally affirmed in 2014 by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court.

The former Hallinckrodt site was a chloralkali manufacturing facility which made chemicals  commonly used in the pulp and paper industry.  Historic operations resulted in a significant amount of contamination, including highly toxic mercury and chloropicrin, in surrounding soils, groundwters and the Penobscot River.  Site-specific standards were established by the DEp and BEP Orders to ensure that the site would be cleaned up in a manner that would protect public health, safety and he evironment.  Despite these Orders, large areas of soils still remain on site that exceed the site-specific cleanup standards.

The DEP has worked digently to provide oversight during cleanup of the former Holirachem sie to ensure that Mallinckrodt conducdts remediaton in compliance with the DEP and BEP Orders.  While prograss had been made, it began to slow down as early as 2018 when Mallinckrodt began the first of several attemps to seek relief from meeting the Orders requirements.  Since 2023, Mallinckrodt has ceased any meaningfl progress toward remediation of the site.

The Department is seeking injuctive relief from the Penobscot Superior Court and civil penalies for ongoing violations.